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The evaluation of student performance and knowledge is a critical element of an educator’s job as well as an essential step in the learning process for students. The quality and effectiveness of the evaluations given by educators are impacted by their ability to create and use reliable and valuable...

Biotechnology can be defined as the manipulation of biological process, systems, and organisms in the production of various products. With applications in a number of fields such as biomedical, chemical, mechanical, and civil engineering, research on the development of biologically inspired materials...

Accountability measures employed in the country to determine the academic achievement of the student population rely solely on the results obtained on the standardized tests. Such measures have often placed immigrant students at risk of academic failure despite the fact that research on second language...

In an effort to improve assessment literacy learning in a Master of TESOL program, a progressive course—“Technology and New Literacies in TESOL”—has been developed. It runs concurrently with a traditional “Testing and Assessment” course, so that the student teachers' assessment literacy is grounded...

While the importance and lack of assessment literacy (AL) has been widely reported in the education and language teaching literature, tools and methods to help teachers actually develop competence in classroom assessment are much more limited. This chapter seeks to help fill that gap and provide tools...

Conducting classroom assessments is a regular part of teachers' daily work. Despite the centrality of tests in K-12 classrooms, teacher candidates consistently demonstrate fundamental weakness in their understanding and implementation of assessment. Student teaching has the potential to be an...

While every stakeholder in education is concerned with assessment in one way or another, it is undeniable that the teachers play pivotal roles in assessment. Teachers are involved in developing and administering the classroom-based or high-stakes assessment, analyzing and using the assessment results...

Curriculum, instruction, and classroom assessments should all be aligned with each other in order to promote student learning. By achieving alignment, classroom assessments become integrated into the curriculum and guide what and how teachers teach and what and how students learn. This chapter...

This chapter explores the possibility of adopting a data-driven approach to connecting teacher-made assessments with course learning outcomes. The authors begin by describing several key concepts, such as outcome-based education, curriculum alignment, and teacher-made assessments. Then, the context of...

This chapter provides suggestions for the planning, conduct, and assessment of group (video) projects in foreign language classes. It first outlines a rationale for the use of project work and discusses the benefits and challenges of incorporating group projects in foreign language classes. To...

In contrast to the assessment of reading, listening, or writing skills, the assessment of oral proficiency has seen a growing preference for interactive task formats as the context in which to evaluate a learner's spoken ability. Tasks that require learners to engage in authentic, meaningful...

Ipsative assessment to improve argumentative essay writing aimed at studying how an alternative type of assessment, which persuaded learners to reflect on the feedback received and involved them as active assessment participants, influenced the writing skill of 24 students from two Colombian...

Making informed decisions on both vocabulary and grammar testing poses significant challenges to classroom test designers. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to present the results of a review of the vocabulary and grammar classroom testing conducted in a university EFL program and to propose a...

Orthographic knowledge, or knowledge of spellings, word forms, and conventions of print, is a crucial skill underpinning a range of literacy skills. Despite its importance, orthographic knowledge receives relatively little attention in second language contexts, including in adult English as a second...

The aim of this chapter is to help guide language instructors with assessment strategies for online courses. The chapter is based on the theoretical background of constructivism and principles for distance learning. Assessment strategies for both formative and summative assessments include tools for...

Due to programmatic pressures and professional reasons, language teachers and program administrators are becoming more interested in the analytical side of test evaluation. Program-wide tests are often maintained by program administrators, while teacher-created tests too often remain in the classroom...

This chapter reports on a common assessment project in a university intensive English program (IEP). In the program, the authors developed, implemented, and supervised the common finals project (CFP) to standardize final exams in all courses through collaborative teacher-made test development. The...

The purpose of this chapter is to share an assessment model built specifically upon teacher collaboration and, more broadly, to encourage readers to consider the power of collaboration within an intensive English program (IEP). After examining traditional assessment challenges faced by IEPs, the...

Teaching and test writing require different skill sets. While teachers are often required to create language tests, they often have inadequate training. This may lead to tests that lack validity and reliability, making tests unfair for test-takers. Tests may contain more general errors in their...