05/01/2014 21:29

With a summative assessment, I review the performance of my students on all of the preceding formative assessments.  By giving numerous formative assessments, I get to know my students and I can see the students’ patterns of performance. Students have the opportunity to learn and master the content with adequate practice,  and they will typically be successful on the summative assessment. Since I can set a time for completing the assessments, I can see if a student speeds through, and I can determine if the security of the assessment has been compromised. 

Here are the results for a summative assessment in a French II class.  I used many of the questions from ExamView and imported them into Quia.   This test includes a variety of questions such as multiple choice, matching and short answer. I am very proud of the results of this particular class, as the lowest score was a C.  Since I provided many formative assessments, the majority of the students mastered the content of the course.  

Here is a snapshot of the results of 3 classes of French II with a glimpse of questions 1-18 showingn average scores and % of student receiving full credit: Overall, out of 93 students, the lowest score was 70%.  There were 158 questions as it was a final exam.  

Validity-This summative assessment is valid as it measures what the students have learned.  The multiple-choice questions have distractor options, but overall, the students were successful.  I included a variety of question types as well as a variety of levels of difficulty.  In this test, there is no question that all students answered incorrectly. Upon analysis of the data, I feel that the test is valid and the students did learn the content.  

Reliability-These scores indicate a high correlation with the overall averages of the students in the class and I consider the test to be reliable. I know that my students would receive the same score if anyone else graded the test.  By using the Quia online tool, I have the ability to examine the overall statistics and determine the reliability of the test. The statistics afford me the opportunity to determine if any questions need to be revised.  I am constantly revising tests to ensure that the questions are aligned with the modern language standards for the level that I’m teaching.

Security - The tests in an online environment are secure since the students are required to login to gain access. Here is a screenshot of the security settings I selected to ensure security.  There is a time limit of 1 hour, only 1 attempt is allowed, and the questions are presented one at a time. I also disabled copy and paste.