Authentic Assessment Lynne E. Houtz, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Education Creighton University

Authentic Assessment

Lynne E. Houtz, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Education

Creighton University

Lynne E. Houtz, Ph.D. 2006 2

Skill GoalsAs a result of participating in this workshop, participants will be able to:

• Define “Assessment.”• Use assessment to inform teaching and learning.• Identify appropriate strategies to evaluate student

learning, including test development and alternative assessments.

• Provide examples of a variety of assessment techniques and tools.

• Provide examples of rubrics and resources for rubric development.


Assessment:“The systematic collection,review, and use ofinformation abouteducational programsundertaken for the purposeof improving studentlearning and development.”

- Scritchfield (2002)

- Scritchfield, S.A. (2002). Assessment of student learning: What,how, why bother. Workshop sponsored by Office for Excellence in Teaching, Learning & Assessment.



Often the long-range goal is far downstream and difficult to measure because of the many intervening variables and time constraints within funding and reporting periods.


Fairness in classroom assessment refers to giving all students an equal chance to show what they

know and can do!!

NEA Professional Standards and Practice


Written Tests

• Paper & pencil or computer

• Essay or objective

• Standardized achievement

• Criterion-referenced


Assessment Terms

• “Alternative” - one of several possibilities; another option. Any type of assessment in which students create a response to a question, rather than choosing a response from a given list.

http://www.crystalgraphics.com/PowerPictures/Image.Search.Details.asp?product=V3004035


“Authentic”• Tests should involve real-life tasks,

performances, or challenges that replicate the problems faced by an expert in a particular field.

• Students should understand up-front the criteria on which their work will be judged and be able to apply the criteria to their work.

• Students should be asked to demonstrate their control over the essential knowledge being taught by actually using the information in a way that reveals their level of understanding.



Assessment Methods

• Observations• Oral Questions• Written Tasks• Tests• Class Presentations• Extended Problem-

Solving Projects• Take-Home Tests• Homework

• Journals• Group Work• Portfolios• Standardized

Achievement Tests• Student Interviews• Focus Groups• Performance Tests• Criterion-References

Tests


Making Assessments based on Observations


The Primary Components of Performance Assessment

• 1. Context: What performance will you evaluate?

• 2. Criteria: By what standards will you judge proficiency? How will these standards be determined?

• 3. Method: How will you elicit this performance so that you can observe it? How will you rate performance and create a record of your assessment? Who shall evaluate the performance?


Performance Based CurriculumKey Quality Points• Students are given quality models of performance based

upon real-world examples of excellence.• Students practice toward, and teachers teach toward those

models. Criteria are clearly stated and set in advance.• High standards are set and maintained and additional

instructional support provided, for all students to meet standards.

• Students have the opportunity to reflect and practice self evaluation.

• The engagement and motivation factors that have traditionally involved students in sports and the arts are applied to academic endeavors.


Criteria for Good Alternative Assessment National Research Centers (1993) A Tool Kit for Professional Developers: Alternative

Assessment. Laboratory Network Program.

• Coverage• Performance Criteria• Sampling/

Representativeness/Generalizability

• Tasks• Extraneous

Interference

• Fairness and Rater Bias

• Consequences/ Validity

• Cost and Efficiency

.


Performance Assessment

• Criteria for success:• Content• Details• Quality, etc

• Rubric http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php

• Checklist• Reliability• Validity

http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php






Perceptual Data: views, judgments, or appraisals from an individual’s perspective

(Bernhardt, 1998).

• Focus Groups• Interviews• Surveys

Bernhardt, Victoria L. (1998). Data Analysis for Comprehensive Schoolwide Improvement. Larchmont, NY: Eye On Education, 292 pages.


I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving!!

“Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts

cannot necessarily be counted.”

- Albert Einstein


Analyzing Focus Group Information

• Memory-Based Analysis

• Note-Based Analysis

• Tape-Based Analysis

• Transcript-Based Analysis


FOCUS GROUP ANALYSIS

Least time-intensive

Most-rigorous

Most time-intensive

Most-rigorous

Memory-based

Note-based

Tape-based

Transcript - Based

Focus Groups, Second Edition: A Practical Guide for Applied Research. Krueger, R. 1994. Sage Publications. Thousand Oaks, CA


Portfolio Assessment

• Students compose a portrait of themselves as able learners, selecting and presenting evidence that they have met the learning standards for individual classes and for the broader learning tasks.


Final Thoughts

• Alternative assessment is not automatically better assessment.

• Alternatives have advantages and disadvantages.

• Take a balanced approach to assessment.

• Design alternative assessments to be tools for learning and teaching.


It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters in the end.”

Ursula K. Le Guin

Documents

Authentic Assessment Lynne E. Houtz, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Education Creighton University