Classroom Assessment Alternatives

Prof. Lizamarie Campoamor-Olegario

UP College of Education
Assessment
• “A systematic process for gathering data about student
achievement” (Dhindsa, Omar, & Waldrip, 2007).
• Assessment paradigms have shifted from
“testing learning of students to
assessing for students learning”
(Birenbaum & Feidman, 1998).
• Significantly affects students’ approach to learning
– to excel on a test
– to construct meaning
that will sustain in the long term
 Let’s have a review of terms and
differentiate the following assessment types

• formative vs. summative

• traditional vs. alternative
• traditional vs. authentic
• traditional vs.
outcome-based
• traditional vs. performance
FORMATIVE VS. SUMMATIVE
Summative vs. Formative Assessment
Summative
• goal: to prove
• purpose: to make judgments
about students’ performance
• occurs after instruction
• occurs at a particular point in
time to determine what the
students know
• teacher’s role: to give grades
and determine if the content
taught was retained
Formative
• goal: to improve
• purpose: to enhance
learning
• occurs during instruction
• occurs on a continuous basis
• teacher’s role: monitor
instruction based on
students’ performance to
improve learning
TRADITIONAL VS. ALTERNATIVE
Traditional vs. Alternative Assessment
Traditional
• Tends to be low level
• May not apply to real world
• Measure outcome rather than
process
• Based on behaviorism
• Easier to implement
• Reliable
Alternative
• Tends to be higher level
• Has real world application
• Reveals process as well as
product
• Based on constructivism
• Harder to implement
• Less reliable
• Should involve students in
goal setting and assessment
TRADITIONAL VS. AUTHENTIC
Traditional vs. Authentic Assessment
Traditional
• Curriculum drives assessment
• Examples: multiple-choice, gap-
filling, true/ false, matching, etc.
• Selecting a response
• Contrived
• Recall/ recognition
• Teacher-structured
• Rudimentary skills (e.g.,
memorization, recall, test-taking,
etc.)
• Discrete point
• Summative
• Of learning (product-oriented)
Authentic
• Assessment drives curriculum
• Examples: portfolios, journals,
interviews, observations, etc.
• Performing task
• Real-life
• Construction/ application
• Student-structured
• Higher order skills (e.g.
problem-solving, critical
thinking, meaning negotiation)
• Alternative, direct performance
• Formative
• For learning (process-oriented)
TRADITIONAL VS. OUTCOME-BASED
Traditional vs. Outcome-Based Assessment
Traditional (Content-Based)
• Passive students
• Assessment process – exam and
grade driver
• Rote learning
• Content-based/ broken into
subjects
• Textbook/ worksheet focused and
teacher-centered
• Sees syllabus as rigid and non-
negotiable
• Teachers responsible for learning
• Emphasizes what teacher hopes to
achieve
• Content placed in rigid time frames
Outcome-Based
• Active learners
• Continuous assessment
• Critical thinking, reasoning,
reflection, and action
• Integration knowledge, learning
relevant to real life situations
• Learner-centered, educator/
facilitator use group/ teamwork
• Learning programmes seen as
guides
• Learners responsible for learning
• Emphasizes what learners become
and understand
• Flexible time frames
TRADITIONAL VS. PERFORMANCE
Traditional vs. Performance Assessment
Traditional
• Tests taken with paper and
pencil
• Easy to grade
• Test isolated application,
facts, or memorized data at
lower-level thinking skills
• Helps answer the question,
“do you know it?”
• Recall, identify, list, match
• Indirect evidence
Performance
• Includes authentic, alternative
assessments
• Rubrics are provided
• Use more complex, higher-
order thinking skills
• Helps answer the question,
“how well can you use what
you know?”
• Analyze, evaluate, synthesize
• Direct evidence
SYNTHESIZE DIFFERENTIATIONS
Performance Task

