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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING VIETNAM NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES TRAN THI KIM DUNG DEVELOPING SOME ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR GRADE-9 STUDENTS’ READING COMPENTENCY IN LITERATURE Major: Theory and Methodology of Teaching Code: 14 01 11 SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS HA NOI, 2019 This research is completed at: The Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences Supervisors: ASSOC PROF DR Nguyen Thi Hong Van ASSOC PROF DR Nguyen Thi Hanh Reviewer 1: Reviewer 2: Reviewer 3: This thesis shall be defended at the Thesis Examination Committee at Institute level, The Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences, 101 Tran Hung Dao street, Ha Noi at ……… ……… dated ……… year ……… This thesis is available at: - National Library of Vietnam - Library of the Vietnam National Institute of Educational Sciences INTRODUCTION Reason for choosing the topic 1.1 In the early decades of the 21st century, there was an urgent demand for the implementation of the fundamental and comprehensive renovation in the education and training, and human resources development in our country In the Resolution of the 8th plenum of the 11th Central Committee, it was stated that: “Radically renovate the forms and methods of examinations, tests and assessment of educational, training outcomes to guarantee the integrity, objectivity The examination, testing and assessment of educational, training outcomes need to be implemented step by step in accordance with the advanced criteria trusted and recognized by the society and international community Combine the assessment result in learning process with the end-of-term, end-of-year assessments; teachers’ assessment with students’ self-assessment; schools’ assessment with family and society’s assessment.” On the implementation of this task, the Ministry of Education and Training has required the entire sector to carry out the renovation in testing and assessment towards competency approach, considering this as the breakthrough in the process of teaching and learning renovation 1.2 Students’ performance assessment is an essential component in the teaching and learning process Systematic assessment following the learning objectives will promptly provide necessary information for students to re-adjust their learning activities and feedback for teachers to adjust, refine their teaching activities, thereby improving the teaching and learning quality in the general schools When the curriculum, text books have been determined toward competency development, the assessment of students’ performance should be in compliance with this approach However, in the current general schools, the assessment of students’ performance in the subjects in general and Literature in particular still has limitations and shortcomings Teachers who have approached the trend of assessment renovation towards competency development still find it confusing to implement, especially when it comes to how to establish appropriate tools ensuring technical requirements 1.3 Reading comprehension is a component competency of the group of professional competencies that need forming and developing in the Literature However, the assessment of reading competency still has limitations, including the issue of developing the assessment tools The question is what kind of renovation does Literature in Vietnamese schools need to achieve the goal of competency assessment? Besides the common assessment tools that teachers have been using for a long time, how can we develop tools to assess students’ reading competency accurately and objectively? For such educational phrases of significant meaning as fundamental educational phrase (ends at grade 9), how should the assessment of Literature performance be implemented for the best improvement of teaching quality? For the above-mentioned reasons, the following research topic was chosen: “Developing some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency in Literature” Literature review The assessment of students’ competency in general and reading competency in particular has been an attractive topic for numerous researchers In the scope of the thesis, the author focused on the four main aspects in terms of: 1) Assessment tool development; 2) Regular assessment at schools; 3) Summative assessment at schools; 4) Assessment tool development and Literature reading competency assessment 2.1 Research on assessment tool development By studying some major documentations such as Classroom Assessment: Principles and Practice for Effective Standards-Based Instruction (James.H McMillan); Qualities of Effective Teachers (James H.Stronge); Measurement and Assessment of Learning Activities at School (Lam Quang Thiep); Assessment of learners’ development, opportunities, challenges and solutions (Nguyen Thi Lan Phuong et al.); Establishing a common knowledge framework for educational assessment (Duong Thu Mai), etc we found that the authors had affirmed the essential role of assessment in the improvement of teaching and learning quality, put emphasis on the significance of tools for different forms of assessment, initially proposed the ways to develop and use assessment tools (including regular written tests; observation slips, question paper; questionnaires) The authors emphasized that it was important to model the differences between assessment tools and test design process to illustrate the relationship between assessment purposes (continuous assessment to reinforce the learning process, review students’ strengths and weaknesses or summative assessment to provide feedback for learners, teachers, management levels, etc.), and assessment method, tools, and objectives 2.2 Research on continuous assessment at school With regard to this matter, we studied such documents asClassroom assessment: concepts and applications (Airasian, P W); Assessment Literacy (Boyles, P); Principles and Practice for Effective Standards-Based Instruction, (James H McMillan); Classroom Assessment Technique (Thomas A.Anges, K Prtricia Cross); Initial Renovation in Assessing Grade-6 Students’ Academic Performance (Tran Kieu); Testing and Assessing Syllabus in Teaching (Sai Cong Hong, Le Thai Hung, Le Thi Hoang Ha, Le Duc Ngoc)); General Education Curriculum (Ministry of Education and Training, 2018); Renovation in teaching method and testing and assessing academic performance of subjects in general schools (Ministry of Education and Training, 2016, 2017, 2018 Teacher Training Materials), etc In general, the documents have significantly resolved some radical issues in terms of continuous assessment such as concept, purpose, role/meaning, methods, primary means/tools; focused on the importance of continuous assessment: assessment for learning activities with the purpose of finding and interpreting information for learners, teachers to determine their position on the learning path, thereby adjusting teaching and learning activities to strive for the best Although these issues have mostly been addressed in terms of general theory initially with some examples associated with the subject, we consider these as important foundation to continue researching and applying to fulfill the task of the thesis 2.3 Research on summative assessment