What is your definition of assessment?

One element that is present in most educational institutions is assessment. Assessment is defined as the impact an educational institution has on its students (Anderson et al., 2005). Unlike testing, which is a snapshot of what a test taker can demonstrate on a given day, assessment is an ongoing process. According to Rick Stiggins (2014), testing was historically used to identify who would be successful in learning and to rank those students from top to bottom. Under this old method, it was understood that a certain number of students would not be successful or drop out. Under the assessment method, one majori difference is the idea that all learners can master key proficiencies and that assessment is the way to help learners realize this potential (Stiggins, 2014).

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How do you determine lesson objectives on which an assessment is based?

Teachers can follow four simple steps to align instruction to the test (Valenzuela, 2022). The first step is to create a summative assessment that aligns to one or more standards or objectives. This assessment should include a product or a demonstration of a task. Valenzuela’s next step involves composing learning targets of what the student should be able to do before taking the assessment. The third step is creating formative assessments to mark student progress along the way and to give the teacher feedback on where reteaching is needed. The final step is to design the instructional strategies and scaffolds that will guide the learning activities. This four-step process follows the principles of backward design (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). 

 

How does the alignment impact learner outcomes?

The goal of alignment is that the learner is able to demonstrate that they have learned what the teacher intended to teach them. There is a relationship between learning outcomes and curriculum based on those outcomes. An appropriately aligned curriculum design can facilitate and optimize the successful achievement of the intended learning outcomes (Alfauzan & Tarchouna, 2017). Similarly, when there is not alignment between the curriculum and the intended learning outcomes, students might not be prepared for their summative assessments and might not perform well on them. 

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What type of assessment is best?

The three main types of assessment are open-ended, selected-response, or performance. All three types of assessment have a role in measuring student progress. Open-ended assessments could include anything from oral or written short responses to longer format responses, like essays. One benefit of short response assessments is that the questions can be written in a way that allows students to demonstrate what they know instead of targeting specific responses. In selected-response assessments, like multiple choice tests, students choose a correct answer from among several responses. Performance assessments require students to perform a task and/or submit a product. 

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I use all three types of assessment in my classroom. Multiple choice tests are easy to grade and can provide teachers with a quick snapshot of student understanding. I use multiple choice or T/F questions most days to formatively assess my novice French learners. 

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In general, I use open-ended responses for my end-of-unit assessments. I like open-ended responses for foreign language learners because they are able to tell me what they understood from written or oral language, instead of asking specific questions they might not understand. I also have my students write short essays to show what they can do with the language. 

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In my class, the biggest performance assessment we do is our end-of-year storybook project. Students create, write, illustrate, and publish storybooks for the classroom and their performance on the project is based on how well they accomplish several different tasks on the rubric. 

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What are effort grades? What is your stance on this topic?

Effort grades, on the other hand, can include participation, but also might include other student behaviors that a teacher wishes to see. These include asking for help, staying on task, and taking time to produce high-quality work (Fintelman, 2018).

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In a foreign language class, participation and effort are integral to the process of language acquisition. Students practice their language skills by participating in class. They contribute to a positive learning environment by listening to others and following the flow of conversation, both demonstrations of effort. I used to include the effort and participation rubrics in our weekly packet, and students would receive participation and effort grades based on their responses, as well as what I saw in class. Now I am not allowed to include those factors, or even to give them a score on the weekly packet, and students’ ability to acquire language is definitely compromised because there is no “skin in the game” for students to show they are participating and making an effort, just as in a math class students don’t have to do homework for a grade and take an assessment as a chance to preview what they will need to do so they can figure it out and get a good score on the reassessment. 

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The chief detriment of effort and participation grades is that they can mask what a student can actually do in the classroom. Some students are dutiful, show effort, and still are not proficient. Others do not participate or play nicely with others, but they meet academic standards. Another detriment is that holistic grades that include participation and effort vary much more from teacher to teacher and class to class. Basing grades solely on whether or not a student is proficient in the standards is more clear-cut. 

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For most students, however, effort, participation, and skill mastery go hand in hand. There is a significant, positive correlation between class participation and academic achievement (Akpur, 2021). At the secondary level, students often need their participation to be incentivized, and that incentive can come through getting a good grade. When participating is considered just “something you’re supposed to do,” many students choose not to do it. Homework completion, often considered part of an effort grade, also has a significant positive effect on test scores (Cooper et al., 2006). When homework completion was eliminated as part of a student’s grade, homework completion at my school dropped significantly. Students want to do what they need to do to get good grades, and sometimes they lack the maturity to see that in order to be proficient, they also need to be exhibiting the behaviors that allow them to become proficient. When those behaviors can be included as part of a student’s overall grade, they are seen as a necessary part of the path toward proficiency.

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What is student self-assessment? How should it be accomplished? What is your stance on student participation in developing assessments?

Student self-assessment can take a few different forms. In my class, I have students self-assess in two different ways. First of all, students do partner assessments for speaking assessments. It would be extremely time consuming and challing to assess students' oral performance individually, so I have students evaluate their partners. 

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Self-assessment can also be used when handing in a project-based assessment. If students self-assess using the rubric for the assessment, they can ensure that they satisfied all of the criteria of the assessment. Finally, students can self-assess their effort or participation to ensure that they are aware of classroom expectations and are working to fulfill those expectations.

 

Student portfolios

I am lucky enough to teach my students for two years. Over those two years, my students keep all of their assessments and writing activities in a folder in the classroom. When there are parent teacher conferences, students are expected to show their students their portfolios, and particularly their writing journals, so students and parents can see their progress over time. Students are also asked to keep the portfolios as they move to a new teacher at the high school level so they can demonstrate what they do as they enter a new school and a new class.  ​

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Using figures and visuals in the assessment process. 

For novice language learners, understanding written and oral language when supported by visuals is an explicit part of the standard. Therefore, I will include photos or other visuals on reading and listening assessments. Most of my listening assessments involve either watching a video or illustrating a story on the board as I tell it. 

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Ongoing Assessment

Assessment is an ongoing progress, and students who become more proficient and wish to reassess should be accommodated. I am happy to allow students to reassess even after a marking period has ended so students can improve their scores if they wish. 

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References

Alfauzan, A. A., & Tarchouna, N. (2017). The role of an aligned curriculum design in the achievement of learning outcomes. Journal of Education and E-Learning Research, 4(3), 81-91.

Anderson, H. M., Anaya, G., Bird, E., & Moore, D. L. (2005). A review of educational assessment. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education, 69(1-5), 84.

Akpur, U. (2021). Does Class Participation Predict Academic Achievement? A Mixed-Method 

Study. English Language Teaching Educational Journal, 4(2), 148-160.

Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic 

achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987–2003. Review of Educational Research, 

76(1), 1–62.

Fintelman. E. (2018). Effort and achievement charts. Mrs. Fintelman Teaches. 

https://emilyfintelman.com/2018/06/02/effort-and-achievement-charts/

[Rick Stiggins]. (2014, March 4). A New Vision of Excellence in Assessment [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHX2jnKNiyw

Valenzuela, J. (2022, February 18). A simple tool for aligning instruction and assessment. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/simple-tool-aligning-instruction-and-assessment/

Wiggins, G. P., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. Ascd.

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