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Unit 1 of assessment learning 2

Assessment of Student Learning (JH Cerilles State College)

Studocu is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university

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https://theeducationhub.org.nz/principles-of-assessment/

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/jvl-narasimha-rao/self-assessment-
peer-assessment

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The Role of High-Quality Assessment: Enhancing Curriculum and

Instruction
Posted in Evolving Ed | October 22, 2018

Say the word "assessment," and most people envision sweating bullets
over a final exam or major unit test. The questions are many, the stakes are
high, and there are no do-overs if you make a mistake. There's a reason this
is the go-to image of assessment: For most of us, it's how we were taught.
For many students today, it's how it feels to take state-mandated
achievement tests each spring.
While end-of-year standardized tests play an important role in
measuring broad trends across grades, schools, and districts, they shouldn't
be the end of the story when it comes to comprehensive assessment.
High-quality assessments are balanced to provide instructors with
ongoing feedback about student progress. In particular, data gathered from
assessments given throughout the learning process give educators the
information they need to adjust their instruction. Assessment, then, isn't the
final word; rather, it should be part of an ongoing conversation that helps all
students get exactly what they need to meet learning standards.

What Does A High-Quality Assessment Look Like?

Whether your goal is to choose a ready-made assessment program
from a publisher or design better quizzes and tests for classroom use, it's
important to understand what high-quality assessment looks like. These
features are the most critical:
Standards-Based: Great assessment is carefully connected to the
learning standards your district or state has adopted so that questions are
relevant and provide meaningful insight on student learning.
Balanced: Truly useful assessment isn't a one-time test, but rather a
series of quizzes and informal check-ins throughout the learning process.
Classroom assessment is just as important as state-wide testing.

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Valid: Assessments should be designed by true subject experts,

including the classroom teacher. This ensures that questions are well-written,
unambiguous, and have been vetted for accuracy.
Flexible: There's more than one way for students to show what they
know, and high-quality assessments provide multiple ways to demonstrate
skills. Offering students choice is empowering and gives them a chance to
shine.
Informative: The best assessments offer useful information about what
students know and what they still need to work on. Ideally, there's a system
in place that makes it easy to crunch the numbers and compare results to
quickly recognize patterns. This data can then be used to design further
instruction to shore up weaknesses as required.
To measure the effectiveness of your assessments, use the checklist
above as a guide. Does your current assessment system or individual item
meet those requirements? To get a full view, it's necessary to include teacher
as well as administrator feedback. Instructors are in a better position to
determine whether frequent, informal assessments provide enough
information to be useful in guiding their teaching on a regular basis.
Since they're intimately familiar with the details of the curriculum,
they'll also be able to tell if assessments are relevant. Administrators should
provide feedback on the usefulness of the data they receive from
assessments and the ease of crunching the numbers in the ways most
meaningful to them to monitor big-picture progress.

Benefits of A High-Quality Assessment for Students

Though much attention is placed on how schools and districts use data
from various assessment systems, individual students also directly benefit
from carefully crafted assessment. For one thing, they gain confidence in
their own skills and in their relationships with their teachers when the
assessments they must complete are aligned to the work they've done in
class.

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If you've ever had the experience of sitting down to a test filled with
questions about topics that weren't discussed in class, you know just how
frustrating it can feel. Because high-quality assessments are designed to be
relevant, they eliminate anxiety about being unprepared and help maintain
strong student-teacher relationships.
A high-quality assessment also provides second chances for students
to succeed. Great assessments aren’t just about a one-time exam. Instead,
frequent, formative assessments are given throughout the learning process,
and students know that they will be allowed the opportunity to learn from
their mistakes and show growth. This takes some of the anxiety out of
testing and encourages a more growth-oriented mindset in the classroom.