at school Summative assessment is also a matter of great interest, some of the main works that the author had access to are Classroom Assessment Techniques (Thomas A.Anges, K Prtricia Cross), Assessment and Teaching of 21st Century Skills: Methods and Approach (Patrick Griffin, Esther Care), Guidance for Teachers to Achieve High Results in Assessing Students in the Classroom (Niko, Hasu), Measurement and Assessment of Learning Activities at School (Lam Quang Thiep), Research and propose a common knowledge framework for educational assessment and focus on each relevant subject (Duong Thu Mai),… These documents have analyzed and clarified some of the important concepts of summative assessment, purpose of summative assessment, tools used in summative assessment In addition, the authors also expressed some opinions showing the new approach (compared to Vietnam) in the test/examination paper design in order to develop students’ competency: focusing on the problem-solving task with pragmatic scenarios, minimizing the task of knowledge identification, creating opportunities for students to express their personal competency Through these research, we have also clearly identified some basic characteristics of the two forms of assessment (continuous assessment and summative assessment) 2.4 Research on the development of assessment tools for students’ reading competency in Literature/and similar subject in foreign countries To study the above matter, we focused on some main works, which are Literature Teaching at General Schools (Hoang Hoa Binh - Editor); Renovation in Academic Performance Assessment Meeting Competency Development Requirements (Do Ngoc Thong); Assessment Renovation in Literature Framework Following Competency Development Orientation (Bui Manh Hung); Proposal on Structure and Standard of Reading Competency (Nguyen Thi Hong Van); Reading Competency Standard (Nguyen Thi Hanh); Assessment of Students’ Literature Competency, (Pham Thi Thu Huong); A Brief on Curriculum, Teaching Method, Assessment Method of Literature in Some Countries (Nguyen Thi Hong Nam, Vo Huy Binh),… A similarity in these works is that the authors clarified and affirmed the important role of the academic performance assessment in general and students’ reading competency assessment in Literature in particular Some works conducted in-depth research on tools used in the assessment, development technique and how to use these tools in accordance with the characteristics in many learning aspects These works enabled us to gain an insight of the objective of teaching reading; the method and technique for teaching reading; testing and assessment of students’ reading competency Some works put emphasis on the identification of the components of reading competency, establishment of behavioral indicators, proposal for reading competency assessment standard The “Literature General Education Programme” promulgated on 26 December 2018 by the Ministry of Education and Training also clearly identified that the necessary requirements of reading are the outcomes of competency standard These requirements are specifically analyzed for each text genre (literary text, argumentative text, informative text) The analysis of educational results also stated specific guidelines playing the role of compass helping teachers realized the nature of students’ academic performance assessment following the competency development orientation However, the mentioned issues in this thesis are only the guidelines, specific applied studies are required for practical implementation and application Some foreign documentations namely Technique to Raise Questions in Reading Competency Assessment (Juliette Mendelovits, Ron Martin Dave Tout); Teaching the Best Practice Way: Methods that Matter : (Harvey Daniels Marilyn Bizar); Teaching reading and writing (Johnson, A.P), etc focused on discussing the important role of reading competency assessment, initially introduced assessment tools for reading competency, levels of reading competency needs assessing In general, both domestic and foreign researchers have studied and introduced some guidelines for using the assessment tools for students’ reading competency from different perspectives However, some issues in terms of how to design and use some assessment tools such as questionnaires, observation slips, academic records to improve the teaching and learning quality have not been studied comprehensively and systematically That is the gap that the thesis will proceed on reseaching Research purpose To develop some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency in Literature to contribute to the renovation of academic performance assessment in Literature following learners’ competency development orientation Research tasks - To determine the theoretical, practical basis of the development of some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency in Literature in two forms, which are continuous assessment and periodical assessment - To determine principles, process to develop assessment tools, standards for grade9 students’ reading competency, thereby designing some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency on such basis - To conduct pedagogical experiment, to initially affirm the feasibility, efficiency of the proposed tools in the thesis Research scope - Objective scope: Assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency - Practical research scope: Some secondary schools in some provinces/cities: Ha Noi, Thai Nguyen, Quang Ninh - Experimental scope: Pilot some representative tools for two assessment forms (continuous assessment and periodical assessment) Research method The thesis adopted the theoretical research methods (analysis, summary, comparison, etc.) and practical ones (observation, investigation, survey, pedagogical experiment) Scientific hypothesis If it is possible to develop and use some tools that ensure the scientific characteristic to assess grade-9 students’ reading competency in Literature contributions will be made to achieve the objective of developing students’ reading competency New contributions of the thesis - Theoretically: Contributing to systematize some theoretical issues relating to the assessment in accordance with competency development; proposing standard for assessing grade-9 students’ reading competency based on requirement of the programme - Practically: Determining necessary assessment tools in two forms of continuous assessment and periodical assessment; proposing some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency, making contributions to implement the new Literature General Education Programme Structure of the thesis In addition to the Introduction and Conclusion, the thesis is divided into three chapters: Chapter 1: Scientific basis of the development of some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency in Literature Chapter 2: Designing assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency in Literature Chapter 3: Pedagogical experiment, reviewing the efficiency and feasibility of the proposed assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency CHAPTER 1: SCIENTIFIC BASIS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF SOME ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR GRADE-9 STUDENTS’ READING COMPETENCY IN LITERATURE 1.1 Rationale 1.1.1 Assessing educational