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Achievement and opportunity to learn science must be assessed "(NRC, 1996, p. 79). There are two considerations here, opportunity to learn (OTL) and achievement. When addressing OTL, the NRC Standards tell us that" Student achievement can be interpreted only in light of the quality of the programs they have experienced "(p.78). Furthermore, ..." Because student achievement is in part dependent upon opportunity to learn, opportunity to learn and achievement must be assessed equally "(p. 82 ). Fair's fair. Without adequate resources, time, and teaching, students can not be held accountable for achievement. When examining student achievement, you need to ask yourself, did I give my students adequate opportunity to learn? As a classroom teacher, not only do you need to assess student achievement but also the OTL that students in your classroom have had to develop the understanding and abilities that you expect them to achieve.
The second consideration is that assessment should focus on highly valued content (inquiry; understanding facts, concepts, theories, and principles; scientific reasoning and decision making; and scientific communication) not just content that is easily assessed. Basic knowledge is more easily assessed than understanding or the abilities of inquiry. Even so, all must be addressed. If, for instance, only basic knowledge is assessed, both teachers and students will likely dismiss the importance of the understanding or the abilities of inquiry. Assessing inquiry abilities can be a time-consuming ordeal, but do we really want students to get the message that inquiry is of little significance? (Champagne, Kouba, & Hurley, in press) Moreover, if most of our assessment consists of multiple choice exams of scientific factoids, we are telling students that if they can pass a test on that information, they "know" science. (NRC, 1996, p. 82). The assessments you give communicate to your students the content you believe has most value. Consequently, you need to ensure that the content you assess is the valued content defined by your state and the National Science Education Standards. Additionally, the content must be assessed using appropriate measures.
Decisions made and actions taken are dependent upon the quality of data that is used. The strategy for collecting data should match what you are trying to measure. For instance, it doesn't make sense to assess students' ability to conduct scientific inquiry with a conventional paper-and-pencil test. However, a multiple-choice test could be very useful to a teacher measuring student ability to get information about the chemical elements from the periodic table.
Assessments should be realistic (some use the adjective authentic), that is, similar to the activities engaged in by scientists or scientifically literate adults. Even when conducting assessments, you should be preparing your students to use their knowledge and abilities in situations outside of school. For example, you might design a test of students' ability to perform purity tests on water in the context of providing information to a town board faced with an environmental decision. Done properly, assessment is a learning tool for students as well as a measuring tool for teachers.
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