Managing Instruction and Classroom Dynamics at the Primary and Secondary Levels: Unit 5.2.2 Non-testing Devices

Alternative Assessment

Alternative Assessment
Methods that provide a different way of gathering information on students' performance other than the traditional paper and pencil testing.

Authentic Assessment

The importance on the application of understanding and skills to real problems in the 'real world' contextual settings.

Performance Assessment

This requires pupils to demonstrate their achievement of understanding and skills by actually performing the task.

Hanley, C. (2003). Designing Meaningful and Fair Tests and Assignments. Antigua, Antigua State College.

What are alternative assessments?

Alternative assessments, also referred to as performance assessment or authentic assessments, are used to determine what students can and cannot do, in contrast to what they do or do not know. In other words, an alternative assessment measures applied proficiency more than it measures knowledge.

Alternative Assessment

Alternative assessment, often called authentic, comprehensive, or performance assessment, is usually designed by the teacher to gauge students' understanding of material. Examples of these measurements are open-ended questions, written compositions, oral presentations, projects, experiments, and portfolios of student work. Alternative assessments are designed so that the content of the assessment matches the content of the instruction.

Effective assessments give students feedback on how well they understand the information and on what they need to improve, while helping teachers better design instruction. Assessment becomes even more relevant when students become involved in their own assessment. Students taking an active role in developing the scoring criteria, self-evaluation, and goal setting, more readily accept that the assessment is adequately measuring their learning.

Authentic assessment can include many of the following:

Observation
Essays
Interviews
Performance tasks
Exhibitions and demonstrations
Portfolios
Journals
Teacher-created tests
Rubrics
Self- and peer-evaluation

Lucus, G. (2008). What are some types of Assessment. Eutopia, Educational Foundation. Retrieved on February 17, 2017, from https://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-description

Types of Non-testing Devices (Methods)

Observation

Teachers can assess their students' abilities simply by observing their classroom behavior or completion of activities. By watching students as they work, teachers can identify signs of struggle and determine where a child may be experiencing academic difficulties. Because students often do not realize that they are being observed, teachers can ensure that the picture they receive of student understanding represents the student's actual abilities.

Projects

By asking students to complete a project, teachers can see how well their pupils can apply taught information. Successful completion of a project requires a student to translate their learning into the completion of a task. Project-based assessment more closely approximates how students will be assessed in the real world, as employers will not ask their employees to take tests, but instead judge their merit upon the work they complete.

Oral Assessment

Some students struggle to express their understanding through writing. For these students, oral assessments are a feasible alternative to standard testing. In an oral assessment, a teacher simply asks the student questions based on the material, or asks the student to explain his understanding of the material taught. By listening to the student response, the teacher can gauge the degree to which the student understands the material.

Portfolio Assessment

In a portfolio assessment, a teacher looks not at one piece of work as a measure of student understanding, but instead at the body of work the student has produced over a period of time. To allow for a portfolio assessment, a teacher must compile student work throughout the term. This is commonly accomplished by providing each student with a folder in which to store essays or other large activities. Upon compilation of the portfolio, the teacher can review the body of work and determine the degree to which the work indicates the student's understanding of the content.

Participation

While class participation is an informal means of assessment, teachers can obtain much information about student understanding by paying close attention to student responses during class. Students who participate actively and offer productive and on-topic responses to questions posed to the class likely understand the material fully. By taking note of student participation, teachers can identify students who clearly have a grasp of the content.

Schreiner. E. (2001-2017). Non-testing Methods of Student Assessment. Retrieved on February 14, 2017, from http://classroom.synonym.com/nontesting-methods-student-assessment-6594835.html

Types of Non-testing Devices (Tools)

Checklists usually offer a yes/no format in relation to student demonstration of specific criteria. This is similar to a light switch; the light is either on or off. They may be used to record observations of an individual, a group or a whole class.