The Impact of A High-Quality Assessment on Curriculum and Instruction

For instructors, one of the biggest benefits of excellent assessment

models is that they provide the information they need to improve or change
the course of their teaching. When high-quality assessments offer an easy
way to look at data about whether the majority of students have mastered a
learning goal, instructors can put that information to good use right away.
For example, if an individual teacher discovers that half of her students
are making errors in multiplication facts dealing with numbers larger than 5,
it doesn't make sense just to hand out a grade to each student and move on
to long division. This data lets the teacher know that she needs to review the
problem areas and provide extra practice before moving on. The data is even
more useful when taken to an individual level, as the teacher can target
remediation where it's needed and provide enrichment activities or
individualized learning for those who are ready to move on.
Likewise, assessment data is useful at the administrative level when it
comes to revising and updating curriculum. For example, when results show
that a significant number of students struggle to identify poetic devices, it's

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worth looking at the ELA curriculum to see where poetry units need to be
updated and enhanced.
Great assessment isn't merely about giving a grade to students and
educators. At its best, high-quality assessment provides actionable
information to inform curriculum and instruction decisions and allows for a
real-time change of course to meet students' needs. The first step is to vet
and design relevant, standards-based assessments that are used at many
different stages of learning. From there, educators should approach the
resulting data with a spirit of flexibility and adjust their strategies
accordingly.

https://www.schoology.com/blog/role-high-quality-assessment-enhancing-
curriculum-and-instruction

https://www.facultyfocus.com/articles/educational-assessment/assessments-
by-design-rethinking-assessment-for-learner-variability/

Authentic Assessment

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When considering how to assess student learning in a course, most

instructors would agree that the ideal assessment would be one that not only
assesses students’ learning; it also teaches students and improves their skills
and understanding of course content. One fundamental aspect of such
assessments is that they are authentic.
An authentic assignment is one that requires application of what
students have learned to a new situation, and that demands judgment to
determine what information and skills are relevant and how they should be
used. Authentic assignments often focus on messy, complex real-world
situations and their accompanying constraints; they can involve a real-world
audience of stakeholders or “clients” as well. According to Grant Wiggins
(1998), an assignment is authentic if it is realistic.
 requires judgment and innovation.
 asks the student to “do” the subject.
 replicates or simulates the contexts in which adults are “tested” in the
workplace or in civic or personal life.
 assesses the student’s ability to efficiently and effectively use a
repertoire of knowledge and skills to negotiate a complex task.
 allows appropriate opportunities to rehearse, practice, consult
resources, and get feedback on and refine performances and products.
Authentic assessments can be contrasted with conventional test
questions, which are often indirect measures of a student’s ability to apply
the knowledge and skills gained in a course. Conventional tests have an
important place in college courses, but cannot take the place of authentic
assessments. The table below, drawn from Wiggins, illustrates the
differences between typical tests and authentic assessments.
Typical tests Authentic tasks Indicators of
authenticity
Require correct Require a high-quality Correctness is not the
responses product or performance, only criterion; students
and a justification of the must be able to justify

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solutions to problems their answers.

encountered
Must be unknown to the Should be known in The tasks and standards
student in advance to be advance to students as for judgment should be
valid much as possible known or predictable.
Are disconnected from Are tied to real-world The context and
real-world contexts and contexts and constraints; constraints of the task
constraints require the student to are like those
“do” the subject. encountered by
practitioners in the
discipline.
Contain items that Are integrated challenges The task is multifaceted
isolate particular skills or in which a range of skills and complex, even if
facts and knowledge must be there is a right answer.
used in coordination
Include easily scored Involve complex tasks The validity of the
items that for which there may assessment is not
be no right answer, and sacrificed in favor of
that may not be easily reliable scoring.
scored
Are “one shot”; students Are iterative; contain Students may use
get one chance to show recurring tasks particular knowledge or
their learning skills in several different
ways or contexts.
Provide a score Provide usable diagnostic The assessment is
information about designed to improve
students’ skills and future performance, and
knowledge students are important
“consumers” of such
information.
Authentic assessments have several advantages over conventional
tests. They are likely to be more valid than conventional tests, particularly
for learning outcomes that require higher-order thinking skills. Because they

