2.1. Teachers’ Assessment Literacy
2.1.2. Teachers Assessment Literacy Principles
assessment and assessment literacy research remain lacking (Kristiyanti, 2021). Therefore, the researcher conducted this research to delve into the term assessment literacy and the implementation of formative assessment in teaching writing online in this chapter.
A recent study by Arrafii (2020) stated that those concepts of language assessment literacies were summarized by the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME), the National Education Association (NEA), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) in 1990. The criteria mentioned over there were used to describe the evidence of language teachers’ assessment literacy. The description is described below.
2.1.2.1.Teachers are selecting appropriate assessment methodologies for instructional decisions.
The assessment-literate teacher should know the importance of selections (Council, 1990). Teachers would be familiar with many alternatives of assessment with its strength and weakness. So, their choice will be appropriate with the following up instruction since the instruction decision of the teacher would be based on the teacher’s choice. So, instructional decision has become essential things in assessment. The instructional decision means the teachers can connect their chosen assessment method and learning objectives (Arrafii, Mohammad, 2020). It can be said that when the teacher does not have an instructional decision, it will affect the learning objective too, that consequently, the students will not get the learning purpose or their new skills(Aria et al., 2021).
Therefore, understanding how to select the assessment method based on the learning objective is essential.
Selecting the assessment method is where the teachers could choose the appropriate assessment method for the instructional decision later. Furthermore, Stiggins (1999) added that in this stage, the teacher would automatically use the competency of connecting assessment to a clear purpose. The teacher could select the assessment methods following the purpose of the assessment.
Therefore, teachers would also conversantly know many potential options for assessment (Popham, 2009). In other words, the teachers here can choose the assessment based on its purpose in many possible and potential ways. Lee (2017) believed that assessment-literate teachers could design connected learning instructions and assessment types. So, the teacher will focus on the success criteria shared with their students.
Additionally, Zulaiha et al. (2020) described that assessment- literate teachers understand how to collect reliable data about student performance, use assessment to assist student learning, and effectively and accurately communicate assessment results. It can be said that teachers in this stage could consider and adjust their assessment methods and teaching instructions based on their
students’ needs and lacks. The assessment-literate teacher ideally selected the methods and instructions from the previous readiness checking that was done in the very first meeting. It is in line with the formative assessment principle that mainly suggests teachers do a diagnostic assessment before selecting the assessment method since it would give the teachers deeper information about students’ needs in the next meeting.
2.1.2.2.Teachers are developing appropriate assessment mechanisms for instructional decisions.
Previously, an instructional decision was considered the important part that the assessment literate teachers should own because teachers can appropriately adjust it based on their purpose of learning regardless of the student's culture and social classes. In line with Popham (2009), literate teachers could be more straightforward in deciding on both classroom assessments; the daily assessment made by teachers who know how the students engaged with the instructions and the accountability assessment, a traditional test used in accountability testing.
Mellati and Khademi (2018) stated that teachers’
instructional decisions would control the objective learning focus so that the teachers would make the instruction based on the grade
and realistically did not make the students get a lower objective or too high objectives. They would accept their adjusted instructions.
After knowing the instructions' purpose and fitting them with the appropriate assessment, the teacher could contextualize the assessment or appropriate instructions. Stiggins (1999) support it, stating that literate teachers should be competent in applying proper assessment methods. It is supported by Fautley and Savage (2010) suggested that teachers develop the assessment in line with the instruction. As well as Lee (2017) emphasized that assessment- literate teachers should be able to link the learning objective, success criteria, and instruction because they cannot be separated.
They are formatively unitary in assessment.
