Balancing validity and reliability by Chartered College of Teaching https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead Share your reflections en-us 2014-01-08 18:28:53 UTC 2025-12-31 10:51:09 UTC hello@padlet.com When considering the balance, time becomes a large deciding factor. Sometimes quicker assessments, that take less application time and less marking are reliable, but not as valid. Does doing them multiple times with a different focus increase he validity? I think it does. An example would be a quick quiz each week, reflecting more detailed themes as the course progresses. https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1663400801 2021-07-28 19:56:16 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1663400801 Having been introduced to the concepts of validity and reliability, can you think of any tensions between these two ideas? WanGeogEcon https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1668813447 We want our assessments to be both reliable and valid but we don't want to be giving too much time over to assessing, this is in itself a tension. Ideally, we would make decisions about what we are assessing each time and what we are forgoing and thus plan assessment over time so that the bits we forgo in one can be the focus in another. ]]> 2021-08-04 11:41:51 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1668813447 Do we want all the students to have the same test conditions (higher reliability) or provide a choice of ways to access the task (perhaps higher validity); WanGeogEcon https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1668815016 My feeling here is that if the work is going to be used to make a judgement then we should ensure that the conditions are the same but I am then completely challenged by the pivot of the question of also ensuring high validity. If we are to use work to make a judgement, it should be valid too... The example of the maths test needing reading skills is evident here.... ]]> 2021-08-04 11:44:48 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1668815016 Thinking about the different types of assessments that take place in your school, why might you prioritise either validity or reliability? WanGeogEcon https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1668817771 I think we prioritise validity more in KS3 where we are 'building' geographers, historians and mathematicians and give freedoms in design to the needs of the different subjects. Whereas in KS4 and KS5, as we move towards the external exams, reliability becomes more of a priority.]]> 2021-08-04 11:49:37 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1668817771 Tension - workload and professional expertise. https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1675611346 There could be a tension associated with marking workload here. If higher validity assessment requires the exercising of greater professional judgement in order to also be reasonably reliable the capacity of the teaching workforce to deliver it frequently will be lower. Self marking multiple choice quizzes (high reliability though likely a narrow purpose) do not require the same type or amount of input at the latter stages of the assessment process. Another part of the necessary balancing act.]]> 2021-08-11 15:21:24 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1675611346 Tensions between validity and reliability https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1751531494 I would like to read more around the balance of this for younger children and how to ensure that outcomes from assessments provide the best balance possible.  I agree with the comment above about balancing assessments over time and believe this should be mapped across the whole school so that there is a common understanding of the why, how and when. I believe that collegues would learn from each other in the discussions that result from these plans. ]]> 2021-09-19 11:26:02 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1751531494 MC and validity/reliability admin1438 https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1853491133 Responding to the earlier post about multiple choice questions, I wonder about the reliability and validity of their results. MC tests often highlight misconceptions. If a struggling learner replays the misconception (on a second sitting) does it just consolidate that misconception, does the student think "I can't do this subject" or do they genuinely learn? I can see MC may be helpful for children who quickly learn from their errors but I'm not so sure about others. The test results seems to lack validity because they only sometimes show what the student understands and they don't reliably inform us of the reason for the error. This makes it difficult for a teacher to utilise for further learning. In many cases, I wonder if the results also lack reliability because of the temptation to guess.]]> 2021-10-29 08:33:21 UTC https://padlet.com/charteredcollege/validreliableclead/wish/1853491133