Adult Community Center
- FLAD
- Foreign Language Assessment Directory
- Understanding Assessment Tutorial
- Introduction
- Validity
- What do I want to know?
- What skills do I want to measure?
- What is the intended purpose of the test?
- How will I use the test results?
- What information will the test provide?
- Show what you know!
- Puzzle Piece
- Reliability
- What is the relationship between reliability and validity?
- How do I determine if a test is reliable for my situation?
- What could affect reliability?
- Show what you know!
- Puzzle Piece
- Practicality
- Do I have the resources to use this test in my classroom?
- What are the practical considerations for test administration?
- What are the practical considerations in scoring a test?
- Show what you know!
- Puzzle Piece
- Impact
- What are the possible effects of a test?
- What does positive washback look like?
- What does negative washback looks like?
- Who will be affected?
- How will different stakeholders be affected?
- Show what you know!
- Puzzle Piece
- Putting It All Together
- Needs Assessment
- Resources
- Heritage Language Assessment Module
- Introduction
- Linguistic Characteristics and Considerations
- Cultural Characteristics and Considerations
- Factors in Language Development
- Program Types
- Implications for Assessment
- Show What You Know!
- Assessing HLLs: The Why
- Assessing HLLs: The What
- Placement Tests
- Formative Assessment
- Summative Assessment
- Examples of Effective Assessment Tasks
- Summary of Best Practices
- Show What You Know!
- Assessing HLLs: The How
- Needs Assessment
- Selecting Assessments
- Modifying Assessments
- Developing Assessments
- Show What You Know!
- Putting It All Together
- Resources
- Introduction
- Post-Secondary World Language Assessment Module
- Introduction
- Proficiency
- Acquiring Proficiency
- Proficiency Levels
- Proficiency-Based Approach to Assessment: The What
- Proficiency-Based Approach to Assessment: The Why
- Proficiency-Based Approach to Assessment: The How
- Types of Assessments
- Summary of Best Practices
- Show What You Know!
- Placement Testing
- Placement Testing: The Why
- Placement Testing: The How
- Types of Assessment Tools and Approaches for Placement
- Selecting Placement Tests
- Additional Considerations
- Using Placement Test Results
- Summary of Best Practices
- Show What You Know!
- Assessment Plans
- Assessment Plans: The Why
- Assessment Plans: The How
- Aligning Assessment with Instruction
- Performance-based Assessment Tasks
- Designing Performance-based Assessment Tasks
- Scoring Performance-based Assessment Tasks
- Using Integrated Performance Assessments
- Designing Integrated Performance Assessments
- Intercultural Communicative Competence
- Assessing Intercultural Communication
- Assessing Cultures
- Assessment and Program Articulation
- Summary of Best Practices
- Show What You Know!
- Putting It All Together
- Resources
Imagine you are in Fatima’s position. Which type of assessment would you use: placement, formative, or summative? How would you address the challenge described in this situation?
- I would use a placement test in this situation. As the class is for adults, I would probably include some type of self-assessment tool or questionnaire to help me understand students’ proficiency levels and their prior exposure to the language. For example, I could ask students to write a short paragraph on their history with Arabic, how they use it in their day-to-day lives, or what they’d like to get out of regular language study. This approach to placement testing might make students feel more comfortable than they would be with a traditional assessment, and would give me not only a better idea of how to organize the classes, but what the students are looking for out of the course.