Question

Cheryl Poulos is philosophically opposed to tests with her third graders on the grounds that it puts undue stress on them. She assigns grades based on their responses in class, arguing, I call on all the students regularly, and I can tell from their answers whether or not they understand the content. Based on this information, which of the following is the most accurate statement?

a. Her assessments are likely to be valid but not reliable.
b. Her assessments are likely to be reliable but not valid.
c. Her assessments are likely to be both valid and reliable.
d. Her assessments are likely to be both invalid and unreliable.

Answer 1

Cheryl Poulos' classroom assessments are likely to be valid since she's measuring students' understanding directly but not reliable due to the subjective nature and variability of her method.

Step-by-step explanation:

Cheryl Poulos' assessments, where she assigns grades based on students' responses in class, are likely to be valid but not reliable. Validity refers to whether an assessment measures what it is supposed to measure, and since Cheryl is directly assessing students' understanding through their answers, her method could be considered valid. However, reliability refers to the consistency of an assessment, and because this method is highly subjective and could vary greatly each day depending on a multitude of factors, it is not considered reliable. It is difficult to achieve reliability with this kind of informal, observation-based grading because of inconsistencies in daily performance, differences in interpretation, and potential bias.