Summary

In this chapter, the we provided some practical suggestions based on our experiences with real Criterion-referenced assessment projects in three major areas: developing Criterion-referenced assessments, giving CRT feedback, and reporting CRT results. We began the discussion of developing Criterion-referenced assessments by covering ways of (a) fostering teacher cooperation (including providing coordination for testing efforts), making the testing useful to teachers, appealing to teachers’ self-interest, appealing to teachers’ professionalism, paying for their professionalism, making the testing less fearful, leaving flexibility in the assessment, and giving other smaller incentives), (b) marshaling adequate resources, and (c) counterbalancing Criterion-referenced forms. Next we covered the issues of giving CRT feedback by exploring the issues of who should get feedback and how feedback should involve two-way communication (in terms of writing and evaluating items, planning and evaluating administration procedures, as well as interpreting and reporting results). Then we covered the reporting of CRT results including (a) how to deal with students who want to fail and students who only take the pretest, (b) issues related to interpreting gain scores (including possible sources of gains and issues related to gain score reliability/dependability), (c) the need for promoting Criterion-referenced assessments to colleagues, and (d) other issues directly related to reporting Criterion-referenced results to colleagues.

We ended with a sample report section. We introduced the sample report from a Criterion-referenced assessment project by giving a bit of background to the report, briefly explaining what information should be included in such a report, discussing how it might best be organized, giving our reasons for including a sample report in this book, and finally, providing the sample report itself.

In covering these various topics, we were able to wrap up a number of loose ends that had not previously been covered in this book and, at the same time, review some of the key concepts of Criterion-referenced assessment.