Chapter 4

1. Chapter 4 Evaluating and Creating Interactive and Content-Based Assessment

2. Setting the Stage • Progress indicators need to be defined and demonstrated for students, parents, community members and school administrators.

3. Introduction to Assessment • Assessment is more than tests & grades • Assessment involves the development of materials, processes, activities and criteria for success • ESL students require integrated assessments where language and literacy practices are linked

4. Assessments for Specific Decision Making • Placement • Reading, writing, speaking, listening, interacting evaluated to place in section levels (A, B, B1, C, etc.) • Because assessments are conducted in L2: • Assessments can underestimate past learning • L2 learners are limited in what they can express

5. Assessments for Specific Decision Making • Progress • Goal: to obtain a clear picture of students’ knowledge in both language and content • Select a variety of formats for assessment • Organization is key • Keep a dated log with language, content and strategies objectives • Documentobservations regularly

6. Assessments for Specific Decision Making • Evaluation of Instruction • Washback – information or feedback that teachers receive about instruction as a result of assessment and evaluation • Use to adjust instruction (alter teaching style; revise activities) • Use to individualize instruction washback assessment instruction

7. Alternative Assessment • Traditional testing: • Does not measure critical thinking skills • Encourages teaching to the test • Does not provide feedback • Alternative assessment: • Accommodates differences in learners • Assesses progress towards authentic language • Assesses learning over a period of time

8. Alternative Assessment • Assessment activities and tasks need to be constructed so that comprehension of subject matter and thinking behaviors can be demonstrated directly through either oral or written communicative performances.

9. Integrated Performance Assessments • Integrated assessments: • are used to evaluate performances required to carry out real-life tasks • are used to evaluate student performance in an entire learning event or project • take into account student’s quality of participation and level of skill in planning, carrying out, and evaluating the activity

10. Oral Language Assessment • Interviews • Teacher-conducted or guided with peer interaction • Student response to an interrogative statement demonstrates ability to understand and use academic language • Should be used in conjunction with other tools to reveal true proficiency

11. Oral Language Assessment • Retelling • Measures students’ integrated comprehension though four skills • Teachers should: • Be explicit about the criteria for evaluation • Use modeling by stronger students • Minimize anxiety which could impact performance

12. Oral Language Assessment • Anecdotal records • short described encounters or experiences that students have during learning • subjective • Observational Records • Documents exactly what is seen/heard • Both allow you to collect information without disrupting the natural interaction taking place in the classroom

13. Written LanguageAssessment • Types of Portfolios • Showcase portfolios – focused; highlight certain qualities or skills • Assessment portfolios – used to provide evidence of meeting criteria for quality • Benefits of Portfolios • Student involvement through piece selection enables the student to learn personal strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to become more conscious learners.

14. Written Language Assessment • Types of Rubrics • Holistic – one number used to evaluate work • Analytic • Evaluation based on predetermined criteria for each aspect of a written project • Separate ratings for each definedwriting skill • Rubrics should be upgraded and revised based on student performance

15. Written Language Assessment • Conferencing • One-on-one conferences result in individualized assessment and support • Allows for development of short and long-term writing goals • Teaches peer conferencing and editing skills

16. Written Language Assessment • Dialogue Journals • Can be weekly or daily • Types: • Morning journals • Math, science, literature response journals • End-of-day journals • Allow for sharing of background information, modeling, (i+1), individualized assessment

17. Reading Assessment • Running Records • Often used with early readers • Follows a standard set of written symbols to note miscues made by the reader • Miscues analyzed to assess learner’s thought organization, thinking and strategies • Allows for individuality of assessment

18. Reading Assessment • Creative Comprehension Exercises • Use visual organizers and drawing to express knowledge. • Use cooperative grouping with individually designed formats for demonstrating comprehension.

19. Reading Assessment • Inquiry Challenges • The ability to pose coherent questions with the use of academic language is an indicator of reading comprehension/oral language proficiency. • The formulation of questions occurs pre-reading and post-reading.

20. Reading Assessment • Self-Assessment Tools: • Should be scaffolded to increase comprehensibility • Will enable students to build metacognitive competence and direct their own learning • Common formats: • checklists • yes or no questions • sentence completion

21. Interactive & Technology-Based Assessment • CBT – Computer Based Testing • Based on interactivity • Test displays items that adjust to the learners • Can be used to note students’ strategies and progress • Can be used to aid in measuring learners’ abilities to demonstrate oral communication

22. Understanding Standardized Tests • Norm-referenced test • Assumes that: • Performances will have a normal distribution and fit a normal curve. • Test items are fair and unbiased • Performances not affected by ethnicity, gender, race, etc • Students perform to the best of their ability • Machine scored • Results expressed in percentile, median, mean, std. deviation

23. Understanding Standardized Tests • Criterion referenced tests • Identify levels of performance that all students are expected to aim for • Scores are unacceptable to highly accomplished • ESL teachers should: • Seek accommodations for ESL students • Teach them skills of approach, including strategic guessing and elimination of wrong answers