Written Classroom Assessment Items

Writing Classroom Assessment Items

The assessment for this unit of study is for English Language Arts for Grade 7 class. This assessment focuses on examining students’ literacy in the English language and their understanding of concepts learned in the classroom. In essence, this assessment is designed to examine students’ comprehension and mastery of the English language. Therefore, the assessment includes writing in order to examine students’ interactions with different pieces of literature. Writing test items that are reliable, valid, and free from bias is a major component of assessment literacy. According to Popham (2018), assessment literacy primarily entails one’s ability to read and write rather than knowledge or competence in a specific area. This paper provides a summative, multiple-choice test, a formative assessment, and a performance task.

Part 1 – Summative, Multiple-Choice Test

Assessment of Grade 7 students’ comprehension of concepts in the English language involves the use of summative and formative assessments. Summative, multiple-choice tests are viewed as effective and efficient approaches to evaluate learning outcomes (Brame, 2013). For this Grade 7 class, the summative, multiple-choice test seeks to examine learning outcomes in relation to concepts taught in the English Language Arts lessons. This summative assessment is based on test specifications and curriculum map created in Module 2. This end-of-unit assessment incorporates 10 multiple-choice items with a stem, four answer choices, and a starred correct answer. This summative, multiple-choice test is based on an excerpt from Anne of Green Gables, a classic story used in the classroom.

1. Who is the writer of this passage?

a. Anne

b. Marilla

c. An outsider

d. A narrator who is conversant with the story and its characters*

2. What is the author trying to portray in this story?

a. The life and times of a young girl living in rural Prince Edward Island*

b. Anne’s interactions with Marilla

c. How Anne feels about Marilla

d. Anne’s personality

3. What is the author’s main idea or central theme?

a. To demonstrate Anne’s dramatic personality

b. Life in rural Prince Edward Island was characterized by numerous challenges that affected inter-personal relationships*

c. To show how Marilla prevented herself from being angry with Anne

d. To show the level of Anne’s intelligence

4. How would the word smart, which is used in the final sentence of the story, be applicable in today’s life?

a. Painful

b. Fashionable

c. Intelligent*

d. Quick

5. Which words describe Anne’s feelings?

a. Scared and uncertain

b. Excited but nostalgic

c. Shy and inactive

d. Energized and excited*

6. If you were Marilla, how would you respond to Anne?

a. Send her back home

b. Be affectionate toward her

c. With suspicion

d. Unsure of how to act*

7. What aspects of Anne’s feelings support the author’s main idea?

a. Anne’s dramatic personality

b. Anne’s intelligence

c. Anne’s fear of being misunderstood by Marilla*

d. None of the above

8. What could have influenced Anne’s dramatic personality and her relationships?

a. Her beauty-loving eyes

b. Experience of so many unlovely places*

c. Resentment toward life in this island

d. Poor childhood

9. How do relationships with others affect Anne?

a. Affects her perceptions about life*

b. Changes her childhood experiences

c. Generates discomfort

d. Create a low self-esteem

10. How does the story reflect the challenges of life in rural Prince Edward Island?

a. By showing Anne’s dramatic personality

b. By highlighting the issues surrounding the relationship between Anne and Marilla*

c. By demonstrating how Anne and Marilla feel about each other

d. By showing Anne as a shy and inactive girl

Izard (2004) compiled a series of questions used to carry out an item analysis of an assessment. After creating this summative assessment, an item analysis was carried out to evaluate the assessment. The analysis focused on examining whether each test item was designed to examine what the student is expected to know in a clear and concise manner. The pre-administration item analysis did not reveal any need for revision since the test items were designed in a manner that met the criteria. In essence, none of the test items was revised as they had an appropriate stem, were stated clearly and concisely, and were based on the desired learning outcomes.

Part 2 – Formative Assessment

The formative assessment for this unit of study incorporates three selected-response questions and two constructed-response questions as follows:

1. Anne and Marilla are the two main characters in this passage

*True False

2. The author of this story had knowledge about the characters and issues surrounding them

*True False

3. Anne’s tendency to be dramatic did not reflect her personality but was only a response to what was happening to her.

True *False

4. Give the main reason why the author wrote this story.

To highlight the life and times of Anne, a young girl, who was mistakenly forced to live in rural Prince Edward Island with an elderly sister and brother. Anne’s experiences reflect what characterized life during this period and how they affected relationships with family members.

5. Describe how Anne responded to her experiences of life in rural Prince Edward Island.

Anne was initially excited and energized about the possibility of Green Gables becoming her new home. However, challenges in relationships with her elderly brother and sister forced her to be dramatic, which reflected an important aspect of her personality. Despite these difficulties, she still hoped that Green Gables had a brook and refused to be haunted by the uncomfortable feeling of the possibility of having none.

Part 3 - Performance Task

Description of Performance Task

State one performance outcome and the indicators for the performance (specific descriptors that clarify the outcome).

Identify the author’s main theme or idea and how it is developed throughout the story. Students accurately identify the author of the passage, what he/she is trying to convey, and supportive textual evidence for the author’s main idea/theme.

Describe the performance task.

Student identifies who is the author of the story and why was it written. He/she uses textual evidence to demonstrate how the central theme/idea develops throughout the story from the beginning to the end.

Who will view the product or performance?

The product or performance will be reviewed by the English Language Arts teacher.

What is the real-world context for the task?

Relationships with family members play a key role in shaping one’s life experiences.

List the step-by-step process for task completion.