outcomes following competency development orientation 1.1.1.1 Assessing educational outcomes Educational assessment means the process of gathering information, analyzing and interpreting the reality of students’ learning, identifying the cause to propose measures to improve the teaching and learning so that students can make progress and achieve the set out learning objectives In accordance with the “General Education Programme”, educational outcomes are measured with qualitative and quantitative forms through continuous, periodical assessment at educational facilities, assessment on a large scale at national, local level and international assessment The results of optional subjects are used to assess students’ general academic performance in each academic year and in the entire learning process 1.1.1.2 Forms of educational outcomes assessment There are two forms of assessment, based on continuity and period which are continuous assessment and periodical assessment The continuous assessment (also called process assessment) is the assessment that takes place in the teaching process, provides feedback for teachers and students to improve teaching and learning activities The periodical assessment (also called summative assessment) is the assessment that takes place after a period of teaching conducted with tests in the class for all students to get results as a basis for student classification or by means of end-of-year examinations or examinations by educational agencies outside the schools to affirm students’ academic performance 1.1.1.3 Assessment tools Assessment tools are means used in the process of assessment in order to achieve the assessment goals The basic feature of the assessment tools is the basis to gather information about students’ academic performance, provided to teachers and students in the process of assessment and self-assessment The selection of assessment tools depends on the purpose and method of assessment 1.1.1.4 Methods of educational outcomes assessment Article writing method: This method of assessment is used in both continuous and periodical forms, but the periodical assessment may prevail Some tools that are often used in the article writting method are tasks/requests to write reflection, journal, article, thesis, etc Multiple-choice method: This method includes objective and writing multiple-choice tests, that can be used in both continuous and periodical forms The mainly used tools in the multiple-choice method are simple multiple-choice questions, complex multiple-choice questions, filling in, matching; Oral exam: In this method, teachers ask questions and students answer the questions to draw conclusions and gain new knowledge that students need to understand or to summarize, reinforce, test, extend knowledge that students have learned Some tools that are used in the oral exam are questions, oral comments, learning appraisals (experience exchange, interview and sharing) Observation method: The observation included tracking or reviewing students’ activities (observation of progress, skills) or commenting a product made by students (observation of product) The tools used in the observation method consist of: Observation slips; Academic transcripts; Teaching diaries (short record, daily record), etc Practical method: It is the method where teachers organize students to carry out practical activities, write reports on the practical results; focus on the process of carrying out activities and final products; help students differentiate what they have known from what they have done Tools that are often used in the practical method are short questions and exercises associated with specific situations, learning tasks that need resolving, experiments, academic records 1.1.1.5 Concept of competency There are different concepts of competency; however, there are still similarities From our perception, competency is a combination of personal attributes showing a smooth consolidation of knowledge, skills and biological - psychological conditions of an individual (demand, emotion, will, personal positiveness, etc.) to effectively conduct an activity in accordance with requirement and goals that are practically established; competency is formed and developed based on existing qualities and through the process of learning, training of each person 1.1.1.6 Competency assessment The trend of assessment with the following characteristics: 1) Paying more attention to each person’s improvement and capacity expressed during the learning process and applying what they have learned to the practice; 2) Focusing on summative assessment contents, associated with the resolution of practical situations; 3) Determining assessment levels on a wide spectrum to achieve accurate and specific classfication of learners’ competency 1.1.1.7 Some scales in competency assessment The thesis studied on: (1) B.S Bloom’s cognitive scale, (2) Dreyfus’s skill assessment; (3) Boleslaw Niemierko’s thinking levels, (4) Biggs and Collis’s behavioral scale - the SOLO taxonomy, (5) Singer’s competency classification, (6) Scale of specific areas by PISA (reading, mathematics, science) 1.1.2 Reading competency and assessment of students’ reading competency In Literature 1.1.2.1 Concept of reading competency On the basis of selective inheritance of concepts by previous scientists, it is our perception that: Reading comprehension is a part of reading competency, showing the ability to apply knowledge of text (author, context, structure, etc.) and the ability to read the text with a positive attitude, willingness and reader’s effort to study/explore the text, to discover information, critical meaning from the text to solve a learning task or a liferelated problem The reading competency include the following main components: Gathering and extracting information; Analyzing, interpreting information; Reflecting the information analysis and applying the read information in real life 1.1.2.2 Objectives of improving reading competency Reading comprehension plays an essential role because it relates to the perfection of human personality, creating a cultural foundation for human When mastering the reading skills, forming and developing the reading competency, people will expose themselves to opportunities with essential, diversified education and source of experience that are beneficial for them and contribute to community development 1.1.2.3 Reading competency assessment The assessment of reading competency should meet the requirements of the Curriculum including understanding content of the text; understanding form/art of the text; understanding extension, connection, relevant documents out of the text These requirements are concretized into three tasks: gathering information; analyzing, interpreting, connecting information; responding, connecting and scaling up We divided each task into levels of competency, then analyzed in the frame of reference the requirements established in the curriculum 1.1.2.4 Requirements of competency assessment of literary, argumentative, informative text reading In the 2018 Literature Programme, types of text for reading include: literary text, corresponding boxes or writing answers according to a certain rule Through students’ answers, teachers can be informed about their academic performance, strengths and weaknesses The classification of questionnaire depends