• Formative
• Alternative
• Authentic
• Outcome-based
• Direct assessment
– Also provides more direct evidence of meaningful
application of knowledge and skills
Is this performance task?
 Is this
performance
task?
Inclusive Assessment
• the design and use of
fair and effective
assessment methods & practices
that enable all students
to demonstrate their full potential,
what they know, understand, and
can do (Hockings, 2010)
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
• A framework for designing curricula
that enable all individuals
to gain knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm for learning
• “a curriculum designed approach to
increase flexibility in teaching and
decrease the barriers that frequently limit student
access to materials and learning in classrooms
(Rose & Meyer, 2002)
UDL Multiple Means of Representation
• Different modes: visual, graphic, verbal, auditory, gesture
• Accessibility in all course content and materials: television,
accessible websites, captioned videos, e-textbooks
UDL Multiple Means of Expression
• Written response
• Verbal response
• Multimedia response
• Dramatic response
UDL Multiple Means of Engagement
• Tap into students’ interests and passions
• Maximize relevance through performance tasks and
authentic audience
• Provide variety in cognitive demand, length of task,
opportunities for collaboration
• Real-world, authentic tasks
• Choice in means of expression
• Flexible grouping strategies
Why Performance-based Assessment?
• Assessment tasks provide every student with an equal
opportunity to demonstrate their achievement
• Traditional practices have been proven to be unable to
capture the range and nature of the diverse learning
outcomes
• Increasing diversity in classroom
• Emphasis on high quality instruction, collaboration,
balanced assessment, and culturally responsible
practices
• Traditional methods are not working for ALL students
Performance-based Assessment
Springs from the following reasoning and practice:
• A school's mission is to develop productive citizens.
• To be a productive citizen, an individual must be capable of
performing meaningful tasks in the real world.
• Therefore, schools must help students become proficient at
performing the tasks they will encounter when they
graduate.
• To determine if it is successful, the school must then ask
students to perform meaningful tasks that replicate real
world challenges to see if students are capable of doing so.
Thus:
• Performance-based assessment drives the curriculum
– The teachers first determine the tasks that students
will perform to demonstrate their mastery
– Then a curriculum is developed that will enable
students to perform those tasks well
– “planning backwards” (McDonald, 1992)
• Performance-based assessment complements
traditional assessment
Definitions of Performance-based Assessment
• Alternative
– a form of testing that requires students to perform a
task rather than select an answer from a ready-
made list
• Outcome-based
– “…call upon the examinee to demonstrate specific
skills and competencies, that is, to apply the skills
and knowledge they have mastered." (Richard J.
Stiggins)
Definitions of Performance-based Assessment
• Authentic
– "...Engaging and worthy problems or questions of
importance, in which students must use knowledge to
fashion performances effectively and creatively.
The tasks are either replicas of or analogous to the
kinds of problems faced by adult citizens and
consumers or professionals in the field."
(Grant Wiggins, 1993)
– “…asks students to perform real-world tasks that
demonstrate meaningful application of essential
knowledge and skills” (Jon Mueller)
Performance-based Assessment
• Performance assessment is used for both
formative and summative purposes.
• When students are provided with
multiple opportunities to learn and apply the skills
being measured and opportunities to
revise their work, performance assessment can be
used to build students’ skills and also to inform
teachers’ instructional decisions.
 Performance-based Assessment