Rating Scales allow teachers to indicate the degree or frequency of the behaviours, skills and strategies displayed by the learner. To continue the light switch analogy, a rating scale is like a dimmer switch that provides for a range of performance levels. Rating scales state the criteria and provide three or four response selections to describe the quality or frequency of student work. Teachers can use rating scales to record observations and students can use them as self-assessment tools. Teaching students to use descriptive words, such as always, usually, sometimes and never helps them pinpoint specific strengths and needs. Rating scales also give students information for setting goals and improving performance. In a rating scale, the descriptive word is more important than the related number. The more precise and descriptive the words for each scale point, the more reliable the tool. Effective rating scales use descriptors with clearly understood measures, such as frequency. Scales that rely on subjective descriptors of quality, such as fair, good or excellent, are less effective because the single adjective does not contain enough information on what criteria are indicated at each of these points on the scale.

Rubrics use a set of criteria to evaluate a student's performance. They consist of a fixed measurement scale and detailed description of the characteristics for each level of performance. These descriptions focus on the quality of the product or performance and not the quantity; e.g., not number of paragraphs, examples to support an idea, spelling errors. Rubrics are commonly used to evaluate student performance with the intention of including the result in a grade for reporting purposes. Rubrics can increase the consistency and reliability of scoring. Rubrics use a set of specific criteria to evaluate student performance. They may be used to assess individuals or groups and, as with rating scales, may be compared over time.

Alberta Education. (2005-2006). Assessment Strategies and Tools. Alberta, Government, Retrieved on February 14, 2017, from (http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/mewa/html/assessment/checklists.html)

Alberta Education. (2005-2006). Assessment Strategies and Tools: Checklists, Rting Scales, Rubrics. Alberta, Government, Retrieved on February 14, 2017, from (http://www.learnalberta.ca/content/mewa/html/assessment/strategies.html)

Question Answered by Trainees (2013)

Discuss any two (2) methods of authentic assessments and explain how the classroom teacher may use each to gauge student learning.

Individual A

Authentic assessment can be defined as procedures that are alternatives to traditional multiple choice standardized tests. Authentic assessment directly assesses student performance on real life tasks. Two types of authentic assessment are Portfolio and student exhibition. Portfolio is the collection and evaluation of samples of student work over an extended period. A portfolio includes the student work in progress, revisions, student analyses and reflections on what the student has learnt. Using portfolio assessment a teacher can compile students work to show the development and growth of student. Portfolios can be used as a form of self reflection on the student parts to monitor their development, improvements and achievements. A teacher using portfolio as a form of assessing will help students to take responsibility for setting goals and evaluating their progress and it also provides for teacher and student to collaborate and to reflect on student’s progress. However using portfolios can be time consuming to assemble and it has a low reliability due to unclear scoring criteria and lack of standardization.

On the other hand student exhibition is a type of performance test that requires students to use good communication and understanding skill. Exhibition has two additional features first to its public so students preparing exhibitions must take the audience into account and secondly an exhibition requires hours of preparation because it is the culminating experience of a whole program of study. Using exhibitions to showcase students work a teacher can help students to understand and appreciate the qualities of good work and recognize those qualities in their own productions or performances. In exhibition teacher allow student to be involved in selecting the pieces to be exhibited and this benefits the student to select their work and student would give a clear reason (s) for making the selections. Exhibition make student able to judge quality work which can encourage student motivation by setting clear goals.

Individual B

A rubric is a guide listing specific criteria for grading or scoring. With rubrics, each criterion is explicitly explained from the minimum requirement to adding more information for the competent or advanced level of performance. When creating rubrics, it is advised to begin by selecting the criteria for complete competence, which will be the scoring ceiling, then formulating the minimum criteria for acceptable performance, which will become the lowest level on the rubric scale. Afterwards,other levels are added between the highest and lowest levels for a more accurate description of possible performances. A level may also be added below the minimum score of 1 (though not advised),to represent complete incompetence or the absence of an attempt. A level may also be added above the competent level to describe advanced level performance. The classroom teacher may use rubrics to gauge student learning by assessing then reassessing and looking for improvements in previous ratings or in some cases, a decline. This information will be easily visible since complete descriptions are provided for each level and the teacher would be able to evaluate the steps to be taken in order to proceed. The benefits of rubrics for teachers, is almost the same for students, in that it clearly outlines to the students what is expected of them and can therefore be used as a guideline for performance. Rubrics, therefore, can be used to teach as well as evaluate, meaning that it can be used for both formative and summative assessment. One disadvantage of rubrics, however, is that when used in formative assessment, rubrics might hinder the creativity of students’ minds in learning since they will be focused on performing according to what is set out in the rubric. Another disadvantage is that if the criterion appears to be too complex, students might feel overwhelmed with the assignment so little or no success is likely. For teachers, creating rubrics, assessing student performance, updating rubric, and reassessing student performance, may be time consuming.

