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Educational Assessment of Students, 8th edition

Published by Pearson (March 5, 2018) © 2019

  • Susan M. Brookhart Duquesne University
  • Anthony J. Nitko Professor Emeritus, Univeristy of Pittsburgh

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For courses in classroom assessment and educational testing.

Facilitate student learning through better assessment

Educational Assessment of Students offers information about the basics of educational measurement and step-by-step instructions on how to use and construct formative and summative assessments. Detailed coverage guides new teachers through the entire process, from developing plans that integrate teaching and assessment, to evaluating students and discussing evaluations, through interpreting state-mandated and standardized tests.

The 8th Edition features up-to-date treatment of feedback, large-scale assessment techniques, validity and reliability of classroom assessments and more.

Help pre- and in-service teachers learn to improve their ability to facilitate student learning
  • Step-by-step instructions and detailed explanations guide readers through the process of crafting classroom assessments.
  • Assessment examples show how good and poor classroom assessments affect students’ learning.
  • Checklists offer succinct tips for evaluating the quality of each type of assessment presented in the book.
  • A separate chapter on integrating instruction and assessment explicitly addresses how to  implement this essential purpose of classroom assessment (Ch. 6).
  • Two full chapters on formative assessment help readers understand how to use assessment as a tool of learning (Chs, 7 and 8).
  • A chapter on assessing higher-order thinking, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills aids readers in helping students apply and self-regulate their learning and maximize their achievement (Ch. 11).
Keep readers up to date on current practices
  • REVISED: Up-to-date treatment of feedback shows readers its effects on short- and long-term increases in student achievement and in self-regulation of learning (Ch. 8).
  • UPDATED: Revised discussions of large-scale assessment techniques for interim, benchmark, and state accountability assessment reflect changes in the field (Ch. 16).
  • UPDATED: Separate treatment of validity and reliability for classroom assessment details how educators can build high-quality classroom assessments without using large-scale statistical methods (Chs. 3 and 4).
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  • Deliver trusted content: You deserve teaching materials that meet your own high standards for your course. That’s why we partner with highly respected authors to develop interactive content and course-specific resources that you can trust—and that keep your students engaged.
    • Application Exercises challenge learners to reflect on and to apply what they have learned about working with students as an educator. Each scaffolded exercise is tied to a learning outcome in the text. 
    • Embedded eText Videos illustrate classroom assessment in action, helping students better understand course content.
  • Empower each learner: Each student learns at a different pace. Personalized learning pinpoints the precise areas where each student needs practice, giving all students the support they need—when and where they need it—to be successful.
    • Self-Check Quizzes throughout the eText help students assess how well they have mastered chapter learning outcomes. The multiple-choice, automatically graded quizzes provide rationales for both correct and incorrect answers.
  • Teach your course your way: Your course is unique. So whether you’d like to build your own assignments, teach multiple sections, or set prerequisites, MyLab gives you the flexibility to easily create your course to fit your needs.
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Check out the preface for a complete list of features and what's new in this edition.

Keep readers up to date on current practices
  • Up-to-date treatment of feedback shows readers its effects on short- and long-term increases in student achievement and in self-regulation of learning (Ch. 8).
  • Revised discussions of large-scale assessment techniques for interim, benchmark, and state accountability assessment reflect changes in the field (Ch. 16).
  • Separate treatment of validity and reliability for classroom assessment details how educators can build high-quality classroom assessments without using large-scale statistical methods (Chs. 3 and 4).
Also available with MyLab Education MyLab™ is the teaching and learning platform that empowers you to reach every student. By combining trusted author content with digital tools and a flexible platform, MyLab personalizes the learning experience and improves results for each student. MyLab Education helps teacher candidates bridge the gap between theory and practice–better preparing them for success in their future classrooms. Learn more about MyLab Education.
  • Application Exercises challenge learners to reflect on and to apply what they have learned about working with students as an educator. Each scaffolded exercise is tied to a learning outcome in the text.
  • Embedded eText Videos illustrate classroom assessment in action, helping students better understand course content.
  • Self-Check Quizzes throughout the eText help students assess how well they have mastered chapter learning outcomes. The multiple-choice, automatically graded quizzes provide rationales for both correct and incorrect answers.
Check out the preface for a complete list of features and what's new in this edition.

