University of Antique

College of Teacher Education

Sibalom, Antique

Module 4: Chapter 4 – DESIGNING AND DEVELOPING ASSESSMENT TOOLS

In the previous chapter we have discussed the process of developing instructional objectives. As
discussed, the instructional objectives must be specific, measurable and observable. Teachers must develop test
items that should match with the instructional objectives appropriately and accurately. In this chapter, we will
discuss the general principles of testing, characteristics of high-quality assessment tools, steps in developing
assessment tools, format of table of specifications, and the different types of classroom assessment tools.

Lesson 1 – High Quality Assessment

Introduction
Frequent assessment allows teachers to see if their teaching has been effective. Assessment also allows
teachers to ensure students learn what they need to know in order to meet the course's learning objectives.
Every educator must, therefore, understand the principles of sound assessment and must be able to apply those
principles as a matter of routine in doing their work.

Learning Outcomes
1. Discuss the different principles of high-quality assessment.
2. Identify the different qualities of assessment tools.
3. Identify the steps in developing classroom assessment tools.

Content Focus
A. General Principles of Testing
Ebel and Fresbie (1999) as cited by Garcia (2008) listed five basic principles that should guide teachers in
assessing the learning progress of the students and in developing their own assessment tools.
1. Measure all instructional objectives. The test that a teacher writes should match all the learning
objectives posed during instruction.
2. Cover all the learning tasks. The teacher should construct a test that contains a wide range of sampling
items. It must not focus only on one type of objective. It must be representative of all targetted learning
outcomes.
3. Use appropriate test items. The test items must be appropriate to measure learning outcomes.
4. Make test valid and reliable. That teacher must construct a test that is valid so that it can measure what
it is supposed to measure from the students. The test is reliable when the scores of the students remain
the same or consistent when the teacher gives the same test for the second time.
5. Use test to improve learning. The test scores should be utilized by the teacher properly to improve
learning by discussing the skills or competencies on the items that have not been learned or mastered.
B. Principles of High-Quality Assessment
Test constructors believe that every assessment tool should possess good qualities. For any type of
assessment, whether traditional or authentic, should be carefully developed so that it may serve whatever
purpose it is intended for and the test result must be consistent with the type of assessment that will be utilized.
1. Clarity of the Learning Target. When a teacher plans for his classroom instruction, the learning target
should be clearly stated and must be focused on students’ learning objectives rather than teacher
activity. The learning outcomes must be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound
(SMART). The performance task of the students should also be clearly presented so that they can
accurately demonstrate what they are supposed to do and how the final product should be done. The
evaluation procedures, the criteria to be used and the skills to be assessed should also be clearly
discussed with the students
2. Appropriateness of Assessment tools. The type of test should always match the instructional objectives
or learning outcomes of the subject matter posed during the delivery of the instruction. Teachers should
be skilled in choosing and developing assessment methods appropriate for instructional decisions.
The kinds of assessment tools commonly used to assess the learning progress of the students
are:
 1. Objective Test. It is a type of test that requires students to select the correct response from several
alternatives or to supply a word or short phrase to answer a question or to complete a statement. It
includes true-false, matching type, and multiple-choice questions. The word objective refers to the
scoring, it indicates that there is only one correct answer.
2. Subjective Test. It is a type of test that permits the student to organize and present an original
answer. It includes either short answer questions or long general questions. This type of test has no
specific answer. Hence, it is usually scored on an opinion basis, although there will be certain facts
and understanding expected in the answer.
3. Performance Assessment. According to Mueller (2010), it is an assessment in which students are
asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge
and skills. It can appropriately measure learning objectives which focus on the ability of the students
to demonstrate skills or knowledge in real-life situations.
4. Portfolio Assessment. It is an assessment that is based on the systematic, longitudinal collection of
student work created in response to specific known instructional objectives and evaluated through in
relation to the same criteria. Portfolio is a purposeful collection of student’s work that exhibits the
student’s efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas over a period of time. It measures
growth and development of the students.
5. Oral Questioning. This method is used to collect assessment data by asking oral questions. The most
commonly used of all forms of assessment in class assuming that the learner hears and shares the
use of common language with the teacher during instruction. The ability of the student to
communicate orally is very relevant to this type of assessment. This is also a form of formative
assessment.
6. Observation Technique. Another method of collecting data is through observation. The teacher will
observe how the students carry out the activities either observing a process or product. Observation
techniques may be formal or informal. Formal observations are planned in advance like when the
teacher assesses oral report or presentation in class while informal observation is done
spontaneously during instruction like observing the working behavior of students while performing a
laboratory experiment. The behavior of the students involved in his performance is systematically
monitored, described, classified and analyzed.
7. Self-report. The responses of the student may be used to evaluate both performance and attitude.
Assessment tools could include sentence completion, Likert scales, checklists, or holistic scales.