• Intentions -> performance tasks -> feedback

Performance tasks
• Performance tasks are routinely used in certain
disciplines, such as visual and performing arts, physical
education, and career-technology where performance
is the natural focus of instruction.
• However, such tasks can (and should) be used in every
subject area and at all grade levels.
• It does not mean:
– Performing arts
– No input from the teacher
Characteristics of Performance Tasks
• Performance tasks call for the application of knowledge
and skills, not just recall or recognition
– Learner must use their learning to perform
• Tangible product (e.g., graphic display, blog post)
• Performance (e.g., oral presentation, debate)
– Emphasis is on doing – not merely knowing
– We teach students how to do math, do history, and do
science, not just know them
– We replicate the challenges faced by those using
mathematics, doing history, or conductive scientific
investigation
Characteristics of Performance Tasks
• Performance tasks are open-ended and typically do not
yield a single, correct answer
– Call for higher-order thinking and thoughtful
application of knowledge and skills in context
– Analysis, synthesis, evaluation, problem-solving
– Allow more student choice and construction in
determining what is presented as evidence of
proficiency
Characteristics of Performance Tasks
• Performance tasks establish novel, meaningful and
authentic contexts for performance
– Example: a mathematics task presents a never-
before-seen problem that cannot be solved by
simply using a memorized algorithm
– Students need to consider goals, audience,
obstacles, and options
– Can be real or simulated
Characteristics of Performance Tasks
• Performance tasks provide evidence of understanding
via transfer of learning to new and “messy” situations
– Can measure abilities beyond academic knowledge
and skills
– Mirror the issues and problems faced by adults
• Performance tasks are multi-faceted
– Complex and involve multiple steps
• Performance tasks can integrate two or more subjects
as well as 21st century skills
Characteristics of Performance Tasks
• Performances on open-ended tasks are evaluated with
established criteria and rubrics
– Student products and performances should be
judged against appropriate criteria aligned to the
goals being assessed
– Evaluation criteria is known in advance
– Feedback is received in terms of relevant and
defensible criteria
•
Parts of a Performance Task
• Student or teacher forms a question (engagement)
• Student searches for information (representation)
• Student synthesizes and makes sense of it
• Student plans, makes and product or perform, and
revises (expression)
• Student communicates what they learn
In Academic, Career, and Life Applications
• We have a question
• We search for information (collaboration)
• We make sense of that information (critical thinking)
• We plan, make a product or
perform, and revise
(creative thinking)
• We communicate what we have
found (communication)
Constructing Performance Tasks
• Have a cluster of learning targets, usually 3-4, that will
work together for the creation of performance task
– Better if the learning targets are across strands or
content areas
– Must allow for in-depth thinking and higher-level
cognitive processes
• Create tasks that elicit evidence of the student’s ability
to perform the targeted skill.
Constructing Performance Tasks
SCRAP
• Set a relevant, real-world context or Situation for learning
unwrapped standards
• Offer students a Challenge to meet
• Define the Real-world Role/s that the student will assume
• Identify the Audience (preferably external)
• Specify the Product/ Performance that will be
demonstrated or created
– Reflect priority/ supporting standards
– Tap higher order thinking skills
Constructing Performance Tasks
GRASPS
• Goal: Provide a statement of the goal, problem, challenge or
obstacle in the task
• Role: Define the role of the student in the task. State the job of
the student for the task
• Audience: Identify the target audience within the context of the
scenario. Example audiences might include a client or a
committee
• Situation: Set the context of the scenario. Explain the situation
• Product/ Performance: Clarify what the student will create/
perform and why they will create/ perform it.
• Standards by which the product/ performance will be judged
Constructing Performance Tasks
• Define what mastery looks like for each learning target
– Tell students what students would have to know, do, and
understand to prove mastery of the learning target
• Decide what kinds of teacher guidance can be used while still
allowing students the freedom to learn and do it their own way.
– Set the prompt in a real world context, give a real world
purpose, name the audience, and tell the product to be
created
– Double check prompt against the learning targets
• Use the definitions of mastery and write criteria that need to be
assessed to be included in the scoring guide. Then write the
scoring guide or rubric.
English Performance Task
• Usually involve reading or researching, synthesizing
findings then communicating
• Usually measure learning targets from across strands
• Many times are divided into two parts
– Information gathering
• Using information to write or speak
Math Performance Task
• Almost always involve real life problems and multiple steps or parts
• May be a series of constructed-response questions or one prompt that
cues several steps
• May require some type of presentation of a student’s mathematical
findings (i.e. present your proposal, present your budget, etc.)
• May require the student to present mathematical evidence as support
• May require use of technology or the completion of graphs, charts,
etc.
• Use stimulus material (i.e. charts, graphs, data sets, ad sheets, etc.)
• Require application of mathematical skills and allow for multiple-
approaches for solving the problem
• Some math performance tasks are more open-ended than others
Science Performance Task
• May involve scientific inquiry about an environmental
problem or a controversial issue related to a scientific
discovery or scientific research
• May involve some type of performance related to the
scientific method or process
• May ask students to design and conduct an experiment or
product
• May require observation and collection of data over time.
• May be presented as a series of constructed response
questions with one building upon the other or as one
lengthy prompt
Social Studies Performance Task
• May ask students to do an investigation of a current
societal problem or issue
• May ask students to research historical event,
synthesize findings and write a paper, give a
presentation or create a product
• Some deal with the violation of personal rights and
freedoms.
• Some ask students to compare and contrast different
historical events and present findings.
Non-core Performance Task
• Use a real-world context to cue the creation of a product,
presentation or demonstration
• Show the connection of isolated discrete skills learned in
class through the use of a real world scenario
• May be a series of constructed-response questions or one
lengthy prompt that cues several steps
• May require presentation of evidence (i.e. present your
findings, proposal, budget, etc.)
• May require use of technology or the completion of forms,
a spreadsheet, etc.
• Use stimulus material (i.e. charts, diagrams, graphs, menus,
diagrams, ad sheets, etc.)
How to Make it Inclusive?
• Give opportunities to all pupils to influence the
development, implementation, and evaluation of their
learning targets and plans
• Use assessment for learning as a means of improving
learning opportunities for all pupils
• Provide feedback for learning to pupils
CREATE A PERFORMANCE TASK
Rubric
• Scoring tool that describes evaluation criteria based on
the expected outcomes and performances of students
Why Use Rubrics?
• To Improve reliability of grading assignments
• To convey goals and expectations of students in an
unambiguous way
• To convey grading standards and relate to classroom goals
• To engage students in critical evaluation of their own
performance – self-assessment
• To aid in intradepartmental discussion about standards and
criteria
• To form the basis for departmental and institutional
assessment
Considerations When Constructing Rubric
• What elements must be present to ensure high
quality?
• How many levels do I want?
• What is a clear description of each achievement level?
• Rubrics are for you and the students
• Ask students for feedback on the rubrics
Types of Rubrics
• Analytic scoring rubrics or Holistic scoring rubrics
• General or Task-specific
Analytic Scoring Rubrics
• break down the final product or goal into measurable
components and parts.
• Example: Write a one-page paper on your summer vacation.

