Reliable Assessments

Here is an example of an assessment that I have used in my courses in the past:

Romeo and Juliet

 Quiz 2
(Test not in current use)

1.     Who kills Mercutio?

2.     What crime does Romeo commit?

3.     What is Romeo’s punishment?

4.     Who does Juliet’s father want her to marry after Tybalt’s death?

5.     What does Juliet do instead of marrying him?

6.     Why does Romeo think Juliet is dead?

7.     Who says, “I defy you stars!”?

8.     Who does Romeo meet and kill on the way to the Capulet tomb?

9.     How does Romeo kill himself?

10.          What happens to Juliet at the end?

As you can tell, this is version 2 of the test. I created multiple versions with a bank of questions in order to discourage cheating. Additionally, I give a pre test and check it against the end of unit test to measure gains and also to test the validity of the assessment. I checked the answers after completion in order to see if too many people missed the same question in order to check the reliability of the test questions. Generally, I also like for another teacher to look over the answers to increase the reliability.