on the subject (students, parents) Questionnaire is mostly used in continuous assessment Sometimes in large-scale assessment program (national assessment, international assessment), questionnaire is also used as a supporting tool to further clarify issues that expert reviewers are interested in Academic records: A deliberate and organized collection of students’ works accumulated in a period of time, showing their effort, progress and what they have achieved Teachers use these records to assess the entire learning process and progress with completed works, and final products Some types of academic records: progressive record, target students, students with achievements, etc 1.1.3.2 Tools used in periodical assessment Periodical assessment is conducted through tests or written examinations Examinations and tests may be in the form of writing (one or many questions); it is possible to combine objective multiple-choice form (including objective multiple-choice questions) with writing form Due to the nature of reading content flow, in periodical assessment we chose and focused on analyzing two tools which are tests and research exercises/learning projects The reasons for this choice was that we wanted to continue, develop the implementation of the existing program and the new program 1.2 Practical basis 1.2.1 Administrators and teachers’ awareness of assessing students’ reading competency in Literature 1.2.1.1 Administrators and teachers’ awareness of academic performance assessment following competency development orientation The above content was analyzed with the following criteria: being aware of characteristics, nature of the assessment of students’ reading competency; taking a scientific approach to reading competency assessment; applying knowledge of assessment to renovate the testing and assessment in the direction of competency development The survey result showed that a majority of administrators, teachers had proper awareness of the above issues 1.2.1.2 Administrators and teachers’ awareness of renovation in assessing students’ reading competency in secondary-school Literature This content was studied on the following specific perspectives: Accurate identification of assessment purpose, assessment implementation process, tools used in the assessment and design of assessment tools The result showed that a majority of teachers were not aware of the different assessment tools that could be used to assess students’ 11 reading competency such as: Questionnaires, Observation slips, Academic records, Scales, etc Some teachers heard about it but had never used or seen their colleagues using them This is a shortcoming that is worth paying attention to in order to overcome the limitations in the existing assessment 1.2.2 The practice of tools that are used to assess students’ reading competency in Literature 1.2.2.1 Tools used to assess students’ reading competency The survey showed that the most popular assessment tool was questions and exercises, in addition to the advantages of this tool, there were more reasons such as limited sources of materials for assessing students’ academic performance in subjects, difficulties encountered by teachers in terms of timing, working pressure; sometimes, these materials were limited at the general guidelines without specific ones for teachers to apply in the subject, because of foreign language qualifications, information technology, levels of proactive enthusiasm, teachers’ lack of attention to progressive assessment 1.2.2.2 Preliminary evaluation of the tool quality Currently, most teachers are using questions and exercises in the form of examination/tests as assessment tool for reading competency Therefore, to survey this content, we only focused on reviewing the examinations/tests designed by teachers From the 40 reading tests that were collected, we conducted statistical analysis, analyzed to review the types of knowledge mentioned, the result showed that the assessment tools were not really good in terms of technical standards, the effectiveness of the assessment was still narrow, information gathered by the tools was not very helpful for the improvement of teaching and learning quality SUBCONCLUTION OF CHAPTER We focused on analyzing the issues relating to the assessment of reading competency This is a very important premise, the basis to design assessment tools for students’ reading competency We conducted practical survey and found that a majority of teachers were properly aware of the renovation in assessment in the direction of competency development, however, the application of the approached theories in the practice still encountered obstacles so the achieved results were still limited The main reasons were difficulties in getting access to high quality materials in terms of assessment renovation, pressure in daily work of teachers, manipulation of important examinations, etc The use of different tools to diversify the assessment forms was still neglected This is the essential theoretical and practical basis guiding the development of some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency in the chapter 12 CHAPTER 2: DESIGNING AND USING SOME ASSESSMENT TOOLS FOR GRADE-9 STUDENTS’ READING COMPETENCY IN LITERATURE 2.1 Proposing principles and process of developing assessment tools for reading competency 2.1.1 Principles of developing assessment tools for reading competency - To guarantee systematic, accurate and scientific assessment of students’ reading competency - To describe in detail the requirements identified in the reading content of grade-9 students - To be in line with biological and psychological characteristics of students - To meet the practical requirements of Vietnam and integrate with the world 2.1.2 Steps to develop assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency in Literature - Identify the assessment purpose - Identify the assessment standards - Establish the assessment matrix - Develop the assessment tool - Appraise the assessment tool - Adjust and complete the assessment tools These steps are mostly implemented in tests/examinations, other tools like questionnaires, observation slips may also be conducted (if possible) or simplified, combined appropriately The appraisal will depend on the nature of the tools (used on a narrow or large scale, in continuous assessment or periodical assessment) to be conducted with different scales, requirements 2.2 Proposing assessment standard for grade-9 students’ reading competency 2.2.1 Proposing assessment standard for reading competency (common standard for three genres of text) The thesis proposed a common assessment standard for three genres of text This common standard is the foundation to design specific standards for each genre of text, according to its typical characteristics The common standard is identified in two focuses: The first focus is three reading comprehension tasks (according to PISA): Gathering and extracting information; Connecting, interpreting and analyzing information; Responding, 13 evaluating, connecting with reality; the second focus is three levels of assessment from easy to hard (from level to level 3) 2.2.2 Proposing standard for assessing the competency of reading literary text Based on the common standard and characteristics of the literary text, the thesis proposed a standard for assessing the competency