C. Other Qualities of Assessment Tools

A good test must possess the following attributes or qualities:
1. Validity. It refers to the degree to which a test measures what it seeks to measure. To determine
whether the test constructed is valid or not, he/she has to answer the following questions:
a. Does the test adequately sample the intended content?
b. Does it test the behaviors/skills important to the content being tested?
c. Does it test all the instructional objectives of the content taken up in the class?

2. Reliability. It refers to the consistency of measurement. A test, therefore, is reliable if it produces similar
results when administered twice to the same group of students.
3. Fairness. Fairness means the test item should not have any biases. It should not be offensive to any
examinee subgroup. To ensure fairness, the teacher should construct and administer the test in a
manner that allows students an equal chances to demonstrate their knowledge or skills.
4. Objectivity. It is the extent to which personal biases or subjectivity judgement of the test scorer is
eliminated in checking the students’ responses to the test items. If two raters who assess the same
student on the same test cannot agree on th3e score, the test lacks objectivity and neither of the scores
from the judges is valid.
5. Scorability. It means that the test is easy to score and check as answer key and answer sheet are
provided.
6. Adequacy. It means that the test should contain a wide range of sampling of items to determine the
educational outcomes or abilities so that the resulting scores are representatives of the total
performance in the areas measured.
7. Administrability. The test is easy to administer as clear and simple instructions are provided to students,
proctors, and scorers. It should be administered uniformly to all students so that the scores obtained will
not vary due to factors other than differences of the students’ knowledge and skills.
8. Practicality and Efficiency. This principle states that evaluation should be finished in a specified period of
time and applicable in a particular educational setting. It refers to the teacher’s familiarity with the
 methods used, time required for the assessment, complexity of the administration, ease of scoring, ease
of interpretation of the test results and the materials used that must be at the lowest cost.
D. Steps in Developing Assessment Tools
1. Examine the instructional objectives and learning outcomes. The first step is to examine and go back to
the instructional objectives so that you can match with the test items to be constructed.
2. Make a table of specification (TOS). The table of specification is a chart or table that details the content
and level of cognitive level assessed on a test as well as the types and emphases of test items (Gareis and
Grant, 2018). It is important in addressing the validity and reliability of the test items; provides the test
constructor a way to ensure that the assessment is based from the intended learning outcomes, and the
number of questions on the test is adequate to ensure dependable results. It also serves as guide in
constructing a test and determining the type of test items that you need to construct.
3. Construct the test items. The following are some guidelines in constructing test items (Airisian, 1994):
a. Avoid wording that is ambiguous and confusing.
b. Use appropriate vocabulary and sentence structure.
c. Keep questions short and to the point.
d. Write the items such that they have one correct answer.
e. Do not provide clues to the answer.
4. Assemble the test items. When assembling test items, consider the following guidelines:
a. Group all items that have similar format.
b. Arrange the test items from easy to difficult.
c. Space the items for easy reading.
d. Keep items and options in the same page.
e. Place the illustration near the description.
5. Check the assembled test items. Before reproducing the test, it is very important to proofread the test
items for some typographical and grammatical errors and make necessary corrections if any.
6. Write directions. Test directions are very important in any written test as the inability of the test taker to
understand them affects the validity of a test. Thus, directions should be complete, clear, and concise
which the students have to follow in answering the test. The method of answering has to be kept as
simple as possible. Test direction should also contain instructions on guessing.
7. Make the answer key. To facilitate checking of students’ answers, the teacher has to provide a scoring
key in advance. Be sure to check the answer key so that the correct answers follow a fairly random
sequence.
8. Analyze and improve the test items. Analyzing and improving the test items should be done after
checking, scoring and recording the test to examine the quality of each item in the test.

Activity 5
On a page of short size bond paper, double space, write your reflection as you engage yourself in the
review of the concepts about the guiding principles of high quality assessment of student learning.

