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BEYOND TESTS: ALTERNATIVES
IN ASSESSMENT
Source: Brown, D. (2004) Language Assessment: Principles andClassroom Practices. New York: Pearson Longman.
Jenny C. Acevedo and Roco C. Oviedo
Universidad Industrial de Santander
Santander, Colombia
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One of the disturbing things about tests is the
extent to which many people accept the results
uncritically, while others believe that all testing is
invidious. But tests are simply measurement tools:
It is the use to which we put their results that can
be appropiate or inappropiate.
Bailey (1998)
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Introduction
In Chapter 1, an important distinction was made between testingand assessing:
Tests are formal procedures, usuallyadministered within strict time
limitations, to sample the
performance of a test-taker in aspecified domain.
Test
Assessment connotes a much broaderconcept in that most of the time whenteachers are teaching, they are also
assessing. Assessment includes alloccasions from informal impromptuobservations and comments up to
and including tests.Assessment
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Alternative Assessment
A new proposal that emerged in the 1990s
The proposal was to assemble additional measurement of students,in order to triangulate data.
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Brown and Hudson(1998) proposed a new terminology:
instead ofAlternative assessment, they changed it to
Alternatives in assessment.
All tests are assessmentsbut not all assessments are tests.
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Characteristics of alternatives inassessment
1.They require students to perform, create, produce, or do something
2. They use real-world contexts or simulations
3. They are nonintrusive
4. They allow students to be assessed on what they normally do in class
5. They use tasks that represent meaningful instructional activities
7. They tap into higher-level thinking and problem-solving skills
6. They focus on processes as well as products
8. Provide information about both the strengths and weaknesses of students
9.They are multiculturally sensitive when properly administered
10. They ensure that people, not machines, do the scoring
11. Encourage open disclosure of standards and rating criteria
12.Call upon teachers to perform new instructional and assessment roles
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Dilemma in standardized andalternatives in assessment
Formal standardized tests:
Highly practical, reliable instruments.
Designed to minimize time and money and to be accurate in their
scoring.
Alternatives such as portfolios or conferencing with students ondrafts of written work, or observations of learners:
All require considerable time and effort
But the alternative techniques also offer greater washback, aresuperior formative measures, and, because of their authenticity,
usually carry greater face validity.
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Practicality/reliability and washback/authenticityrelationship graph
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Alternatives in Assessment
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Performance-based assessment
Performance-based assessment implies productive, observable
skills, such as speaking and writing, of content-valid tasks.
Characteristics1. Students make a constructed response
2. They engage in higher- order thinking , with openended tasks
3. Tasks are meaningful , engaging, and authentic
4. Tasks call for the integration of language skills
5. Both process and product are assessed6. Depth of a students mastery is emphasized over breadth
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Procedures for performance- basedassessment
Performance-based assessment procedures need to be treated
with the same rigor as traditional tests. This implies that
teachers should:
state the overall goal of the performance
specify the objectives (criteria) of the performance in detai
prepare students for performance in stepwise progressions
use a reliable evaluation form, checklist, or rating sheet
treat performances as opportunities for giving feedback and provide
that feedback systematically
utilize self- and peer-assessments
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Portfolios
A portfolio is a purposeful collection of students work thatdemonstrates students efforts, progress, and achievements ingiven areas (Genesee and Upshur, 1996).
Portfolios include materials such as:
essays and compositions in draft and final forms; reports, project outlines;
audio and/or video recordings of presentations, demonstrations, etc.
journals, diaries, and other personal reflections;
tests, test scores, and written homework exercises;
self- and peer-assessments--comments, evaluations, and checklists.
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Atributes of portfolios
Gottlieb (1995) suggested a developmental scheme forconsidering the nature and purpose of portfolios,using the acronym CRADLE to designate six possibleattributes of a portfolio:
Collecting: an expression of students lives and identities.
Reflecting: thinking about experiences and activities.
Assessing: evaluating quality and development over time.
Documenting: demonstrating student achievement.
Linking: connecting student and teacher, parent, community, and peers.
Evaluating: generating responsible outcomes.
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Steps and guidelines
1. State objectives clearly
2. Give guidelines on what materials to include
3. Communicate assessment criteria to students
4. Designate time within the curriculum for portfolio development.
5. Establish periodic schedules for review and conferencing
6. Designate an accessible place to keep portfolios.
7. Provide positive washback when giving final assessments.
It is inappropriate to reduce the personalized and creative process of
compiling a portfolio to a number or letter grade. Instead, teachersshould offer a qualitative evaluation such a final appraisal of the
work, with questions for self-assessment of a project, and a
narrative evaluation of perceived strengths and weakness.