of reading literary text Some typical factors to be focused on are: figurativeness, expressiveness, aesthetics Reading tasks and levels of competency are determined as common standard 2.2.3 Proposing standard for assessing the competency of reading argumentative text Based on the common standard and characteristics of the argumentative text, the thesis proposed a standard for assessing the competency of reading argumentative text Some typical factors to be focused on are: logicality, coherence, persuasiveness Reading tasks and levels of competency are determined as common standard 2.2.4 Proposing standard for assessing the competency of reading informative text Based on the common standard and characteristics of the informative text, the thesis proposed a standard for assessing the competency of reading informative text Some typical factors to be focused on are: topicality, applicability, formality Reading tasks and levels of competency are determined as common standard 2.3 Developing some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency 2.3.1 Some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency in Literature 2.3.1.1 Questions/exercises: The thesis designed a system of questions and exercises for continuous assessment after teaching the text Chuyen nguoi gai Nam Xuong (The Married Woman of Nam Xuong) (by Nguyen Du) With a total of 10 questions, including both multiple-choice and open questions Multiple-choice questions also included different types such as: Simple objective multiple-choice questions, complex objective multiple-choice questions, matching questions This system of questions and exercises carried out three tasks as stated in the standard for assessing the competency of reading literary text with different difficulty levels; focused on strengthening the type of question connected with reality By answering the questions, students would have chance to practice on how to read and comprehend literary text (tale in this context): learn about the characteristics of the genre and ideological views of the author; remember main events; connect, analyze the events, details in the tale to explain the content, meaning of the story; recognize the effects of the mythical details in the story, relate the problems posed in the story with reality to draw lessons on self-awareness and self-action Through students’ answering these questions, teachers could assess the students’ reading competency, be aware of the good points and obstacles to take measures promptly, gradually achieve the paramount goal: know how to 14 read and comprehend tales Consequently, students can actively, confidently read other tales, which means know how to read extensively to form and develop the reading competency 2.3.1.2 Feedbacks The thesis illustrated the continuous assessment tools - feedback - based on six major characteristics: 1) Being associated with specific requirements; 2) Recording progress; 3) Instructing how to adjust; 4) Being consistent with timing and extend; 5) Being detailedly described; 6) Focusing on important mistakes The answers of some questions in the item 2.3.1.1 are considered as basis to produce feedback After each illustrative example, there is an explanation of tools for easy observation (purpose, meaning, and note when using) 2.3.1.3 Observation slips The thesis illustrated the assessment tools for students’ reading competency with a observation slip used when teaching the poem “Dong chi” (“Comrade”) (by Chinh Huu) The observation slip was designed with specific criteria, associated with three tasks of reading literary text Each criteria was described at three levels of competency (A, B, C in which A was the highest level) Based on the specific manifestation of students when performing learning tasks, teachers would assess students’ level of achievement to observe and collect necessary information in line with the purpose of assessment as basis to develop teaching strategies for individuals or team 2.3.1.4 Questionnaires The thesis illustrated the assessment tools for students’ competency to read modern poems after learning the poem Mua xuan nho nho (A little spring) (by Thanh Hai) The questions in the Questionnair relied on K-W-H-L-A-Q strategy (which derived from the K-W-L chart proposed by Donna Ogle in 1986) This reading strategy could be summarized in main activities with following respective objectives: (1) Identifying students’ existing knowledge of the subject/text (sentence 1); (2) Identifying objective of reading activities (sentence 2, 4); (3) Identifying measures, ways to find out the answer (sentence 3, 5); (4) Finding the answer, systematizing knowledge, self-supervising the reading-comprehension process (sentence 6); (5) Creating opportunities for students to express their personal thoughts, ideas beyond the text boundaries (sentence 7); (6) Facilitating students to continue searching, exploring creatively about the subject/text (sentence 8) This Questionnaire may be used to strengthen what was done in the lesson to inculcate the method of reading modern poems into students 2.3.1.5 Academic records The thesis presented the academic records as the tool to assess grade-9 students’ reading competency Products in the record include 10 types: 1) Questionnaire for students 15 about matter relating to reading preferences; 2) Reflective article (in the form of personal opinion) after reading some texts (beyond the curriculum) about the modest personality of President Ho Chi Minh; 3) Oral presentation about the consequences of war/the risk of nuclear war in some countries in the world today (audio recording or video clip); 4) Text summarizing some article about children encountering difficult lives in need of community help; 5) A group draft to help the most suffering students among the difficult children that they know; 6) Summary of two other stories by Nguyen Du in the work Truyen ki man luc (Collection of Strange Tales) that were also written about women; 7) Summary of Truyen Kieu (The Tale of Kieu) in students’ own way of reading; 8) A summary text of a critical article on The Tale of Kieu; 9) A synopsis of the movie Luc Van Tien; 10) Summary of some articles about the present-day Luc Van Tien examples and students’ comment The specific products in the academic record were diversified, however, it was necessary to rely on the practical tasks assigned to students by teachers to determine, select products to include in the record 2.3.2 Some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency in Literature that are used in the periodical assessment 2.3.2.1 Tests The illustrative test included 20 questions, focusing on assessing grade-9 students’ reading competency (literary text and informative text) with three reading tasks that students needed to perform and behavioral levels of specific competency standard identified in the test matrix In order to diversify the question types, we designed 14 objective multiple-choice questions of the following types: simple multiple-choice questions, complex multiple-choice questions and open-ended questions The openended questions aimed to assess how students applied their knowledge, skills of reading text, associated with practical situations or simulated practice so as for students to train and develop integrally the ability to solve problems Two literary materials were selected, one was available