VALIDITY & RELIABILITY
2
Article Analysis
Administering assessments is a vital part of a teacher’s job that impacts classroom culture
and school curriculum. Teachers utilize both formative and summative assessments in their
classroom to gauge student learning. In the article, “Principles and purposes of assessment in the
classroom,” Earle (2021) states that assessments help to identify students who have mastered the
material and those who still need support. Earle stresses the point that formative assessments are
an ongoing instructional practice used to inform teaching. When deciding on what type of
assessment to use, the teacher must not only consider the purpose, but also the validity, and
reliability of the assessment. Simply communicating with students provides teachers with
feedback as to what they know and what they are still struggling with. Summative assessments
such as end of unit tests, mid-term exams, and final exams include a large amount of
information. The results of these assessments are used to evaluate the teaching strategies and the
curriculum when planning for the following year.
Earle (2021) mentions the importance of considering the validity and reliability factors
when deciding on what type of assessment to administer. Teachers must determine what they
want to know, and what the focus should be before creating the assessment. To be valid, an
assessment must assess what it was designed to measure. Construct underrepresentation and
construct irrelevance are two potential threats to validity. According to the article, teachers can
avoid these threats by providing clear objectives as to what students are being assessed on.
Reliability is the second factor that needs to be considered more so for summative assessments.
An assessment is reliable if it produces similar results at a different time. The article discusses
both internal and external issues that can affect the reliability of assessments. Internal reliability
takes the actual assessment into account while external reliability looks at the influences outside
VALIDITY & RELIABILITY
3
of the assessment. Earle (2021) concludes the article by addressing the fact that assessments are a
major component of teaching, and in order for assessments to be useful, teachers must devote
time for reflection on their assessment practices.
Topical Analysis
The article “Principles and purposes of assessment in the classroom highlights the
importance of assessments in teaching (Earle, 2021). It stresses the point that teachers need to
consider both validity and reliability of the assessments that are designed. However, the article
also mentions that an assessment cannot have both high reliability and high validity. Teachers
need to make sure they have clearly defined purposes for their assessments. Self-reflection of
their assessment practices allows teachers the opportunity to determine whether the results of
student assessments are providing valuable feedback to enhance teaching and learning
opportunities in the classroom. (Earle, 2021).
Personal Reflection
The use of both formative and summative assessments are a vital part of every teacher’s
job. Before I entered the teaching profession, I never realized the value of formative assessments.
All I could recall from my earlier years was summative assessments and the emphasis placed on
them. In my opinion, the daily use of formative assessment is an invaluable tool that can improve
instruction and at the same time enhance student learning. The article reaffirmed for me the
importance of monitoring student learning through the use of formative assessments. In my
school we place a huge emphasis on the validity and reliability of mid-term and final exams. I
am required to run an analysis report for each test after it is administered to examine the results
and share with my colleagues during post-planning. My biggest takeaway from this article is that
I now know that I am working with educators who make assessments a top priority.