Lesson 2 – Preparing the Table of Specification

Introduction
Teachers should have plan for test development so that they will be guided as they choose the contents
from which the items will be drawn as well as the behavior they need to assess. The principle of clarity should be
in the teachers’ mind before they begin writing the test. Clear objectives can guide them when they decide as to
what content and behavior they need to assess. The same objectives should be the basis of selecting appropriate
tests item formats.
For test construction, the teacher is like an engineer who is building a structure. An engineer is guided by
a blueprint which specifies the materials to be used, the dimensions to be followed, and the craftmanship to be
considered. Teachers must also be guided by a blueprint from which they base the contents and behaviors to be
measured, and the type of item formats to be constructed. In this lesson, let us discuss the teachers’’ blueprint
that serves as guide as they construct the test.

Learning Outcomes
1. Discuss the importance of a table of specification.
2. Identify the different format of a table of specification.
 3. Prepare a table of specification for a written test.

Content Focus
Let us highlight some important information as you go through the text.

Defining objectives for assessment. In designing a well-planned written test, first and foremost you should
be able to identify the intended learning outcome in a course where a written test is an appropriate method to
use. These learning outcomes are knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that every student should develop
throughout the course. Clear articulation of learning outcomes is a primary consideration in lesson planning
because it serves as the basis for evaluating the effectiveness of the teaching learning process determined through
testing or assessment. Learning objectives or outcomes are measurable statements that articulate at the beginning
of the course, what students should know and be able to do or value as a result of taking the course. These learning
goals provide the rationale for the curriculum and instruction. They provide teachers the focus and direction on
how the course should be handled, particularly in terms of course content, instruction and assessment. On the
other hand, they provide the students with reasons and motivation to study and persevere. They give students the
opportunities to be aware of what they need to do to be successful in the course, take control and ownership of
their progress, and focus on what they should be learning. Setting objectives for assessment is the process of
establishing direction to guide both the teacher in teaching and the student in learning.

Objectives for testing. In developing written tests, the cognitive behaviors of learning outcomes are
usually targeted. For cognitive domain, it is important to identify the levels of behavior expected from the
students. Traditionally, Bloom’s Taxonomy was used to classify learning objectives based on the levels of
complexity and specificity of the cognitive behaviors.
With knowledge at the base
(lower-order thinking skill) the
categories progress to
comprehension, application,
analysis, synthesis and
evaluation. However, Anderson
and Krathwohl came up with a
revised taxonomy, in which the
nouns used to represent the
levels of cognitive behavior were
replaced by verbs, and the
synthesis and evaluation were
switched.

In developing cognitive domain of instructional objectives, key verbs can be used.

A. What is a Table of Specification?

A Table of Specifications (TOS) sometimes called a test blueprint, is a tool used by teachers to design a
test. It is a table that maps out the test objectives, content, or topics covered by the test; the levels of cognitive
behavior to be measured; the distribution of items; and the test format. It helps ensure that the course’s intended
learning outcomes, assessments and instructions are aligned.
Generally a TOS is prepared before a test is created. However, it is ideal to prepare one even before the
start of instruction. Teachers need to create a TOS for every test that they intend to develop. The test TOS is
important because it does the following:

● ensures that the instructional objectives and what the test captures match
● ensures that the test developer will not overlook details that are considered essential to a good test
● makes developing a test easier and more efficient
● ensures that the test will sample all important content areas and processes
● is useful in planning and organizing
● offers opportunity for teachers and students to clarify achievement expectations

B. Preparing a Table of Specification

Here are the steps in developing TOS:
1. Determine the objectives of the test. In general, objectives are identified at the start when the teacher
creates the syllabus. There are 3 types of objectives
a. cognitive- designed to increase an individual’s knowledge, understanding, and awareness
 b. affective-aim to change an individual’s attitude towards something desirable
c. psychomotor- designed to build physical or motor skills

In planning for assessment, choose only the objectives that can be best captured by a written test.
Some cognitive objectives are not meant for written tests such as measuring a students fluency
skills, more so assessing psychomotor skills like a student’s balance or speed. These types of
measurements should be done through performance-based assessments
more specifically
2. Determine the coverage of the test. Only topics or concepts that have been covered in class and are
relevant should be included in the test.
3. Calculate the weight for each topic. The weight assigned per topic in the test is based on the relevance
and time spent to cover each topic during the discussion. The percentage of time for a topic in a test is
determined by dividing the time spent for that topic during instruction by the total amount of time spent
for all topics covered in the test. See example on the next page.
4. Determine the number of items for the whole test. Consider the amount of time to be used by the
students should be considered. As a general rule, students are given 30-60 seconds for each item in test
formats with choices. For a 1-hour class, this means that the test should not exceed 60 items. However,
because you need to give time for the paper distribution, and giving instructions, the number of items
should be less (around 50items)
5. Determine the number of items per topic. Here, weights per item should be considered.

