1. A SSESSMENT & E VALUATION Kate Bain English Language Fellow ktbain53@gmail.com www.elfellowkbain.wordpress.com

2. O BJECTIVE Participants will consider various aspects of assessment and evaluation and consider how to use alternative assessment to enhance instruction and learning results in their classrooms.

3. Make a list of all the different types of tests you have taken or given as a student or a teacher.

4. F ROM Y OUR L ISTS … Write the skill that was tested in each. Determine whether it tested knowledge of the language or use of the language. Which of those tests are best for…  measuring the skill tested?  achieving the purpose of testing?

5. H OW DO YOUR STUDENTS FEEL ABOUT TESTS ?

6. W HAT IS A “T EST ?” Webster: “a critical examination, observation, or evaluation” http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/test Longman: “a set of questions, exercises, or practical activities to measure someone's skill, ability, or knowledge” http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/test_1 H. Douglas Brown: “a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain.” (Brown, 2004, p. 3)

7. A C LOSER L OOK “a method of measuring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain.” (Brown, 2004, p. 3)

8. M EASURE In order for a test to truly be a test, it must have a measureable outcome. The test-taker and the test-giver must know what success or failure on the test entails, and the results must be communicated. (Brown, 2004)

9. W HAT IS A SSESSMENT ? Assessment is “an ongoing process that encompasses a much wider domain [than a test]. Whenever a student responds to a question, offers a comment, or tries out a new word or structure, the teacher subconsciously makes an assessment of the student’s performance.” (Brown, 2004, p. 5)

10. H OW IS “ ASSESSMENT ” DIFFERENT FROM “ TESTING ”? Tests are a type of assessment, but they should never be the entire basis for how you determine a student’s level or progress. Assessments are ongoing, daily, subconscious or conscious observations and records that you make about student progress. These observations should be constant and should drive what you do as a teacher. (Brown, 2004)

11. I NFORMAL AND F ORMAL A SSESSMENT Unplanned observations and general feedback Good job! Did you say “can” or “can’t”? Planned classroom activities in which students perform tasks but do not receive final grades on performance Think-Pair-Share Dialogues Essay or Journal Writing Note-taking Group or Partner Work Activities in class that you give to students for which they receive graded feedback Tests Rubric-Scored Assignments Writing portfolio Presentations Journal Entries Notes Performances Projects Posters Informal AssessmentFormal Assessment (Brown, 2004)

12. F ORMATIVE AND S UMMATIVE A SSESSMENT Daily classroom assessment used to plan for, modify, and improve instruction Feedback that helps the teacher and the student make plans to improve language competence in the future Informal Assessment should always be formative, aimed at improving a student’s competence and performance Measures or summarizes what a student has learned over a given period of time Unit Tests Midterm Exams Final exams Entrance Exams Professional Language Tests Formative AssessmentSummative Assessment (Brown, 2004)

13. N ORM -R EFERENCED AND C RITERION -R EFERENCED T ESTS Mean Median Standard Deviation Percentile Rank SAT/TOEFL Norm-Referenced Tests Criterion-Referenced Tests Graded Feedback Meeting of language or course objectives Classroom Tests connected to a curriculum (Brown, 2004)

14. C URRENT ISSUES IN CLASSROOM TESTING : T RADITIONAL AND A UTHENTIC ASSESSMENT One-shot, Standardized Exams Timed, multiple-choice format Decontextualized test items Scores are feedback Norm-referenced scores One correct answer Summative Oriented to product Non-interactive Extrinsic motivation Continuous long-term assessment Untimed, free-response Contextualized communicative tasks Individualized feedback Criterion-referenced scores Formative Oriented to process Interactive performance Intrinsic motivation Traditional AssessmentAuthentic Assessment (Brown, 2004, p. 13)

16. FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT

17. PEER ASSESSMENT

18. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

19. SELF ASSESSMENT

20. SUMMATIVE ASSESSMENT

21. CONFERENCES AND INTERVIEWS

22. C RITERIA /G UIDELINES

23. JOURNALS

24. LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

25. LEARNING LOGS

26. PORTFOLIOS

27. VIDEO VIEWING

28. VIEWING QUESTIONS 1. What is the instrument students use for self-recording? What are they recording? What other things could students keep track of through self- recording?

29. VIEWING QUESTIONS What example of assignment guidelines did you see? For what kind of assignment were the criteria written? Think of a typical task in your own classroom. Try to list the criteria you might give the students to help them complete the task successfully.

30. VIEWING QUESTIONS How was the class in Video segment #2 organized? Why do you think it was organized this way? What can peers offer each other in this situation?

31. VIEWING QUESTIONS What language skill were students focusing on? What skills were they using as they worked together? Is this a form of assessment? If so, what kind of assessment was it, formative or summative?

32. VIEWING QUESTIONS What was the teacher’s job, or role, during this activity? What was the students’ responsibility?

33. SEGMENT 3: PORTFOLIOS

34. VIEWING QUESTIONS In what form are the portfolios kept and what age level uses each form? Where are they kept? Do you think students take them home? What might be some physical considerations related to using portfolios in your classroom?

35. VIEWING QUESTIONS Working in a small group, make a list of criteria or guidelines you might use for evaluating portfolios in your class.

36. SEGMENT 4: PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

37. VIEWING QUESTIONS List the 2 types of performance you see and the language skills that are used in each.

38. VIEWING QUESTIONS What was the purpose for each performance? Do you think the performance was well done or not?

39. W ORK IN P AIRS Decide on a type of alternative assessment that you could use in your classroom. Give the assessment a title. Write down the assessment … Purpose Instructions Criteria (Rubric) Share with the group!

40. THANK YOU! Katie Bain ktbain53@gmail.com www.elfellowkbain.wordpress.com www.americanenglish.state.gov

41. G ROUP W ORK E XERCISES ! testing assessment teaching Do you agree with this depiction? Why or why not? Where do these fit? choral drill pair pronunciation reading aloud singing songs writing a description of the weekend (Brown, 2004)

42. S ORT A CTIVITIES INTO A CATEGORY FormativeSummative Informal Formal placement tests diagnostic tests periodic achievement tests short pop quizzes final exams portfolios journals speeches oral presentations impromptu student responses student-written response drafting and revising final essays whole class discussion observing as students work in groups or pairs (Brown, 2004)

43. G ARDNER ’ S E IGHT I NTELLIGENCES Choose one or two Brainstorm teaching activities for each Brainstorm assessment activities for each Share with the group (Brown, 2004)

44. B RAINSTORM ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF EACH AND SHARE WITH THE CLASS One-shot, Standardized Exams Timed, multiple-choice format decontextualized test items Scores are feedback Norm-referenced scores One correct answer Summative Oriented to product Non-interactive Extrinsic motivation Continuous long-term assessment Untimed, free-response Contextualized communicative tasks Individualized feedback Criterion-referenced scores Formative Oriented to process Interactive performance Intrinsic motivation Traditional AssessmentAuthentic Assessment (Brown, 2004, p. 13)

45. S OURCES Brown, H.D. (2004). Language assessment: Principles and classroom practices. White Plains, NY: Pearson Education, Inc. Gottleib, M. H. (2006). Assessing English Language Learners: Bridges from language proficiency to academic achievement. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press.

46. THANK YOU! Katie Bain ktbain53@gmail.com www.elfellowkbain.wordpress.com www.americanenglish.state.gov