Summary Assessment

Name   : Umi Kalsum Ilham

Npm     : 03061811022

Subject : Language Assessment

                                    Summary

BEYOND TESTS : ALTERNATIVES IN ASSESSMENT

        In the public eye, tests have acquired an aura of infalibility in our culture of mess peoducting everything, including the education of school children. Everyone wasis or everything, especially if the test is chcap, quickly administered, snd scored Caneously, But we saw in Chapteri while the standardized test industry bas become a powerful joggernaut of influence on decisions abous people's aves, a abo has conse under severe criticism from the public (Kotun, 2000). A more bak anced viewpoint is offered by Bailey (1998, p. 204): "One of the disturbing things about tests is the extent to which many people accept the results uncritically while others believe that all testing is invidious. Butr tests are simply measurement tools It s the use to which we put thcir results that can be appropriate or inappropriate." h is cicar by now that tests are one of a number of possible types of assessment. 

• THE DILEMMA OF MAXIMIZING BOTH PRACTICALITY AND WASHBACK 

    The principal purpose of this chapter is to examine some of the alternatives assessment that are markedly different from formal tests. Tests, especially large-sca standardized tests, tend to be one-shot performances that are timed, multiple-choice decontextualized, norm-referenced, and that foster extrinsic motivation. On e other hand, tasks like portfolios, journals, and self-assessment are • open-ended in their time orientation and format, • contextualized to a curriculum, • referenced to the criteria (objectives) of that curriculum, and • likely to build intrinsic motivation. One way of looking at this contrast poses a challenge to you as a teacher test designer.

•  PERFORMANCE-BASED ASSESSMENT

 

   Before proceeding to a direct consideration of types of alternatives in assessment word about performance-based assessment is in order. There has been a gre deal of press in recent years about performance-based assessment, sometime merely called performance assessment (Shohamy, 1995; Norris et al., 1998).

• PORTFOLIOS 

  One of the most popular alternatives in assessment, especially within a framework of communicative language teaching, is portfolio development. According to Genesee and Upshur (1996), a portfolio is "a purposeful collection of students' work that demonstrates... their efforts, progress, and achievements in given areas" (p.99). Portfolios include materials such as • essays and compositions in draft and final forms; • reports, project outlines; • poctry and creative prose; • artwork, photos, newspaper or magazine clippings; • audio and/or video recordings of presentations, demonstrations, etc.; • journals, diaries, and other personal reflections; • tests, test scores, and written homework exercises; • notes on lectures; and • self- and peer-assessments-comments, evaluations, and checklists. Until recently, portfolios were thought to be applicable only to younger children who assemble a portfolio of artwork and written work for presentation to a teacher and/or a parent. Now learners of all ages and in all fields of study are benefiting from the tangible, hands-on nature of portfolio development. Gottlieb (1995) suggested a developmental scheme for considering the nature and purpose of portfolios, using the acronym CRADLE to designate six possible attributes of a portfolio: Collecting Reflecting Assessing Documenting Linking Evaluating As Collections, portfolios are an expression of students' lives and identities. The appropriate freedom of students to choose what to include should be respected, but at the same time the purposes of the portfolio need to be clearly specified Reflective practice through journals and self-assessment checklists is an important ingredient of a successful portfolio. Teacher and student both need to take the role of Assessment seriously as they evaluate quality and development over time. We need to recognize that a portfolio is an important Document in demonstrating stu- dent achievement, and not just an insignificant adjunct to tests and grades and other more traditional evaluation.

• JOURNAL

        Journal is a log (or "account") of one's thoughts, feelings, reactions, assess- ments, ideas, or progress toward goals, usually written with little attention to struc- ture, form, or correctness. Learners can articulate their thoughts without the threat of those thoughts being judged later (usually by the teacher).

• CONFERENCES AND INTERVIEWS

        Reference was made to conferencing as a standard part of the process approach to teaching writing, in which the teacher, in a conversation about a draft, facilitates the improvement of the written work.

• OBSERVATIONS 

        All teachers, whether they are aware of it or not, observe their students in the class room almost constantly. Virtually every question, every response, and almost every nonverbal behavior is, at some level of perception, noticed. All those intuitive per- ceptions are stored as little bits and pieces of information about students that can form a composite impression of a student's ability. Without ever administering a test or a quiz, teachers know a lot about their students.

• SELF- AND PEER-ASSESSMENTS

    

      A conventional view of language assessment might consider the notion of self and peer-assessment as an absurd reversal of politically correct power relation ships.

• FOR YOUR FURTHER READING

      Brown, J.D. (Ed.) (1998). New ways of classroom assessment. Alexandria, VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. This volume in TESOL's "New Ways" series offers an array of nontraditional assessment procedures. Each procedure indicates its appropriate level, objective, class time required, and suggested preparation time. Included are examples of portfolios, journals, logs, conferences, and self- and peer- assessment. Alternatives to traditional assessment of listening, speaking, reading, and writing are also given. All techniques were contributed by teachers in varying contexts around the world.

• Types of Self- and Peer-Assessment

     It is important to distinguish among several different types of self- and peer-assessmen and to apply them accordingly.

Reference : Language Assessment principles and classroom practices

                                                 H.Douglas Brow