WEEK 5:

ALTERNATIVE

ASSESSMENT

WHAT IS ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT

measure performance in forms other than traditional paper-and-pencil, short answer tests.

focus on what students can do without emphasizing their weaknesses

students are enabled to provide their own responses rather than simply selecting from a given list of options.

 give a holistic picture of a student’s abilities and highlight where further improvement is needed. 

educators need methods to assess fairly and objectively.

may use rubrics (a scoring guide for non-quantified assessments such as portfolios and presentations)

Example:a rubric may state that “an acceptable essay contains fewer than four grammatical errors”

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT

Asks students to perform, create or produce something

Encourages student self-reflectionMeasures outcomes of significanceTaps higher-level thinking and problem-solving skillsUses tasks that represent meaningful instructional activities

Invokes real-world applications

Uses human judgment (rather than machines) for scoring

Provides self-assessment opportunities for students

Provides opportunities for both individual and group work

Encourages students to continue the learning activity beyond the scope of the assignment

Defines explicit performance criteriaMakes assessment equal in importance to curriculum and instruction

EXAMPLESOF ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT

PORTFOLIOS

Most often used as replacements for end-of-course testingexhibit the progression of a student’s learning over time teacher may create a portfolio compiling student essays, lab reports, or other assignments

The collection must include student participation in selecting the contents, the criteria for selection, the criteria for judging merit and evidence of student self-reflection.

ORAL PERFORMANCES OR PRESENTATIONS

Performance-based assessments include interviews, oral reports, role plays, describing, explaining, summarizing, retelling, paraphrasing stories or text material, and so on.

should be conducted on an ongoing basis to monitor comprehension and thinking skills.

ROLE PLAY

 Learners take on different roles, assuming a profile of a character or personality, and interact and participate in diverse and complex learning settings.

students learn through their explorations and the viewpoints of the character or personality they are articulating in the environment

Example: Ask students to tell a story from a character’s point of view after reading a story book.

AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENTS

create a real-world environment for students to exhibit their skills and knowledge

The tasks are either replicas of or analogous to the kinds of problems faced by adult citizens and consumers or professionals in the field.

Example: A biology teacher may have her students identify the different pollutants in a local stream to report to the local environmental protection agency

OTHER ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENTS:

Open-ended questions Writing samples Interviews Journals and learning logs Story of text retelling Cloze tests Self and peer assessments Teacher observations Checklists

REFERENCES http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/7041

http://www.aurbach.com/alt_assess.html

http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/alternative_assessment/

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/curriculum/worldlanguages/resources/aaa/altc3.pdf

http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-1/esl.html

https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/assessing-role-play-and-simulation