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involve real-world tasks, they are also likely to be more interesting for
students, and thus more motivating. And finally, they can provide more
specific and usable information about what students have succeeded in
learning as well as what they have not learned.
However, authentic assessments may require more time and effort on
an instructor’s part to develop, and may be more difficult to grade. To
address the difficulty of grading authentic assessments, it is often useful to
create a grading rubric that specifies the traits that will be evaluated and the
criteria by which they will be judged. (For more information, see the CITL
resource on rubrics.)

Examples of Authentic Assessments

Provide a case study of a patient and ask students to
Nursing
assess and create a plan of care
Develop a business/marketing/sales plan for an
Business imaginary (or real) company in a student's area of
interest.
Troubleshoot a problematic piece of code; Develop a
Computer Science website/app to solve a particular problem and/or
meet a set of criteria
Examine/critique a case study from multiple
Psychology
theoretical positions
Public Affairs or Consider how a community agency might be
Service Learning impacted by a particular challenge (budget cuts,
Courses infrastructure outage, public health crisis, etc.)
Draw a diagram of how a process works, indicating
Biology/Chemistry
what happens if X occurs
Engage in a role play of a particular event in history;
History Describe what might have happened if one element
of a historical event had changed.

References

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Wiggins, Grant. (1998). Ensuring authentic performance. Chapter 2

in Educative Assessment: Designing Assessments to Inform and Improve
Student Performance. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, pp. 21 – 42.
https://citl.indiana.edu/teaching-resources/assessing-student-
learning/authentic-assessment/index.html

https://www.teachhub.com/professional-development/2020/02/how-to-use-
student-assessments-in-your-classroom/

Why Use Authentic Assessment?

The question "Why use authentic assessment?" is not meant to

suggest that you have to choose between traditional assessments such as
tests and more authentic or performance assessments. Often, teachers use a
mix of traditional and authentic assessments to serve different purposes.
This section, then, attempts to explain why teachers might choose authentic

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assessments for certain types of judgments and why authentic assessments

have become more popular in recent years.

Authentic Assessments are Direct Measures

We do not just want students to know the content of the disciplines

when they graduate. We, of course, want them to be able to use the acquired
knowledge and skills in the real world. So, our assessments have to also tell
us if students can apply what they have learned in authentic situations. If a
student does well on a test of knowledge we might infer that the student
could also apply that knowledge. But that is rather indirect evidence. I could
more directly check for the ability to apply by asking the student to use what
they have learned in some meaningful way. To return to an example I have
used elsewhere, if I taught someone to play golf I would not check what they
have learned with just a written test. I would want to see more direct,
authentic evidence. I would put my student out on a golf course to play.
Similarly, if we want to know if our students can interpret literature, calculate
potential savings on sale items, test a hypothesis, develop a fitness plan,
converse in a foreign language, or apply other knowledge and skills they
have learned, then authentic assessments will provide the most direct
evidence.
Can you think of professions which require some direct demonstration
of relevant skills before someone can be employed in that field? Doctors,
electricians, teachers, actors and others must all provide direct evidence of
competence to be hired. Completing a written or oral test or interview is
usually not sufficient. Shouldn't we ask the same of our students before we
say they are ready to graduate? Or pass a course? Or move on to the next
grade?

Authentic Assessments Capture Constructive Nature of Learning

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A considerable body of research on learning has found that we cannot

simply be fed knowledge. We need to construct our own meaning of the
world, using information we have gathered and were taught and our own
experiences with the world (e.g., Bransford & Vye, 1989; Forman & Kuschner,
1977; Neisser, 1967; Steffe & Gale, 1995; Wittrock, 1991). Thus,
assessments cannot just ask students to repeat back information they have
received. Students must also be asked to demonstrate that they have
accurately constructed meaning about what they have been taught.
Furthermore, students must be given the opportunity to engage in the
construction of meaning. Authentic tasks not only serve as assessments but
also as vehicles for such learning.

