What is reliability in assessment?
In assessment, reliability refers to the consistency with which a means of assessment yields a certain result. Thus, a scoring rubric is reliable if multiple assessors, applying it to a particular piece of student work, arrive at the same score for that piece of work. One way to establish that an assessment method is probably reliable is for the assessors who will be using it to hold a practice session in which they apply the method to examples of student work, compare their scores, and discuss whatever differences they find. This activity is likely in itself to increase the reliability of the assessment method because the comparison and discussion of scores leads assessors to be a more fully shared understanding of the standards being applied. Another way to increase the reliability of an assessment method is to use teams of readers, rather than individuals, to score each piece of student work. The members of a team score the work independently, discuss their results, and settle toget