Part I: The Bases for Assessment

  1. Classroom Decision Making and Using Assessment
  2. Describing the Goals of Instruction
  3. Validity of Assessment Results
  4. Reliability of Assessment Results
  5. Professional Responsibilities, Ethical Behavior, and Legal Requirements in Educational Assessments

Part II: Crafting and Using Classroom Assessments

  1. Planning for Integrating Assessment and Instruction
  2. Diagnostic and Formative Assessments
  3. Providing Formative Feedback
  4. Fill-in-the-Blank and True-False Items
  5. Multiple-Choice and Matching Exercises
  6. Higher-Order Thinking, Problem Solving, and Critical Thinking
  7. Essay Assessment Tasks
  8. Performance and Portfolio Assessments
  9. Preparing Your Students to Be Assessed and Using Students’ Results to Improve Your Assessments
  10. Evaluating and Grading Student Achievement

Part III: Interpreting and Using Standardized Tests

  1. Standardized Achievement Tests
  2. Interpreting Norm-Referenced Scores
  3. Finding and Evaluating Published Assessments
  4. Scholastic Aptitude, Career Interests, Attitudes, and Personality Tests

Appendixes

  1. Educational Assessment Knowledge and Skills for Teachers
  2. Code of Fair Testing Practices in Education (Revised)
  3. Code of Professional Responsibilities in Educational Measurement
  4. Summaries of Taxonomies of Educational Objectives: Cognitive, Affective, and Psychomotor Domains
  5. Implementing the Principles of Universal Design via Technology-Based Testing
  6. Basic Statistical Concepts
  7. Computational Procedures for Various Reliability Coefficients
  8. A Limited List of Published Tests
  9. List of Test Publishers and Their Websites
  10. Answers to Even-Numbered Exercises

Glossary

References

Name Index

Subject Index

About our authors

Susan M. Brookhart, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita in the School of Education at Duquesne University and an independent educational consultant and author based in Helena, Montana.

Dr. Brookhart was the 2007-2009 Editor of Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, and is currently an Associate Editor of Applied Measurement in Education. She is author or co-author of seventeen books and over 70 articles and book chapters on classroom assessment, teacher professional development, and evaluation, including (with Anthony J. Nitko) Assessment and Grading in Classrooms, Grading, How to Give Effective Feedback to Your Students, How to Create and Use Rubrics for Formative Assessment and Grading, and (with Connie M. Moss) Learning Targets: Helping Students Aim for Understanding in Today's Lesson. She serves on the editorial boards of several journals and on several national advisory panels. She has been named the 2014 Jason Millman Scholar by the Consortium for Research on Educational Assessment and Teaching Effectiveness (CREATE) and is the recipient of the 2015 Samuel J. Messick Memorial Lecture Award from Educational Testing Service/TOEFL.

Dr. Brookhart's research interests include the role of both formative and summative classroom assessment in student motivation and achievement, the connection between classroom assessment and large-scale assessment, and grading. Dr. Brookhart also works with schools, districts, regional educational service units, universities, and states doing professional development. Dr. Brookhart received her Ph.D. in Educational Research and Evaluation from The Ohio State University, after teaching in both elementary and middle schools. She was a full-time faculty member at Duquesne University from 1989 through 2003, most recently as Professor and Chair of the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership.

Anthony J. Nitko is a private consultant in educational measurement and Professor Emeritus and former Chairperson of the Department of Psychology in Education at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a University Associate, Department of Educational Psychology, at the University of Arizona. His research interests include curriculum-based criterion-referenced testing, integrating testing and instruction, classroom assessment, and the assessment of knowledge and higher order thinking skills.

Professor Nitko is coauthor (with Susan Brookhart) of Educational Assessment of Students. He is author of the chapter, “Designing Tests That Are Integrated With Instruction” in the Third Edition of Educational Measurement, and co-author (with Susan Brookhart) of Assessment and Grading in Classrooms (2008). He co-authored (with Susan Brookhart) the chapter, “Strategies for constructing assessments of higher order thinking skills” (2011). He also co-authored (with C.M. Lindvall) Measuring Pupil Achievement and Aptitude, (with T-C Hsu) Pitt Educational Testing Aids (PETA) (a package of computer programs for classroom teachers), and (with R. Glaser) the chapter “Measurement in Learning and Instruction” in the Second Edition of Educational Measurement.

Professor Nitko has been Editor of the journal Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, and later served as the International News Editor of this journal. He was also Editor of d'News, the AERA Division D newsletter. Some of the journals in which his research has appeared include American Educational Research Journal, Applied Measurement in Education, Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy, & Practice, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, Educational Technology, Journal of Educational Measurement, and Research in Developmental Disabilities.

Professor Nitko is a member of several professional organizations, was elected as Fellow to the American Psychological Association, served on several committees of the American Educational Research Association, elected Secretary of AERA Division D, served on committees of the National Council on Measurement in Education, and was elected to the Board of Directors and as President of the latter. Professor Nitko received Fulbright awards to Malawi and to Barbados. He has served as a consultant to various government and private agencies in Bangladesh, Barbados, Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Jamaica, Jordan, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, United States, Vietnam, and Yemen.

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