Authentic Assessments Integrate Teaching, Learning and Assessment

Authentic assessment, in contrast to more traditional assessment,

encourages the integration of teaching, learning and assessing. In the
"traditional assessment" model, teaching and learning are often separated
from assessment, i.e., a test is administered after knowledge or skills have
(hopefully) been acquired. In the authentic assessment model, the same
authentic task used to measure the students' ability to apply the knowledge
or skills is used as a vehicle for student learning. For example, when
presented with a real-world problem to solve, students are learning in the
process of developing a solution, teachers are facilitating the process, and
the students' solutions to the problem becomes an assessment of how well
the students can meaningfully apply the concepts.

Authentic Assessments Provide Multiple Paths to Demonstration

We all have different strengths and weaknesses in how we learn.

Similarly, we are different in how we can best demonstrate what we have
learned. Regarding the traditional assessment model, answering multiple-

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choice questions does not allow for much variability in how students
demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired. On the one hand,
that is a strength of tests because it makes sure everyone is being compared
on the same domains in the same manner which increases the consistency
and comparability of the measure. On the other hand, testing favors those
who are better test-takers and does not give students any choice in how they
believe they can best demonstrate what they have learned.
Thus, it is recommended (e.g., Wiggins, 1998) that multiple and varied
assessments be used so that 1) a sufficient number of samples are obtained
(multiple), and 2) a sufficient variety of measures are used (varied). Variety
of measurement can be accomplished by assessing the students through
different measures that allows you to see them apply what they have learned
in different ways and from different perspectives. Typically, you will be more
confident in the students' grasp of the material if they can do so. But some
variety of assessment can also be accomplished within a single measure.
Authentic tasks tend to give the students more freedom in how they will
demonstrate what they have learned. By carefully identifying the criteria of
good performance on the authentic task ahead of time, the teacher can still
make comparable judgments of student performance even though student
performance might be expressed quite differently from student to student.
For example, the products students create to demonstrate authentic learning
on the same task might take different forms (e.g., posters, oral
presentations, videos, websites). Or, even though students might be required
to produce the same authentic product, there can be room within the product
for different modes of expression. For example, writing a good persuasive
essay requires a common set of skills from students, but there is still room
for variation in how that essay is constructed.
http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/whydoit.htm

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https://home.edweb.net/webinar/gave-formative-assessment-now/

Steps to Creating Authentic Assessment

Target Objectives:
1. Understand the four step process to creating authentic assessment.
2. Understand how a rubric can effectively measure student performance
on an authentic assessment opportunity.
3. Understand the characteristics of an effective rubric.

Question 1: What steps do I take to create an authentic assignment?

Now that you have learned why authentic assessment is important in

the classroom, and what various forms of authentic assessment there are, it
is time to learn how to create an authentic assessment for your classroom.
According to Jon Mueller, North Central College, there are four specific steps
that should be followed to create an authentic assignment. The steps are as
follows:

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STEP 1 - Standards
An assignment should always be formed with standards and objectives
in mind (backwards design). In order to create a task for students to
complete, you must first ask yourself, "what should my students know
following this lesson and assignment". This will give you a starting point for
creating various ideas for assessment. You must first start by having the end
result of the assignment in mind. Once you have decided what you want your
students to get out of their task, you can move on to step 2.

STEP 2 - Authentic Tasks

In this step, a teacher will decide how they want students to portray
their knowledge of the subject matter using a real-world activity or scenario.
A task should be chosen for students to complete that meets the authentic
assessment criteria. It should be a meaningful task that students feel they
can relate to and can apply in their lives.