Topic # of Time % of Time # of items

Sessions Spent (weight)
(mins)

A. Skeletal System 0.5 30 10 5

B. Muscular System 1.5 90 30 15

C. Circulatory System 1.0 60 20 10

D. Respiratory System 0.5 60 10 5

E. Reproductive System 0.5 30 10 5

F. XXX 0.5 30 10 5

G. YYY 0.5 30 10 5

TOTAL 5 sessions 300mins 100% 50 items

C. Formats of TOS
1. One-way TOS maps out the topics, test objectives, number of hours spent and format, number, and
placement of items. This is easy to develop because it works around the objectives without considering
the different levels of cognitive behaviors. However, this cannot ensure that all levels of cognitive
behaviors that should have been developed by the course are covered in the test.

Topic Test Objective # of Hours Relative Number of Plcement of

Spent Weight (%) Items items

Skeletal recognize the 0.5 hours 10% 5 Multiple

system importance of skeletal Choice #1-5
system

XXX XXX 1.5 30% 15 Matching type

#1-15

2. Two-way TOS reflects content, time spent, number of items, levels of cognitive behavior targeted per
test content based on the theory behind cognitive testing. For example, the common framework for
testing at present in the DepEd Classroom Assessment Policy is the Revised Bloom’s Taxonomy (DepED
2015). One advantage of the format is that it allows one to see the levels of cognitive skills and
 dimensions of knowledge that are emphasized by the test. It also shows the framework of assessment
used in the development of the test. This is more complex than the one-way format.

Content Time # & % of KD* Level of Cognitive Behavior, Item Format, # and Placement of Items
Spent items

Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate Create

XXX 0.5 5 (10%) F 1.3 (#1-3)

C 1.2 (#4-5)

YYY 1.5 15 (30%) F 1.2 (#6-7)

C 1.2(#8-9) 1.2
(#10-
11)

p 1.2 1.2 (14-

(12-13) 15)

M 1.3 (16- 11.1 (41) 11.1

17) (42)

SCORING 1PT PER ITEM 2PTS PER ITEM 3PTS PER ITEM

OVERALL 5 50 (100%) 20 20 10
TOTAL
Legend: KD-Knowledge Dimension (Factual, Conceptual, Procedural, Metacognitive)

3. Three-way TOS This type of TOS reflects the features of one-way and two-way TOS. One advantage of this
format is that it challenges the test writer to classify objectives based on the theory behind assessment. It
also shows the variability of thinking skills targeted by the test. It take much longer time to develop this
type of TOS. See the format below:

Learning Level of Cognitive Behavior, Item Format, # and Placement of Items

Time # of
Content Objectiv
Spent Items
e Create
Remember Understand Apply Analyze Evaluate

XXX xxx .5hrs 5 (10%) #1-3 (F) #4-5 (C)

Scoring - - - 1 point per item 2 pts per item 5 points per item

Overall 50
Total (100%)
Activity 6
Task 1
Using the template below as your guide, list down the competencies in the K-12 curriculum of any subject
area and level of your choice. Choose one quarter only. You may use another sheet of paper (if necessary) to write
down or encode then print for submission.

Grade Level Subject Area

Quarter Covered Domains Covered

Content Standards

Performance Standards

Competencies Selected

Statement of Competency Topic Test Format Targeted

Task 2
Design a table of specifications (TOS) for a written test covering the competencies selected in Task 1
where you know testing is the appropriate method. Use the one-way TOS for this activity. You may use another
sheet of paper or encode using spreadsheets then print for submission.

References

Calderon, Jose F. & E.C. Gonzales (1993). Measurement and Evaluation. Metro Manila: National Book Store.

Gabuyo, Y.A. (2013). Assessment of Learning. Quezon City: Rex Printing Co., Inc.

Garcia, Carlito D. (2013). Measuring and Evaluating Learning outcomes: A Textbook in Assessment of Learning 1
& 2, 2nd ed. Mandaluyong City: Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.

Rico, Alberto A. (2011). Assessment of Students’ Learning: A Practical Approach. Quezon City: Anvil Publishing,
Inc.

Prepared by:

ELIZABETH V. BACAY, MAEd

SHELA JOY E. BOLIVAR, MED
BENNY O. CERVERA, MAIE
DEBBIE JEAN V. SABUG, MAT
Course Professors