in grade Literature text book (the poem Dong chi (Comrade) – by Chinh Huu) and the other (informative text) beyond the text book but the appropriateness for grade-9 students was still guaranteed (in terms of topic, volume, language, etc.) The poem “Dong chi” was used to connect with the content of the Observation slip We chose similar criteria between these tools in the expression of students’ reading competency as the “bridging” content The assessment criteria of Test and Observation were developed in accordance with these requirements: Gathering, extracting information; Explaining, analyzing, connecting information; Responding, reviewing, relating to reality With Observation slip, we had additional information about the students’ spirit, attitude, interest when learning the poem “Dong chi”; with Test, there was additional questions about informative text 2.3.2.2 Research exercise 16 The thesis illustrative analyzed a research exercise (The beauty of revolutionary soldiers shown in some poems during resistance war against France and America that were learned or read by students) from the perspectives: purpose for using research exercise, method of designing research exercise, structure of research exercise The illustrative research exercise could be used to assess students’ competency to read modern poems at the end of the first term, grade (students were taught some poems like Dong chi - Chinh Huu, Tieu doi xe khong kinh (The fleet of glassless trucks) - Pham Tien Duat and other extensive texts of the same topic) This exercise belonged to literary argumentative type but had higher requirements than the regular literary argumentative exercise in the current process of learning and teaching Getting familiar with research exercise will help students practice writing a scientific essay (including specific items such as research purpose, scope, reason and conclusions drawn after researching) This kind of research exercise is an effective way to enhance the value of text reading, to practice deeply two stages of engaging with the text and author; thereby stepping out of each text to judge with both consciousness and emotion about issues presented by each author or the way each author presented in each text 2.3 Using information collected from assessment tool 2.3.1 Using information from the assessment tools to review students’ academic performance and progress Information from the assessment (both continuous and periodical) will provide teachers with evidence of students’ academic performance and progress, this issue should be of particular interest in the continuous assessment so as for teachers to adjust the teaching activities promptly From the information about the result of continuous assessment, teachers was able to determine what students were capable of doing and generalize their current position It was important to train teachers about how to use teach diary as an effective supporting tool for the task of assessing academic performance Teachers need to include the feedbacks, assessment, and specific evidence (students’ products) in the Academic records to support discussions during parent-teacher conferences to show progress and allow monitoring of progress over time; provide an accurate picture of where each student is on the learning process to help parents monitor their child's learning From the assessment result, teachers need to make constructive comments, providing information relating to action that may support the learning to not only help parents see their child’s progress but also to consult on how to support their learning at home It is essential to provide precise and unofficial evidence that is collected regularly and noted systematically to increase the reliability for parents 17 2.3.2 Using information from the assessment tools to classify students to adjust and direct the way of teaching and learning of students in the following stage Teachers also need to use the post-assessment information to determine their pedagogical intervention plan with each students’ zone of proximal development; guide students how to plan to improve their own achievements; make recommendations for parents to help students improve their shortcomings To effectively implement the abovementioned requirements, one of the premise to help teachers analyze the evidence objectively and scientifically is to rely on Guttman scale which is also called cumulative scaling or scalogram analysis It is an ordinal scale for attribute assessment, from which the initial observations can be copied The detection of the Guttman scale in data depends on their multivariate distribution that fits a specific structure From the Guttman table, teachers can review, assess in general student group and each student to identify and classify students according to the expression of competency thereby determining training plan and content in the following stage, in line with each student group, in accordance with the theory “zone of proximal development” The Guttman table is also explicit information facilitating the self-assessment and peer assessment to help students realize their strengths and weaknesses to adjust learning strategy SUBCONCLUSION OF CHAPTER In chapter 2, the thesis identified the process of designing assessment tools including steps and principles; proposed assessment standard for grade-9 students’ reading competency, including common standard for three genres of text and specific standard for each genre Each standard was measured at three levels to create differentiation In order for teachers to actively design assessment tools for students’ reading competency appropriate with the teaching practice, the thesis also proposed ways of developing, using the tools; designed seven assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency (questions and exercises; feedbacks; observation slips; questionnaires; 1-period tests, research exercises) In order to overcome the shortcomings relating to assessment effectiveness, the thesis analyzed two issues about using information collected after the assessment to review students’ academic performance and progress and to classify students, adjust the teaching and learning orientation of students in the following stage 18 CHAPTER PEDAGOGICAL EXPERIMENT 3.1 Purpose To verify the feasibility of some assessment tools that the thesis had developed 3.2 Content Experimenting two tools which are Observation slips (continuous assessment) and Tests (summative assessment) to assess grade-9 students’ reading competency to get specific specifications, thereby drawing conclusions on the design and use of the proposed tools in the thesis 3.3 Experimental tools Observation slips and Tests (to express the idea of connecting these two tools in the assessment of students’ reading competency) 3.4 Steps to conduct the experiment Developing an experimental plan; Conducting experiment; Processing experimental result of the tools 3.5 Experimental area and objectives The thesis conducted experiment at 06 secondary schools in three provinces/cities namely Ha Noi, Quang Ninh, Thai Nguyen on grade-9 students 3.6 Experimental result 3.6.1 Teachers’ feedback on the Observation slips The observation slips designed by us were used by teachers in the experimental teaching and reading class of the text Dong chi The criteria for assessing the Observation slips include: 1) Are the assessment objectives clear? 