To reach and practice this instructional decision, teachers need to develop it through several mechanisms. William and Leahy (2015) suggested that the teacher could use peer and self- assessment when the learning decision is to raise students’
awareness about discovery learning because they would find others or themselves lack strength during learning. Next, they suggested questioning techniques and waiting time to invite the students’ understanding of the learning objectives and instructions. Announcing and showing the ideal model of
students’ writing work to the students will help them have a clear picture of the ideal writing product. Additionally, letting students’
do peer feedback by training them to give feedback properly (Lee, 2017). As well as Fautley and Savage (2010) also stated that assessment development could happen in the beginning, middle, or end of the learning process as the teachers reflect on their linkage of the learning objective, instruction, and students’ output.
2.1.2.3.Teachers use external and teacher-created assessment methods to administer, rate, and interpret the results.
2.1.2.3.1. Using external and teacher-created assessment methods
It is not enough for teachers to select and develop the assessment method since they must also be administered themselves. The assessment-literate teachers should be able to administer and implement it in their classrooms (Council, 1990). Further, the external and created assessment methods are essential for the teachers. It is where the teachers adjust their students’ lacks and needs according to their ability to create the assessment process consisting of collaborative sources that come from their created assessment and external assessment method. The
teachers could also adjust the external methods, such as using a state book and developing them (Arrafii, Mohammad, 2020). Therefore, the teachers' ability to select and combine the assessment method would become the teachers’ assessment literacy (Aria et al., 2021). The teachers could run the assessment process made by them or externally not made by them comprehensively. This stage has a relation with the selection of the assessment method process because, in this stage, teachers could also select and combine their own method from other sources outside so they can collaborate and justify it based on their students’ needs.
2.1.2.3.2. Administering assessment methods
After using external and made assessment methods, the assessment-literate teachers should administer them in the teaching activities. As well as Federation and Council (1990) standardize the literate assessment teachers category. It described that the assessment-literate teachers should be able to administer the assessment method that has been
collaborated from the external and made by the teachers.
It is where the teachers can administer the standardized test based on the guidance or blueprint that has been analyzed comprehensively by them so that the teachers would do the blueprint of the test that is collaborated by external and internal methods of assessment comprehensively (Yazdani & Ghasedi, 2021).
In this stage, teachers have selected and collaborated on their assessment method based on their students’ needs. What they should do further is arrange the mechanism of it thoroughly. In administering the test, the teacher should be able to create valid and reliable tests comprehensively with correct procedures.
In making test items, teachers must create a blueprint divided from the learning objectives they have distributed. Consequently, the test item they administer would be more valid and reliable.
2.1.2.3.3. Rating the assessment methods
After administering the collaborative assessment method, the assessment literate teachers would know how to follow up the assessment method through several steps. Furthermore, the reflection of the assessment-literate teachers Federation and Council (1990) stated that assessment-literate teachers should be able to interpret and analyze the students’
assessment results. Lee (2017) explained several steps of using both summative and formative assessments. It is by using an error log that summatively records the students' accuracy of targeted language (in writing) and a learning log that records the students' self-reflection independently.
Both will be useful when teachers cope with the administration to rate and interpret the students learning objectives summatively. Besides, it aimed to share the students' abilities diagnostically. In other words, the teacher with assessment literacy would be able to collaborate on the assessment methods based on their role as teachers in the institution and facilitators in students’ learning. In this stage, teachers could consider
and rate the assessment method that they used to be evaluated and upgraded for future instructions.
2.1.2.3.4. Interpreting the result of the assessment
Teachers could interpret the commonly reported scores: percentile ranks, percentile hand scores, standard scores, and grade equivalents. They conceptualized the summary indexes commonly reported with assessment results: measures of central tendency, dispersion, relationships, reliability, and measurement errors (Mohamadi, 2018). Teachers could apply these concepts of score and summary indexes to enhance their use of the assessments they develop.
They analyzed the assessment results to identify pupils’
strengths and errors. If they get inconsistent results, they will seek other explanations for the discrepancy or other data to resolve the uncertainty before arriving at a result of the assessment (Council, 1990). After setting the test minimum and maximum score, the teacher should be able to infer their students' scores accurately to make the next move of teaching instruction forward.
