Innovatsiya 2021: dolzarb muammolar va zamonaviy yechim

Mrs. X is an ESL teacher at a high school. She teaches English grammar to 
ESL classes. She recently has covered modal verbs in her class. When time came to 

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INNOVATSIYA 2021: DOLZARB MUAMMOLAR VA ZAMONAVIY YECHIM 
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her students, test she decided to give them only one question to test their knowledge 
and ability of using modal verbs. The task was not valid and reliable:
“Write a 250 word essay on the meaning of modal verbs. Give examples.” Since, she 
was short of time, she distributed handwritten prompt on unlined paper. To keep 
students on their toes and to increase attendance, she told them that the test could 
occur anytime during the week. Time came when there was the final test,Mrs.Xwas 
called by the head of department, so students had a great chance to cheat their 
teacher.Mrs. X did not tell her students when to expect their results. Finally, students 
got their tests back ten days later. Because test grades were extremely low, Mrs. X 
added ten points to everyone’s paper to achieve a good curve. Next year she plans to 
recycle the same test but will require writing 400 words[1].
As we see in this situation a teacher’s assessment literacy leaves much to be desired.
The following suggestions can enhance the ability to design tests that are effective in 
motivating, measuring, and reinforcing learning. We have too many factors to 
consider while designing a test. The best way is to refer to the principles of 
assessment, which help to design a successful test.
Validity – does the test measure what it is supposed to measure? Does the test 
measure exactly what it should measure? For example a valid test of reading will 
check the reading ability not the knowledge of English or other skills. Briefly, test 
what you teach[5]. 
Reliability – does it produce consistent results?A reliable test should be consistent 
in its conditions across two or more administrations, give clear directions for 
scoring/evaluation, and should have rubrics for scoring/evaluation 
Practicality – is it practical in terms of time and resources? Practicality refers to 
the logical issues involved in making, giving, and scoring an assessment instrument. 
These include "costs, the amount of time it takes to construct and to administer, ease 
of scoring, and ease of interpreting/reporting the results" [2]. A test that fails to meet 
such criteria is impractical.
As we have mentioned above about some changes in educational system, too 
much work has been done to raise the quality of teaching English as a foreign 

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language. New methods, approaches, content moved in the direction of developing 
communicative skills through the integration of language skills. These methods help 
students to acquire the language in stress reduced atmosphere. Students are taught in 
authentic, communicative atmosphere, which helps to increase their both language 
skills and language aspects. Consequently, course objectives, tasks and assessment 
should be aligned together to get the reliable and valid results. Thus, assessing 
learners should go in the same manner. It should not cause any anxiety, frustration or 
nervousness in students. Thus, the best solution here is to use alternative assessment.
To sum up all mentioned above, being an assessment literate teacher is 
becoming today’s need. Teachers before starting a course first have to align the 
course objectives, methodology and assessment. Assessment should not be a final 
consideration; in contrast it should be the first. If teachers know what they teach and 
what is the final outcome, well designed tool named “test” will help to see whether 
they achieve it or not.