2) Is it convenient to use the tool? 3) Is the tool’s structure appropriate? 4) Are the assessment contents appropriate with the objectives? 5) Are the assessment contents appropriate with students? 6) Are the requirements set out in the tool clear? 7) Is the accuracy and science of the tool guaranteed? 8) Are the assessment, marking criteria clear? According to teachers’ feedback, although it was the first time using the Observation slips, they found it relatively convenient to use Observation slips helped teacher assessment some students comprehensively, with specific behaviors/evidence 73% of the surveyed teachers marked the above criteria as very good and good 3.6.2 Result of assessment on the value and reliability of tests 19 The data analysis table showed that the tests had a good reliability calculated in accordance with the Coefficient Alpha parameter (0.87) The reliability of the test/examination was calculated with many different formulas Basically, it was determined based on the internal stability of the test This coefficient is acceptable when reaching from 0.6; it is marked as good when reaching from 0.8 to 1.0 The analytical data of each question showed that the correlation value of students' competency and the difficulty of the questions was suitable That meant most of the questions in the test were suitable for students to The features showing students’ reading competency were well satisfied, students’ level of competency and difficulty of questions were all in the acceptable range, affirming that the test was built to ensure the technical criteria, accurately assess students’ competency 3.6.3 Result of analyzing the correlation between information collected from the progressive assessment tools (Observation slips) and periodical ones (Tests) The thesis adopted the Guttman table to demonstrate the result of data analysis from Tests and Observation slips by selecting students experimented with the Observation slips when learning the poem “Dong chi” to the test with content relating to the poem “Dong chi” The purpose of this connection is to review the correlation between information collected from the progressive assessment tools and summative assessment, thereby proving the effectiveness of the assessment tools The selected students were put in a common comparison table The result achieved by students according to the criteria for competency assessment was described in the matrix of tests and observation slips Thereby, it is possible to identify which competency students are weak at so teachers will have learning form and strategy for each student In general, the comparison table between Tests and Observation slips showed a relatively similar assessment result between the information collected from Tests and Observation slips However, there were still some cases in which the indicators were not identical between Tests and Observation slips, therefore, teachers need to study further to explain the causes and help students find a way to adjust their learning strategies in the future 3.7 Some conclusions through the experiment Some assessment tools for reading competency that are proposed by the thesis are feasible, which can be a positive means in teaching text reading in grade 9, contributing to the improvement of teaching quality Each tool often focused on assessing some competency indicators instead of assessing thoroughly a student’s competency Therefore, the use of numerous tools in the entire process of assessment is necessary The combination of tools in a suitable way will provide teachers with precise conclusion in assessing students’ competency 20 The experiment also showed some existing issues in the current situation of teaching and learning at secondary schools, expressed in the elements of the teaching process Therefore, these elements demand for adjustment that is suitable with the practice but still demonstrates a development trend of an advanced, modern education system in the open direction SUBCONCLUTION OF CHAPTER The experimental process showed that the Observation slips were a new tool but considered feasible and effective by most teachers; the experimented tests also had a good reliability Through the specifications of each question in tests, it can be seen that the tests are suitable with the capability of grade students, however, there are still some questions that need adjusting to increase the reliability The experiment process also helped us to get a better insight of the backward impact of the assessment on the objects, content, and teaching methods, thereby determining the basis for making appropriate recommendations And the development of assessment tools for students’ reading competency in both continuous assessment and periodical assessment is a right research direction, contributing to improving the quality of teaching reading comprehension in Literature at secondary schools 21 CONCLUSION The new Literature General Education Program recently issued by the Ministry of Education and Training determined that “reading competency assessment should focus on the requirement to understand the content, subject of the text, author’s opinion and intention; identify the characteristics of the expressed perspectives, particularly in terms of text form, genre and language used; answer questions at different levels of thinking; arguing, explaining in students’ own way; commenting, evaluating the value and impact of the text on themselves; showing emotions for issues raised in the text; relating, comparing texts with those in real life.” (The Ministry of Education and Training, 2018, p.85) To help realizing this, the author focused on analyzing issues relating to the assessment of reading competency, the tools used to assess reading competency in two forms, continuous assessment and periodical assessment, standard for assessing reading competency The author also conducted practical survey and found that a majority of teachers were properly aware of the renovation in assessment in the direction of competency development, however, the application of the approached theories in the practice still encountered obstacles so the achieved results were still limited, particularly the diversification of assessment tools for reading competency and neglect of continuous assessment This is the essential theoretical and practical basis guiding the development of some assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency In the trend of teaching associated with competency development, the thesis also tried to emphasize the meaning of creative teaching with the expectation that teachers would be acutely aware that the paramount function of assessment in general and continuous assessment in particular is to aim for the learners’ improvement instead of marks and grading With a view to experimenting a new direction in assessing grade-9 students’ reading competency, the author identified the process for developing the tools with steps and principles These four principles need to be complied with, the steps may be adjusted in accordance with practice and characteristics of each tool The thesis also researched and proposed assessment standard for grade-9 students’ reading competency, including common standard for three genres of text and specific standard for each genre learned by students Each standard was