2.1.2.4.Teachers use assessment data to judge individual students, teaching plans, curriculum development, and school improvement.
2.1.2.4.1. Using assessment data to make judgments about individual students
When the teachers have various valid and reliable data on their students’ assessment, they will automatically enable themselves to get improvements and changes in improving their instruction so that the students' outcomes would be increased too (The Center Standard & Assessment Implementation, 2018).
Therefore, it is believed that teachers should first read their students’ lacks and needs to record their
achievements individually or non-
individually(grouped). As well as Stiggins (2005) stated that the assessment-literate teacher could clarify the expectations/success criteria attainability which can be used as the improvement criteria to improve the student's achievement. So that teachers could determine the student's current ability and the expected criteria accurately.
2.1.2.4.2. Using assessment data to make teaching plans After interpreting the students' assessment results, the teacher could know the student's needs and further improvement steps. So, teachers need diagnostic assessment (Fautley & Savage, 2010a).
Additionally, Mellati and Khademi (2018) discovered that assessment-literate teachers acted appropriately in deciding on the class, such as evaluating their instruction after seeing the test results to make better instruction in the meantime and in the future. Those judgments should go to the next stage.
The teacher's competency in connecting the assessment and its apparent purpose will be a literate teacher’s basis in deciding on the next assessment method (Stiggins, 1999). Rahman et al. (2021) found that the improvement of assessment data has become the basic idea as the benchmark of teaching planning and syllabus development that could be done more than three times; at the beginning, implementation, and end of the teaching process. In other words, assessment- literate teachers should be prepared for every result of
their students' scores and directly execute their preparation to maintain and develop their instructions based on the student's diagnostic results too.
2.1.2.4.3. Using assessment data to make curriculum development
As the assessment data employed in the teaching plans, it would also influence the curriculum development since it would provide several benefits, such as reviewing, considering, and instituting changes, assisting teachers in developing their classroom’s curriculum, and monitoring the effort of change (Siler, 2009).
Additionally, Brown and Sally (2005) emphasized that assessments and tests are essential to a successful curriculum because they become teaching and learning process partners and are used as students, teachers, and school improvement barometers. They played as a student's motivation and a school closure periodic tool. Therefore, the assessment data would help review, change, adjust, and evaluate the curriculum development to avoid the gap between the
curriculum expectations and the actual assessment data (Arrafii, Mohammad, 2020).
2.1.2.4.4. Using assessment data to make school improvement The curriculum changes and developments are based on the assessment data as the school improves.
Besides, the ongoing development process would automatically affect the school's improvement.
Moreover, it has been stated that the teachers’ essential role in assessment literacy is to raise school improvement standards (Green, 2013). The standard was decided by American Federation and Council (1990). They suggested that assessment-literate teachers should be able to use their assessments' data as a school improvement tool at this level of literacy.
Teachers can use accumulated assessment information to organize a sound instructional plan to facilitate students’ improvement (Shobeiry & Baktash, 2022).
Besides, they also use assessment results to plan and evaluate instruction and curriculum.
Automatically, teachers will interpret the results correctly and avoid common misinterpretations and
improve the remedial program from the classroom area until the school scope. The accurate assessment data helped the schools to enhance their curriculum too.
2.1.2.5. Developing accurate grading procedures for students The teacher could do a proper grading procedure by developing the assessment exercises, scoring rubrics, and sampling qualitatively (Stiggins, 1999). It is primarily for grading, which is vital in teachers’ professional practice (Green, 2013). Teachers, in this stage, should consider the two essential things in preparing for the assessment process. These are validity and reliability. The indicators of classroom test quality are based on them (Yasin et al., 2020).
It is, first, ensuring validity. It is where the test made is measuring what it is supposed to measure (Alias, 2005).
Validity is the criterion of a good test, which mainly means the test is measuring what it is measured (Fautley & Savage, 2010b). There are three ways to increase the validity of the test.
