5 things teachers must do to improve assessment reliability

Exam season is here, and most of us teachers are preparing question papers and checking answer sheets, while students are preparing for the assessment.

We as teachers must take steps to make assessments reliable.

Reliable means dependable, repeatable and consistent. Implementing the method that reduces random errors will improve RELIABILITY.

Here are some practices that we teachers can follow to improve the reliability of assessment.

Ensure students are familiar with the assessment

If students are new to the question type/format, then they may not show their true competence due to unfamiliarity. Provide practice tests or sample tests to the new students to allow them to become familiar with the types of questions in the assessment. It will reduce test anxiety which also influences reliability.

Provide detailed Pattern of Question paper to the parents before every examination

This will help them in preparing their wards accordingly. This should contain the outline of questions along with the breakup of the distribution of points for each answer.

Revisit the concepts to be covered in the assessment in each subject

In each subject, a Day-wise Revision Schedule should be shared with the parents two weeks before every assessment to make them a part of this important step. Special doubt sessions should also be taken care of by the teachers.

An assessment contains many questions

Question analysis should look at the performance of each question and work on improving poor performing and less attempted questions in the assessment. This helps in making the assessment more reliable. Take up that concept again in the class to make it clear. Then a small test of those concepts should be given to the students so that they can easily attempt those questions in the final assessments.

Have a consistent environment for the students

Try to ensure that all the students have a similar environment and have the same amount of time to take the test in. Different environments, like lighting, room temperature, and noise can influence test performance. For test results to be reliable, it is important that the test environment is consistent.

Hope these tips will help you to improve assessment reliability.

Tips for students

When you do exams, always remember the order in which to do the questions. Easy questions, first, medium questions next and hard questions, last. If you do it in any other order, you run the risk of running out of time.

Did you like this article by Shalini? Do you have any tips for teachers? Then write to us or share your thoughts in the comments section.