A portfolio is a meaningful collection of student work that tells the story of student achievement or growth. There are two types of portfolios: portfolios for assessment for learning and portfolios for assessment of learning. Portfolios for assessment for learning are more student-centered and allow student to select samples of their work and reflect on each sample. When this information is compiled, teacher will not only be able to assess the products of students but rather the cognitive development as they compose the reflective pieces. Portfolios for assessment of learning, contains student work samples that certify accomplishments for classroom or general requirements. This type of portfolio typically contains pre-specified samples since consistency is needed for this type of assessment. There are a few benefits of portfolio assessment. One such benefit is that emphasis is placed on the entire learning process rather than one – time performance. Other benefits are that students are responsible for their own learning, students compete with themselves rather than other students and teachers can use portfolios to adjust teaching. Some downfalls of portfolio assessment are because students are responsible for their own learning, some students will fail to collect samples; it is time consuming and challenging to evaluate; and the content may vary widely among students.

Examples of Non-testing Devices Tools Created (by Facilitator 2014)

Self-assessment Rubric Group Work

Assessment Tool

Indicators	Weak 1	Fair 2	Well done 3	Very well done 4	Total
Criteria	Little or none of the criteria are clear and described	A few criteria are described but unclear	Some criteria are clearly described	All criteria are clearly described	4
Scores	There is little or no description of allocated scores	There is description of a few allocated scores	There is some description of allocated scores	There is a clear description of all allocated scores	4
Weight per score	The weighting of little or none of the scores are appropriately done	The weighting of a few scores are appropriately done	The weighting of some scores are appropriately done	The weighting of all scores are appropriately done	4
Self- and/or peer assessment	There is little or no evidence of self- and/or peer assessment	There is evidence of few instances of self- and/or peer assessment	There is some evidence of self- and/or peer assessment	There is evidence in all aspects of self- and/or peer assessment	4
Teacher assessment	The teacher assessment in little or none of the instances is valid and reliable	The teacher assessment in a few instances is valid and reliable	The teacher assessment in some instances is valid and reliable	The teacher assessment in all instances is valid and reliable	4
Total					20/20

Research, access, and retrieve information using ICT Checklist

Conduct simple searches with teacher support Checklist. Tick the line before the skill to indicate yes. Leave it un-ticked to indicate no.

1. ___ I can launch an Internet browser and use the tool bar.

2. ___ I know how to point and click to navigate on existing links.

3. ___ I know how to save a web page as a file on my computer.

4. ___ I know how to enter a URL to access or open a specific website.

5. ___ I know how to do a basic keyword search using an Internet browser or electronic reference source.

6. ___ I know how to download information onto my computer.

7. ___ I am aware of websites that are .org, .com and .net

8. ___ I am aware of safety rules involving the use of the Internet in the classroom for instruction.

9. ___ I evaluate the information I locate on the Internet for accuracy.

10. ___ I determine if the source of the information I locate on the Internet is credible and unbiased.

Seminar Series in Technology in Education Rating Scale

Please indicate on the scale from 1 to 10 how well was a student's performance in the Seminar Series in Technology in Education Course for the Month of September.
1) Very Poor 2) Poor 3) Significantly below Average 4) Average 5) Above Average 6) Significantly Above Average 7) Good 8) Very Good 9) Excellent 10) Outstanding.

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