"All assessment is a perpetual work in progress." -Linda Suske, 2005
This quote fits much of what we have discussed in class so far. All assessment, including standardized tests, are in constant need of tweaking and revision. Construct validation must continuously be monitored, tests can be made more practical, more authentic, or more reliable. Sometimes the pendulum must swing back and forth to find the correct balance.
This chapter discusses alternative assessment. In my classes I have used many, but not all, of the alternative assessments. I find that while the tests I create usually only require some tweaking or some alteration of questions or the order, the alternative assessments are always an experience. I am never sure exactly what students are going to do as a performance, a project, or journal until I have the product in front of me. Sometimes it is exactly what I expect, other times students surprise me. Either way, I am constantly looking for a clearer explanation of what I expect, and a more efficient method of scoring the result.
For alternative assessments I generally use rubrics or a checklist to determine how to score the assessment. I want to be consistent from project to project, and from day to day.
In assigning work to my students I would usually rather do alternative assessment than formal assessment. The limiting factor, however, is always time. It takes a great time investment to create a clear and effective alternative assessment. They also take longer to grade, and if they involve presentation, class time is needed to allow for the presentations. As I mentioned earlier, once I have created the assessment, I am always looking for ways to improve it and make scoring more efficient.
From the reading, observation is an assessment that I have used frequently without even thinking about it. I use this to determine participation, to measure level of comprehension, to assess what teaching styles best interest students, and how well students are working in groups. What I have not considered doing, but should, is a checklist of observations focused on a something specific like grammar.
I have used peer assessment when I have students work in groups, but I have only used self-assessment minimally. Self-assessment is something I would like to implement more in my classroom. I think it is important for students to reflect on their own learning rather than always expecting someone to tell them how they are doing.
Hi Heidi, I really enjoyed reading your post. I completely forgot that I too use observation as form of assessment without even knowing. I use this too to assess participation and collaboration.
ReplyDeleteI agree that self-assessment would be something worthwhile to implement into the classroom. I have also never really had the students assess themselves. This would be an interesting way to see what they think their strengths and weaknesses were compared to what I think.
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