Judging the Appropriateness of an Evaluative Tool

A Teacher evaluates the appropriateness of the evaluative tool twice, one as he chooses it and the other as he gets the feedback.  For each phase, various factors for judging the appropriateness should be taken into consideration. In the both phases the teacher might deal with the same factors but in a different evaluative way.

While choosing the evaluative tool age, in my opinion, is the most important factor that affects the appropriateness judgment. For a young learner the tool should be motivational i.e. it should encourage learners to do their best for example by using role play, student portfolio, new apps … Another factor is the skill/area that is evaluated. Evaluative tools vary in their appropriateness and efficiency from one skill to another. Written tests are not the best tool to evaluate the ability of communication while, in this case, role-play can give more trusted results than interview. Individual differences play a major role in choosing the appropriate tool.  A Teacher may divide his class into groups in terms of the evaluative tool. For example, while testing speaking for shy learners, teacher can evaluate them by using interview. Then he evaluates them in a small role-play group. After that, they may participate in role-playing or oral presentation in front of the whole class. Any evaluation has objectives. Objectives should be counted while judging the appropriateness of the tool. It is obvious that not all tools give the same quality while measuring certain objectives. For instance, measuring oral comprehension is best done by using verbal tools rather than written ones. Difficulty of using the tool is a factor in determining its suitability. Teacher needs to make sure that his students do not find any difficulty in using the tool. With new tools it is better to use it first in small quizzes to have a clear view difficulties that you students may face. "Time is a crucial factor in any issue" therefore teacher needs to consider time while choosing the evaluative tool.

On the other hand, teacher reevaluates the evaluative tool after finishing evaluation. Some factors might be the same but with more and clear evidences. When we come to the objectives, teachers can judge to how extent the tool achieves them depending on students' results. Teachers can get some information that help them in judging on the tool suitability from students and their reaction toward the tool. The used tool will affect students' performance in a way or another; in any case, this effect helps in judging the appropriateness of the tool.

The previous paragraphs talk about judging the appropriateness of the evaluative tool before and after the evaluation. Each paragraph presents some factors that should be considered while this judgment such as students age, skill or area which we want to evaluate, individual differences, objectives, difficulty of using the tool and time. These factors and more help teacher in planning and implementing the evaluation effectively.