TYPES AND PURPOSES OF ASSESSMENT
January 29, 2017Edit Activity 3: High Stakes AssessmentsUnit 1: Types and Purposes of Assessment Module 6: Student Assessments By: Helen Lee The implications of high stakes assessments on teachers and students are vast. In most schools, student learning is measured on an annual basis. Many schools in the US have adopted assessments that are created for the Common Core and Advanced Placement (AP).International schools often use AP, the Cambridge system, and/or assessments created for International Baccalaureate (IB) curricula (among others). The results of these tests are often used to determine whether students should be promoted to the next grade and/or graduate from high school. Assessments are also used to place students in levels of RTI when they need extra support. Understanding the implications of high-stakess assessments for teachers and students is necessary in supporting student learning and working with them to achieve at high levels. In this activity, you will research the impact of high stakes assessments in the context of your school/state or country and subject/grade level and compare them with those in another school/state or country. Focus: Taiwan’s Elementary Students take GEPT test when they become 5th and 6th grade. GEPT scores are determined for ESL learners’ English fluency. It is the popular high-stake assessment that most of the Taiwanese students study starting from 5th or 6th grade and all the way to high school. In high school, they start to study TOEIC and TOEFL to enter a college in Taiwan. ABOUT GEPTThe General English Proficiency Test (GEPT), developed and administered by the LTTC, targets English learners at all levels in Taiwan. This test corresponds to Taiwan’s English education framework, meets the specific needs of English learners in Taiwan for self-assessment, and provides institutions or schools with a reference for evaluating the English proficiency levels of their job applicants, employees, or students. The GEPT promotes a balanced English learning process, covering the four language skills of listening, reading, writing, and speaking with the goal of improving the general English proficiency level of Taiwanese learners. Since its launch, the GEPT has reliably tested the English proficiency of over 5.1 million test-takers. The test is not only administered at over 100 different venues in Taiwan’s major cities, but also on the outlying islands of Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu, thus allowing test-takers to choose the test location most convenient for them. The GEPT has generated positive washback effects on English learning and teaching in Taiwan and resulted in increased emphasis on communication skills and the nurturing of speaking and listening skills. Acknowledging the excellence of the GEPT, more than 300 junior high schools or high schools, and hundreds of universities, private enterprises, and government agencies in Taiwan recognize GEPT scores. In recent years, an increasing number of universities around the world, including prestigious institutions in Hong Kong, Japan, France, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S., have begun to adopt the GEPT as a means of measuring the English language ability of Taiwanese applicants, thus benefitting students who are interested in pursuing further study overseas. Questions?
Waystage Skill-Area Level DescriptionsSKILLDESCRIPTIONning
Reading
Writing
Speaking
Test Format & StructureSTAGEMODULEPARTTASK TYPESNUMBEROF ITEMSTIME(MINS.)FirstListening1Picture Description3020 (approx.) 2AnsweringQuestions 3Conversations 4Short Talks Reading1Sentence Completion3535 2Cloze 3Reading Comprehension SecondWriting1Sentence Writing1640 2Paragraph Writing Speaking1Repeating1810 (approx.) 2Reading Aloud 3Answering Questions 2. Are rewards or bonuses given to teachers whose students score high? Students and teachers don’t get rewards or bonuses because this is currently a public high stake assessment for Taiwanese Ministry of Education. GEPT PASSING STANDARDGeneral English Proficiency Test Passing StandardLEVELFIRST STAGESECOND STAGE SUBTESTSPASSING STANDARDMAX. SCORESUBTESTSPASSING STANDARDMAX. SCOREAdvancedListening & Reading The total score is equal to or above 150, with each subtest score no lower than 64.120 Writing & SpeakingBand 3Band 5 High-IntermediateThe total score is equal to or above 160, with each subtest score no lower than 72.80100 Intermediate80100 Writing : 70 Speaking : 80100 Elementary3. Are students required to pass the test to move to the next grade or graduate? Nope. Elementary students are not required to pass the test to move to the next grade or graduate from elementary school. The school must provide the public scores and results for students’ parents. In Taiwan, unlike USA, the GEPT exam is too early for elementary students to have consequences. 4. How are students handling increasing pressures to perform? Elementary students study GEPT exam starting from 4th grade. The English (ESL) materials get difficult. In their final 5th grade year, GEPT exam will be introduced (pre-test). So the students really don’t have any pressures to perform because there are no consequences based on the scores in Taiwan. However, in middle school, GEPT exams might affect high school entrance eligibility. 5. Are test scores used for teacher evaluations? Results of qualitative and quantitative analyses show that the Elementary, Intermediate, High-Intermediate, and advanced levels of the GEPT correspond to the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) A2, B1, B2, and C1 levels, respectively (please see the table below). The MOE adopted the CEFR in 2005 and required all major tests in Taiwan to be mapped onto the CEFR for test-users’ reference. The LTTC officially registered with the Council of Europe to participate in their Project for Piloting the Manual for Relating Language Examinations to the CEFR in July 2005. Upon completion of the study, the results were submitted to the Council of Europe in September 2006 to provide feedback and suggestions for revisions to the Manual. According to the results of the specification procedure, the GEPT conforms to a widely accepted code of practice, involving development, item compiling, and rating processes. To follow up on the piloting study, the LTTC conducted the LTTC GEPT-CEFR Alignment Project in 2007. A paper on the project was presented at the Fourth EALTA Conference and was published in Studies in Language Testing.1 A further study investigating the alignment between the GEPT and the CEFR was completed in 20112and a research study on the alignment between the GEPT and IELTS was completed in 20133. GEPTCEFRIELTSTOEFL IBTAdvancedspeaking and writingC1+7.5110 listening and readingC17.0100 High-Intermediatespeaking and writingB2+6.592 listening and readingB26.079 Intermediatespeaking and writingB1+5.5Below 79 listening and readingB15.0 Works Cited The General English Proficiency Test. (n.d.). Retrieved January 28, 2017, from https://www.lttc.ntu.edu.tw/E_LTTC/E_GEPT/alignment.htm
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