proposed with levels to achieved the differentiation for each type of question To facilitate teachers in applying the tools in the teaching practice, the author continued to study and propose the way of developing, using and basically structuring each tool Sticking to the identified scientific basis, the thesis conducted research to develop an illustration of some assessment tools in respect of the two forms, continuous assessment and periodical assessment To clarify the ideas, the author carefully analyzed the characteristics of each tool, instructed the way to apply in teaching practice and gave notes to help teachers use these tools comfortably However, 22 the science of assessment was remarkably sophisticated because of its sensitivity (particularly in Literature), it required not only the accuracy, science, objectivity but also factors showing the suitable flexibility in accordance with the diversified and messy practice Therefore, the aim of these initial tools was to explain the arguments raised in the thesis, drawbacks were certainly inevitable We hope that teachers when having the idea of applying will make thorough consideration of the specific conditions in terms of students, lesson progress, syllabus, etc to make suitable adjustments while still adhering to the core, important objective, which is to assess for the development of grade-9 students’ reading competency The feasibility of the scientific hypothesis raised by the thesis was shown through the pedagogical experiment at secondary schools of different regions The initial test result revealed that the proposed tools satisfied the basic criteria and were welcomed by teachers and students; the information processing result in the relationship between tests and observation slips also recorded the reliability, suitability of the experimental tests The achieved results (despite still being modest) laid the foundation to affirm that the adoption of various tools in continuous assessment, periodical assessment manners is totally suitable for both teachers and students, can be implemented step by step, learned from experience for large-scale deployment On deploying the thesis, despite the effort to express the ideas in a coherent manner, the development of assessment tools for grade-9 students’ reading competency (especially the tools used in continuous assessment such as Questionnaires, Observation slips, Academic records) was still a unfamiliar and challenging task to the author Therefore, the achieved products may not be up to the expectations However, the author believed that, this was a right direction, suitable with the modern trend of the world when it comes to renovating the assessment of reading competency in particular and assessment of students’ competency in general The author has tried her best and hopes to achieve certain results, making a small contribution to the fierce and challenging general education reform which also provides us with many opportunities After conducting the research, we realized that in order to implement a new Literature General Education Programme, one of the decisive factors is to renovate the assessment of students’ academic performance It can be seen from the reality that assessment is the final stage but has a considerable impact on every other stage in the teaching process such as objectives, content, methods, organizational forms of teaching We would like to propose some of the following recommendations For the Ministry of Education and Training and local authorities: - Paying attention to fostering to improve teachers’ assessment competency in Literature in accordance with renovation, particularly in the continuous assessment; 23 - Training senior teachers and professional managerial staff about the compiling technique for continuous assessment tools and periodical assessment tools to assess students’ reading competency; paying attention to the use of information after assessment to review students’ progress and develop teaching strategy in order to improve teaching quality - Methodically investing for research on Standard for reading competency assessment in particular and component competency in Literature in general at all educational levels as the basis for teachers to compile the assessment tools For secondary school teachers: - Positively, actively self-learning, self-fostering to improve professional qualification in terms of assessing students’ academic performance following the competency development orientation - Dauntlessly applying, experimenting new direction in assessing students’ academic performance in general and students’ reading competency in particular, paying special attention to the goal of assessment for learners’ improvement 24 THE AUTHOR’S RESEARCH WORKS RELATED TO THE THESIS Tran Thi Kim Dung, Thực trạng số biện pháp nâng cao hiệu đánh giá lực đọc hiểu văn học sinh trung học sở môn Ngữ văn (Reality and Some Measures to Improve the Efficiency in Assessing Secondary School Students’ Reading Competency in Literature), Vietnam Journal of Educational Sciences published on 13 January 2019, p 82-88 Nguyen Thi Hong Van (editor), Do Thu Ha, Bui Thi Dien, Tran Thi Kim Dung, Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga, Dạy học môn Ngữ văn cấp Trung học sở theo hướng phát triển lực học sinh (Teaching Literature at Secondary School towards Students’ Competency Development), Vietnam National University Press of Hanoi, 2018 Tran Thi Kim Dung, Một số vấn đề đánh giá lực đọc hiểu dạy học môn Ngữ văn nhà trường phổ thông (Some Issues on Reading Competency Assessment in Literature Teaching at General Schools), Journal of Educational Sciences, vol 142 July 2017 Do Thu Ha, Nguyen Thi Hau, Tran Thi Kim dung, Luyện tâp kĩ làm thi vào lớp 10 môn Ngữ văn (Practice on Literature-Examination-Taking Skills to 10th Grade), Vietnam Education Publishing House, 2016 Nguyen Duy Kha, Tran Thi Kim Dung, Ha Quang Nang, Hướng dẫn học ôn luyện Ngữ văn (Instructions on Learning and Practicing Grade-9 Literature), Vietnam Education Publishing House, 2015 Tran Thi Kim Dung, Bui Minh Duc, Nguyen Duy Phuong, Nguyen An Thi, Đổi phương pháp dạy học dạy minh họa Ngữ văn 11 (Innovation on Teaching Method and Some Demonstrating Lessons in Grade-11 Literature), University of Education Publishing House, 2014 Tran Thi Kim Dung, Xây dựng chuẩn đánh giá lực đọc hiểu văn cho học sinh lớp môn Ngữ văn (Design assessment standards for reading comprehension of literary texts for grade students), Journal of Educational Sciences, vol 22 October 2019 Tran Thi Kim Dung, Xây dựng công cụ đánh giá lực đọc hiểu học sinh lớp sử dụng đánh giá định kì (Teaching tools of reading comprehension competence of students at grade in periodical a assessment), Journal of Educational Sciences, vol 22 October 2019 ... students), Journal of Educational Sciences, vol 22 October 20 19 Tran Thi Kim Dung, Xây dựng công cụ đánh giá lực đọc hiểu học sinh lớp sử dụng đánh giá định kì (Teaching tools of reading comprehension... of Education Publishing House, 2014 Tran Thi Kim Dung, Xây dựng chuẩn đánh giá lực đọc hiểu văn cho học sinh lớp môn Ngữ văn (Design assessment standards for reading comprehension of literary... 20 19, p 82-88 Nguyen Thi Hong Van (editor), Do Thu Ha, Bui Thi Dien, Tran Thi Kim Dung, Nguyen Thi Huong Lan, Nguyen Thi Thanh Nga, Dạy học môn Ngữ văn cấp Trung học sở theo hướng phát triển lực