Strategies for assessment and

gradingCEFR workshop

CarthageMay 2013

QuestionsO Where does CEFR related rating fit in

to other aspects of evaluation in schools in Tuniisia?

O Do we distinguish clearly between normative, summative and formative assessment?

O What kind of assessment is the CEFR best adapted to?

A low stakes approach to CEFR assessment

O Low stakes – institution / in-course, in class assessmentO Use CEFR criteria, combining self-

assessment, teacher impression, double grading

O High stakes – official public certificationO Use standardised, statistically

validated public examinations wherever available

Assessing CEFR levelsO Specification

O Relating the curriculum to the «can do» statements

O Developing assessment tasks and CEFR criteriaO Standardisation and standard setting

O Training with illustrative samplesO Bench marking local samples

O Moderation and validationO Counteracting subjectivity with double markingO Check results against collateral information

Why do we need moderation?

O People using their own «private» criteria

O Unconscious «lead» criteria – e.g. accuracy v. fluency

O Severity / lenienceO Normative / comparative grading

Criterion ratingO It provides explicit information about

what a student can doO Measures which assess student

achievement in terms fo a criterion standard provide information on student performance independent of reference to the performance of others

O Aligning the criteria to the CEFR scale places the learner on a continuum of achievement