Criterion-Referenced Assessment Without Measurement

Abstract

This study sought to measure the accuracy of special education teachers' judgments of student performance when those judgments are based on unsystematic observation. Subjects were 20 special education teacher trainees and 20 special education cooperating teachers who, following the implementation of instructional lessons, estimated levels of children's performance. Chi-square analyses and t tests on teachers' estimates suggested that, despite confidence in their own judgments, teachers tended to be inaccurate and to overrate their students' performance. Implications for evaluating student progress and program effects are discussed.