• The student and teacher can see more clearly what areas need
work and what areas are mastered
Holistic Scoring Rubrics
• evaluates the work as a whole
• Example: Write a one-page paper on your summer vacation.
– Needs improvement: The story is not clearly organized, grammar errors
make it difficult to understand, and content is lacking.
– Developing: The student has a grasp on the assignment but needs to
spend more time organizing thoughts, adding details, and fixing errors.
– Goal: The student has completely the paper using good content, correct,
grammar, and a logical organization of ideas.
– Above average: The story is full of great content, organized well, and free
from spelling and grammar errors.
– Excellent: The student went above and beyond, adding rich detail to
his/her story. The content is interesting and organized well. Thoughts are
well described. Grammar and mechanics are flawless.
• can be used when a project is small or gross judgment is being made.
General or task-specific?
• General rubrics are used across multiple assignments.
Once you have developed a general rubric, you can use
it to measure different subjects and lessons.
• Task-specific rubrics are designed to evaluate one
specific assignment.
Rubric generators
• iRubric
– https://www.rcampus.com/indexrubric.cfm
• Rubistar
– http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=NewRubric
• Teach-nology
– http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/
• Teacher planet
– http://www.teacherplanet.com/rubrics-for-teachers
• Kathy Schrock
– http://www.schrockguide.net/assessment-and-rubrics.html
Guidelines for Creating Rubrics
• Decide what kind of rubric you are going to make- general
or task specific, and then analytic or holistic.
• Students can also use for self- and peer-assessment
• Get student input on what should be included in the rubric
• Discuss about how to describe higher-order thinking in
rubrics. Focus descriptors on higher-order thinking,
content understanding, and application
• Spell out clearly what you expect from them in terms of
quality, content, and effort.
• Select traits to emphasize. All assessed traits should be
addressed through instruction.
Guidelines for Creating Rubrics
• Use descriptive gradations
– Beginning, developing, accomplished, exemplary
– No, maybe, yes
– Missing, unclear, clear, thorough
– Below expectations, basic, proficient, outstanding
– Never, rarely, sometimes, often, always
– Novice, apprentice, proficient, master
– Lead, bronze, silver, gold
– Byte, kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte
– Adagio, andante, moderato, allegro
Guidelines for Creating Rubrics
• Identify the proficient level first.
– Level 3 of a four-tier rubric
– Acceptable score and shows proficiency at performing the task or
understanding the content
• Build the rest of the rubric around proficiency.
– 1 shows minimal understanding or performance;
– 2 shows some understanding/performance but with significant
gaps;
– 4 shows an advanced level of understanding or performance.
• Focus on growth.
– If you use a 0 at all, it should state "Not enough evidence at this
point to assess understanding."
• Use a Word processing software or Excel to make a chart.
Guidelines for Creating Rubrics
• The student should be given the scoring rubric before
the` project begins.
• You can also leave an extra column to write in
comments about each category.
• Weighted Rubrics. Sometimes you want one part of
the rubric to count more than others. A simple way to
do this is to assign percentages to each category.
How Do Scoring Rubrics Enhance Learning?
• It easy for your students to understand your expectations as the
teacher.
• Help educators’ grade projects fairly.
• Allow the student to use the scoring sheet to grade someone
else’s work.
• Help to define the goal and reason for the assignment or project.
• Give more specific feedback so that the student can see where
his/her strengths and weaknesses lie.
• Outline various skill sets that students should be aware of during
the assignment.
• Allow students to check their work throughout the project for
instant monitoring and feedback.
Pitfalls of Rubrics
• Watch out for rubrics that are poorly designed. If the
criteria are not thought out well, then your students will be
heading in the wrong direction.
• Too many rubrics can cause creativity to dwindle.
• If your students are always performing to the written
standard, they may be less likely to think outside the box.
• Ultimately, balance is key. Scoring rubrics are a great asset
to both teachers and students, as long as the classroom
isn’t wholly designed to simply meet a goal. We all know
that learning is far more dynamic and creativity than what
can fit inside a little box.
lizamarie.olegario@gmail.com
PROF. LIZAMARIE C. OLEGARIO