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Test Justification:

A test is important for several reasons. First, a test gives students
the opportunity to show what they have learned, and allows the
teacher to assess the effectiveness of their instruction. A test also is
the deciding factor as to whether students need more instruction in
the unit or to whether or not a teacher needs to change their methods
of instruction. According to best practice, a test is defined as a
formal and systematic assessment method in gaining information to
guide decision making.

For this unit, students have been studying plants, mainly the
reproduction, life cycle, and heredity of them, at a first grade level.
They have also been studying the 3 parts of the plant, similarities and
differences in flowers, how animals help make fruit, specialized parts
of plants, why people need plants, and why plants and animals need
each other.

In order for this test to be meaningful it must have content and
construct validity and reliability. Validity deals with whether the
information collected is relevant to the decision that is being made.
Reliability refers to whether the information collected is consistent. If
a test lacks reliability or validity it is not measuring what it was
supposed to be measuring and is not worth anything.

This plant unit test is valid in more than one way. It was
created by assuming that all of the objectives were taught during
instruction. In other words, this test covers only what was taught,
which gives it content validity. Each objective is met by at least two
different test questions, accept for one of them, which is asked in
short answer form and requires that the student write more than a
sentence to be correct. The objectives are at either knowledge level
or comprehension level of Bloom's Taxonomy. These objectives
were taught with these levels kept in mind, so that when the students
are being tested over the objectives they can use the same thought
process that they did when they were taught the information in class.
This gives my test construct validity. For example, objective number
five states that students will be able to correctly describe how animals
help make seeds in their own words. This is a translating-
comprehension question on Bloom's Taxonomy. Like wise, on the
test students are asked to describe how animals help make seeds in
their own words. Therefore, this test question mirrors what the
objective was, in the same way that construct validity says it should.

This test is designed for first graders. Obviously, not all first
graders can read. In order for them to take this test they a teacher will
need to read the directions and questions orally. The test is written
with clear and easy to follow directions, in bold print. The font is extra
large and there is plenty of extra space for large handwriting. The test
is made up of three main parts, with questions in the order that the
objective was taught that it goes along with. There are a total of
fifteen questions, five of them are multiple-choice, five are true/false,
and 5 are short answer. The test should take about fifteen to twenty
minutes, about one minute per question should be calculated. Some
items may take less than a minute, while others may take longer. For
example, a true/false question may take less time to answer than a
short answer question. All of the above considerations help to make
this test age appropriate, the time is appropriate, the font is, and so
are the very clear, bold directions.

Now that we know the test is valid, we can talk about reliability.
According to best practice, a test needs three to five questions per
objective to have the highest amount of consistency. For first grade,
and with a short amount of time to give the test, five questions per
objective are not practical. With this in mind, the amount of test
questions per objective is two on my test. This way, each objective
that was taught is weighted equally and none of them were left out.

These fifteen test questions are asked in several ways,
including multiple-choice, true/false, and short answer questions.
Because each question is written in a different way, students are able
to demonstrate what they learned in different ways. Variety in test
question format can lead to inconsistencies. For example, some
students may be better at multiple choice than short answer questions
and score higher on the multiple choice section of the test than on the
short answer part. Inconsistencies are important in determining true
score, which is measurement plus or minus error. Inconsistencies
help create an average score, which is supposed to be as close to
the true score as possible.

In order to show that this test is reliable I have evaluated each
of my objectives.

Students will be able to, when asked:

Identify form and function of roots, stem, and leaf of a plant (E.g.,

labeling the 3 parts and stating what the function is). [Recalling-

Knowledge]

The two questions asked for this objective are numbers 1 and 2.
Both are multiple- choice items and are at the same Bloom's
Taxonomy level as the objective was taught, Knowledge level.

Correctly explain what a life cycle is and its stages (E.g., a life

cycle is a pattern of growth that happens over and over again. Its

stages are seed, seedling, and adult plant). [Remembering-

Knowledge]

The two questions that go with this objective are number 3, which is
a multiple choice item, and number 6, a true/false item. Both
questions are at the same level as objective 2, Knowledge level.

Explain the importance of plants in people's lives (E.g., Plants can

be used to make medicines, food, clothing, and homes).

[Recalling-Knowledge]

The two test items that go along with this objective are both at
Knowledge level on Bloom's Taxonomy, the same level that the
objective was written at. Item number 7 is a true/false question and
item number 11 is a short supply answer type.

Describe how flowers are alike and different (E.g., scented,

unscented, color, size, shape, number of parts). [Recalling-

Knowledge]

This objective is represented on the test at Comprehending level,
through numbers 8 and 12. Number 8 is a true/false question, and
number 12 is a short supply answer.

Correctly describe how animals help make seeds in their own

words (E.g., When an animal visits a flower, it gets covered with

powder. Then it visits another flower. Some powder rubs off onto

parts of this next flower and makes a seed grow inside. A fruit

grows around the seed to hold it in). [Translating-Comprehension]

This objective is covered on the test with numbers 9, which is a
true/false item, and 14, a short answer item. Both items are at
Comprehension Level.

Explain that all new plants grow to look the same as the plants that

the seeds came from (E.g., an apple seed will grow into an apple

tree). [Recognizing-Knowledge]

This objective is covered on the test, by number 5, a multiple
choice item, and number 10, a true/false item. Both of these test
questions are, like the objective, at Knowledge level on Bloom's
taxonomy.

Describe why plants and animals need each other in their own

words (E.g., Many kinds of plants need animals to help them

make fruits and spread seeds. Many kinds of plants need flowers

of plants for food). [Translating-Comprehending]

This objective is the only one that has one test item to cover it.
Number 15 is a short answer item and requires the student to do
exactly what the objective states, to put this information into their
own words. This is definitely a Comprehension level question. If
the students had more time I would have created another question,
maybe a multiple choice item, to also cover this objective, but I
didn't want to make the test too long.

Identify special plant parts and their functions (E.g., shape of leaf,

location of roots, needles, etc.). [Recalling-Knowledge]

This objective is met by number 4, a multiple choice item, and
number 11, a short answer item. Both questions are at Knowledge
level on Bloom's Taxonomy.

The statements above prove that this test is valid and reliable,
which means that it can be used to accurately measure what was
taught. If the outcome of the test is good it will mean that students
have learned and comprehended what was taught about plants. It
also means that they are ready to move to the next unit, and that the
teacher's methods of instruction are effective and should still be used.
If the outcome of the test is not very good it will mean that the students
did not learn what they were being taught, and will need to be taught
again, probably in a different way than they were taught the first time.
This would need to be done, until the students have met the
objectives.

This unit on plants is important because it teaches students
about reproduction, life cycles, and heredity. Although these topics
are taught at a first grade level, and do not go into great detail, they
are necessary for students to know. These topics will most likely be
taught in greater depth later in the students' academic career. The
knowledge that they have gained from this unit will be helpful to them
in the future.

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