STEP 3 - Criteria/Measures
In step 3, you will decide what the student performing the assignment
or task or will look like. What would you like the end product to be? You have
already chosen how you want the student to portray their knowledge through
an authentic task, and you must now determine what that will look like and
what criteria will prove student understanding. In other words, how will you
know that the student has performed well or not? Knowing what criteria you
are looking for in an authentic assignment will assist you in the next step -
creating a rubric.

STEP 4 - Rubric
After you have decided what task you would like students to complete,
and what criteria you will use to decide whether or not they have meet the
standards, you will create a rubric for evaluation of students. A rubric is a

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way for you to evaluate what level of performance the students are currently
performing at. Rubrics will be discussed further in this unit.

Question 2: How can a rubric assist me in assessing students?

A rubric is a great assessment tool because it breaks down the
students’ performance into various levels of criteria. Using a rubric, a teacher
is able to evaluate what level of performance a student is currently at, and
what they may need to improve upon. Major benefits of using a rubric to
assess students include:

A rubric provides a teacher with a scale of where the student's current

knowledge and performance are currently at as well as what they may need
to improve upon.

A rubric provides a student with their own guidelines while they are
working on an assessment. They are able to guide themselves, as well as
assess their own work or the work of their classmates using the rubric
provided to them.

A teacher can work with his or her students to develop assessment criteria
for a rubric. This way, students are taking part in the evaluation process and
feel more of an attachment to what they are working on. They need to live
up to their own standards (criteria) as well as that of the teacher.

Question 3: What are the characteristics of an effective rubric?

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A rubric is comprised of the following:

1. Criteria - characteristics of what the performance should look like. Criteria
was step 3 of the 4-step process of developing authentic assessment. It is
important for a teacher to know what criteria they are looking for in an
assignment or performance before they determine various levels of
performance.

2. Levels of Performance - different performance levels are written for each

of the criteria chosen. In general, a teacher will produce an example for each
level of performance. For an example, if one of the criteria in a rubric is for
the student to "use the Internet to support learning and research", simple
levels of performance may be seen as follows:
Lower Level Performance: student has trouble navigating website or is
unable to find answers regarding the research questions using the website.
Middle Level Performance: Student navigates websites with a few problems,
and is able to find most answers regarding the research questions using the
website.

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Higher Level Performance: Student is able to navigate the website with little
to no problems and is able to use the Internet to correctly answer research
questions.
A lower level, middle level, and higher level of performance were all given in
the above example. Usually, a teacher will use descriptive words or numbers
to grade each level of performance. The levels may be numbered 1-3, or
descriptive performance words might be used such as poor, good, fair, or
excellent to determine student success. Criteria are usually placed along the
left hand column of a rubric and levels of performance are placed along the
top row of the rubric.
See this blank rubric example: File:Examplerubrictable.doc
Here is another example of a rubric I created for ETAP 526 for students to
evaluate the validity of a website: File:Website evaluation.doc

Assignment
Using all of the information you have currently read regarding rubrics,
create a new rubric for an assessment that you currently give your students.
You may choose to update a rubric that you already use or create an entirely
new rubric for any assessment that you currently use in the classroom. You
may use your own format or Rubistar (link to program below) to create your
rubric. It is all about what works for you and your students.
The following is a link to "Rubistar" - a program in which you can create
rubrics for your classroom. Registration is free. [1]

Reflection
After completing this unit on creating authentic assessment and
rubrics, answer the following personal reflection questions:

What new information did you gain regarding the steps to creating authentic
assessment?

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Were you already creating assignments in this way? If not, what ways could
you improve upon how you are currently creating student assessment?
Are you currently creating rubrics to assess your student's performance?
What did you get out of creating or recreating a rubric for a current student
assignment?
Reflect upon any other questions, thoughts, or ideas you had during this unit.

https://knilt.arcc.albany.edu/Unit_3:_Steps_to_Creating_Authentic_Assessmen
t

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