There are face validity and content validity. Face validity can be seen from the form that aligns with the target skill being assessed.
In contrast, content validity is the validity that needs experts or other sources to look into it to judge whether the test content is representative of the skills being measured (Alias, 2005). Meanwhile, reliability is where the test creates consistent results even though it is conducted at several different times (Jayanti et al., 2019). It has three types of reliability. Firstly, internal consistency. It is the consistency of every item in the test. Next, Inter-scorer reliability is the consistency between different teachers' scores. In contrast, Intra-scorer reliability is the consistency between the score given by the same teacher at different test times. Therefore, the teachers’ role to be consistent in grading procedures would increase the accuracy of the assessment method itself.
2.1.2.6. Informs various stakeholders about the assessment results The teachers who meet this standard would be able to understand and deliver appropriate information regarding the students’ socioeconomic, cultural, language, and other background factors related to their assessment (Council, 1990).
Besides, teachers could explain that the students’ background would not cause the assessment result since it will limit their significant educational development (Shim, 2009a).
Additionally, the teacher could explain the students' assessment process to the parents, guardians, and students. The teachers would be able to know the importance of considering the possible error in conducting an assessment that automatically affects the decision-making of every student (Perry, 2013).
Teachers could also explain the limitations of various assessment methods to parents, students, and guardians, as well as the ability to explain the assessment result in the printed report at the classroom, school district, state, and national levels (Zulaiha et al., 2020). In other words, assessment-literate teachers could follow up on the student's assessment results clearly and adequately to many related people inside and outside the institutions, even until the government.
2.1.2.7.Teachers recognize unethical, illegal, or inappropriate assessment procedures and information uses.
2.1.2.7.1. Unethical assessment procedures and information uses
Ethics is a vital term for people, nations, and any part of the professional field. In teaching professionalism, ethics could be a concept of professionals’ acceptable guidelines about what is good
and what is not morally good (Ugonwa, 2019). It is where the teachers do the assessment procedure within the ethics. Such as initialing until evaluating it to realize and know of misused possibilities based on the current regulation assessment method. So, anything contrary to the teaching ethics regarding the students’ tests and assessments was known as the unethical practice of assessments (Janet et al., 2015). American Psychological Association's (2020) guidelines regarding the assessment stated that an unethical assessment process would fail to obtain the students’
initial competence and maintain the student's competency.
Federation and Council (1990) decided that teachers should know those laws and case decisions that affect their classroom, school district, and state assessment practices. Teachers will be aware that various assessment procedures can be misused or overused. It consequently creates harmful effects such as embarrassing students, violating a student’s right to confidentiality, and inappropriately using students’
standardized achievement test scores to measure teaching effectiveness.
An example of Janet et al.’s research (2015) found that many educators did unethical assessment practices of manipulating and fabricating the students’
scores and leakage of the tests. At times, the leakage could come from the administrative staff, family members, principal officers of the university, and colleagues. The issue of unethical assessment is crucial and still gaining less attention today.
2.1.2.7.2. Illegal or inappropriate assessment procedures information uses
Inappropriate assessment is where the teachers oppose ethics in conducting it (Ugonwa, 2019). The teachers should know the possibility of improper assessment methods and information affecting their planning, practicing, and interpreting students’
assessment results. The teachers who reach this standard would have the assessment’s concept and application skills of the laws and issues that will affect their classroom assessment, the school’s district, and the assessment system suggested by the state (Council,
1990). Therefore, teachers would realize that many assessment procedures could be misused or overused, which creates harmful effects such as embarrassing students, violating students’ right to confidentiality, reading, and using standardized achievement to measure teaching effectiveness inappropriately.
However, a literate-assessment teacher could minimize it by integrating the assessment authentically with the students through much less pressure assessment methods, such as involving critical thinking on it (Husna, 2020b), improving the validity and reliability (Yasin et al., 2020), and adding technology through the assessment process (Hidayat et al., 2022).
2.2. Online learning and Online Assessment