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Activity
In groups you are going to implement , as a teacher, a portfolio on your
class. Using the guidelines on pages (257-259), you are going to plan your
portfolio following at least 5 out of the 7 steps. You will have 10 minutes.
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Journals
A journal is a log of ones thought, feelings, reactions,assessments, ideas, or progress, toward goals,
usually written with little attention to structure, form,or correctness.
Journals obviously serve important pedagogical
purposes: practice in the mechanics of writing, usingwriting as a thinking process, individualization, and
communications with the teacher.
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Steps for journals1. Sensitively introduce students to the concept of journal writing.
2. State the objective(s) of the journal: Language-learning logs, Grammar
journals, Responses to readings, strategies-based learning logs, Self-
assessment reflections, etc.
3. Give guidelines on what kinds of topics to include.
4. Carefully specify the criteria for assessing or grading journals.
5. Provide optimal feedback in your responses: cheerleading feedback,
instructional feedback, or reality-check feedback. McNamara, (1998, p.39)
6. Designate appropriate time frames and schedules for review.
7. Provide formative, washback-giving final comments.
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Conferences and interviews
Conferences are not limited to drafts of written work. It must
assume that the teacher plays the role of a facilitator and guide,not of an administrator, of a formal assessment.
Conferencesgoals
Commenting on drafts of essays and reportsReviewing portfoliosResponding journalsAdvising on a students plan for an oral presentationGiving feedback on the results of performance on a testAssessing general progress in a course.
Interviewsgoals
Assess the students oral production
Seeks to discover a students learning styles andpreferencesAsks a student to assess his or her own performanceRequests an evaluation of a course
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Guidelines for conferences andinterviews
1. Offer an initial atmosphere of warmth and anxiety-lowering (warm-
up).
2. Begin with relatively simple questions.
3. Continue with level-check and probe questions, but adapt to the
interviewee as needed.
4. Frame questions simply and directly.
5. Focus on only one factor for each question. Do not combine several
objectives in the same question.
6. Be prepared to repeat or reframe questions that are not understood.
7. Wind down with friendly and reassuring dosing comments.
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Observations
Observation is a systematic, planned procedure for real-time,
almost furtive recording of student verbal and nonverbal
behavior.
One of the objectives of such observation is to assess
students without their awareness (and possible consequent
anxiety) of the observation so that the naturalness of their
linguistic performance is maximized.
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Potential observations Sentence-level oral production skills pronunciation of target
sounds, intonation, etc.- grammatical features (verb tenses,question formation, etc.)
Discourse-level skills (conversation rules, turn-taking, and
other macroskills) Interaction with classmates (cooperation, frequency of oral
production)-
Frequency of student-initiated responses (whole class, groupwork)
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Steps for observations
Determine the specific objectives of the observations
Decide how many students will be observed at one time
Set up the logistics for making unnoticed observations
Design a system for recording observed performances
Do not overestimate the number of different elements
you can observe at one time
Plan how many observations you will make
Determine specifically how you will use the results
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Self- And Peer-assessment
Do you think learners are able to monitor their own
performance and use those conclusions for
corrections?
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Self-assessment derives from principles of second
language acquisition
Autonomy
Intrinsic Motivations
Cooperative Learning (peer-assessment)
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Types of self- and peer-assessment:
1. Assessment of (a specific) performance:
Students monitors him/herself
Give evaluation of performance
Takes place immediately or very soon after the
performance
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2. Indirect assessment of (general) competence:
Assessing general ability or performance during a
term, period, course.
3 M t iti t (f tti l )
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3. Metacognitive assessment (for setting goals):
Personal goal settings:
Fosters intrinsic motivation
Provides extra-special impetus of having set and
accomplished a goal
Journal entries
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Goal card example:
The studentsself-assessment on the back
of the card:
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4. Socioaffective assessment:
When learners resolve to:
Assess and improve motivation
Lower their own anxiety Plan to overcome mental or emotional barriers to
learning
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Self-assessment of styles:
Self-assessment of multiple intelligences:
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5. Student-generated test:
Engage the students in the process of
constructing tests themselves
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Guidelines for self- and peer-assessment
1. Tell students the purpose of the assessment
2. Define the task(s) clearly.
3. Encourage impartial evaluation of performance or
ability.
4. Ensure beneficial washback through follow-up tasks.
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Self- and peer-assessment tasksListening Tasks
listening to TV or radio broadcasts and checking comprehensionwith a partner
listening to an academic lecture and checking yourself on a"quiz" of the content
Speaking Tasks
using peer checklists and questionnaires
rating someone's oral presentation (holistically)
Reading Tasks
reading passages with self-check comprehension questions
following taking vocabulary quizzes
Writing Tasks
revising written work on your own or with a peer (peer editing)
proofreading
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The six alternatives in assessment with regard to the fulfillment of
the major assessment principles:
To summarize
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