EBTD Guide to Better Assessment – Developing Assessment Expertise

Why Assessment Deserves Our Best Thinking

Assessment is the bridge between teaching and learning — the moment we find out what really happened after the lesson ends. As Daisy Christodoulou reminds us, assessment done well “turns teaching into knowledge.” Done poorly, it turns effort into noise.

For too long, teachers have been asked to assess without being shown how. This guide changes that. The EBTD Guide to Better Assessment helps teachers in Bangladesh develop real assessment expertise — not by adding paperwork, but by strengthening professional judgement. It shows how to design, interpret, and use evidence that genuinely improves learning.

This isn’t about testing more. It’s about testing better — to understand what students know, how they know it, and what to do next.

How the Guide Works

Each part focuses on one essential principle, building your confidence step by step. Together, they move you from writing questions → interpreting evidence → taking action.

Phase 1: Design Principles – How to Write Valid Questions

Good assessment starts with good design. Phase 1 focuses on the ingredients that make a question valid, fair, and reliable — so your evidence actually means what you think it means.

• Alignment – Test Exactly What You Taught
  Match every question precisely to your teaching — no hidden traps, no accidental topic drift.
• Curriculum Progression – Build Questions Step by Step
  Design sequences that mirror how understanding develops, not how fast students recall.
• Construct-Irrelevant Difficulty – Test the Concept, Not the Language
  Remove distractions and linguistic barriers so every learner can show what they really know.
• Calibrating Difficulty – Finding the Sweet Spot
  Balance accessibility and challenge to reveal both mastery and misconception.

Phase 2: Equity and Purpose – Making Assessment Meaningful for All Learners

Assessment should work for everyone — not just the confident, fluent, or fast. This phase focuses on fairness and purpose, ensuring that every mark, grade, or comment genuinely serves learning.

• Fairness and Accessibility – Giving Every Student a Fair Chance
  Make equity a design principle, not an afterthought.
• Purpose and Balance – Formative and Summative in Harmony
  Use assessment for learning as well as of learning to build a cycle of improvement, not judgement.

Phase 3: Implementation – Using Assessment Evidence with Impact

In the final phase, assessment becomes action. Move from designing great questions to interpreting evidence and using it to shape what happens next — in lessons, departments, and schools.

• Question Type and Cognitive Demand – Choosing the Right Tool
  Match question types to the right level of thinking — and write MCQs that diagnose, not just test.
• Feedback and Next Steps – Turning Evidence into Action
  Transform results into next steps — feedback that changes learning and teaching for the better.

Why It Matters

When assessment becomes more accurate, everything improves:

• Teachers teach with greater clarity.
• Students understand what success looks like.
• Schools focus on progress, not pressure.

Across Bangladesh, teachers collect marks each term — but far fewer turn those marks into meaningful insight. This guide, and the professional learning built around it, helps to close that gap.

Building Professional Confidence

By working through this series, you’ll learn to:

• Design valid, purposeful questions that reveal genuine understanding.
• Use evidence to guide re-teaching and differentiation.
• Communicate outcomes clearly to students, parents, and leaders.
• Lead a culture of fairness, evidence, and reflection in your school.

Next Step: The EBTD Professional Course – Developing Assessment Expertise

For teachers who want to go beyond the guide, we’re developing a blended professional course with six online modules and two in-person training days in Dhaka. You’ll apply every principle to your own classroom, supported by templates, peer feedback, and coaching.

• Build practical expertise — not paperwork.
• Tailored for Bangladeshi classrooms — large groups, diverse learners, local curricula.
• Turn assessment into a professional strength.

Register interest via the EBTD Newsletter

Start Here

Ready to strengthen your assessment practice? Begin with the first principle:

Start → Alignment: Test Exactly What You Taught

If you found this useful, join the EBTD newsletter for monthly, research-backed tips, free classroom tools, and updates on our training in Bangladesh — no spam, just what helps. Please share this guide so more teachers can benefit. Together, we can improve outcomes and change lives.