SESSION 7: BEYOND TESTS:

ALTERNATIVES IN ASSESSMENT

BROWN, H. AND ABEYWICKKRAMA, P.

(2010) CHAPTER 6, PP. 122-155.

Course instructor:
Dr. Nguyen Thi Hong Tham
Group discussion (10 minutes)

1. What is alternative assessment? Why do classroom

teachers need alternatives in assessment? What are
the characteristics of alternative assessment?
2. What is performance-based assessment? What are
its characteristics?
3. Distinguish between performance-based
assessment and alternative assessments.
Distinction between testing and assessment

Tests
• are formal procedures,
• usually administered within strict time limitations,
• to sample the performance of a test-taker in a
specific domain.
Assessment:
• Connotes a much broader concept
• Includes all occasions from informal impromptu
observations and comments up to and including
tests.
Why alternative assessment?

• Alternative assessment
➢refers to ‘an alternative to standardised testing and all the
problems found in such testing’ (Huerta-Macias 1995: 8).
➢aims to reduce the shortcomings of standardized tests.
➢is counterproductive as it implies something new and
different from standardised tests.

• Some examples of alternative assessment: portfolios, journals,

observations, self-assessment, peer-assessment
Characteristics of alternatives in assessment

1. require students to perform, create, produce, or do

something;
2. use real-world contexts or simulations;
3. are nonintrusive in that they extend the day-to-day
classroom activities;
4. allow students to be assessed on what they normally
do in class every day;
5. use tasks that represent meaningful instructional
activities;
Alternatives in assessment
6. focus on processes as well as products;
7. tap into higher-level thinking and problem-solving skills;
8. provide information about both the strengths and
weaknesses of students;
9. are multi-culturally sensitive when properly administered;
10. ensure that people, not machines, do the scoring, using
human judgment;
11. encourage open disclosure of standards and rating
criteria; and
12. call upon teachers to perform new instructional and
assessment roles.
The dilemma of maximizing both practicality
and washback
• Large-scale standardised tests: one-shot performances that are
timed, multiple choice, decontextualised, norm-referenced, and
that foster extrinsic motivation.

• ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT: such as 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.
• Formal standardised tests: are almost by definition
highly practical, reliable instruments, designed to
minimise time and money on the part of test-designer
and test-taker, and to be painstakingly accurate in
their scoring.

• Alternatives, such as portfolios, conferences, or

observations, require considerable time and effort on
the part of the teacher and the student.
• Alternative techniques offer markedly greater
washback, are superior formative measures, and
because of their authenticity, usually carry greater
face validity.

• The implied negative correlation: as a technique

increases in its washback and authenticity, its
practicality and reliability tend to be lower, and vice
versa.
Figure 6.1. Presumed relationship of practicality/reliability to
washback/authenticity (Brown and Abeywickrama 2010: 124)
Performance-based assessment
• is part of the same general educational reform
movement that has raised strong objections to using
standardized test scores as the only measures of
student competencies.
• implies productive, observable skills, such as speaking
and writing, of content-valid tasks.
• Such performance usually, not always, brings with it
an air of authenticity.
• implies an integration of skills, bringing about more
motivation to the teacher and students.
Characteristics of performance assessment

1. Students make a constructed response

2. The engage in higher-order thinking, with open-ended
tasks.
3.Tasks are meaningful, engaging, and authentic.
4. Tasks call for the integration of language skills.
5. Both process and product are assessed.
6. Depth of a student’s mastery is emphasized over
breadth.
• Performances as assessment procedures need to be treated with
the same rigor as traditional tests. This implies that the teacher
should:

➢ state the overall goal of the performance,

➢ specify the objectives (criteria) of the performance in detail,
➢ prepare students for performance in stepwise progressions,
➢ use a reliable evaluation form, checklist, or rating sheet,
➢ treat performances as opportunities for giving feedback and
provide that feedback systematically, and
➢ if possible, utilize self-and peer-assessments judiciously.
Performance assessment

• is not completely synonymous with the concept of

alternative assessment.

• is best understood as one of the primary traits of the

many available alternatives to assessment.
Some alternatives in assessment

Portfolios
Journals
Conferences
interviews
Observations
Self-assessment
Peer-assessment
Group discussion (15 minutes)
What are the features and benefits of the following
alternative assessments:
• portfolios
• journals
• conferences
• interviews
• observations
• self-assessment
• peer-assessment?
1. Portfolios

• being one of the most popular alternatives in assessment

• Including materials such as

➢ essays and compositions in draft and final forms

➢ reports, project outlines
➢ poetry and creative prose
➢ artwork, photos, newspaper or magazine clippings
➢ audio / video recordings of presentations, demonstrations
➢journals, diaries, personal reflections
➢ tests, tests scores, written homework exercises
➢ notes on lectures
➢self- and peer- assessments – comments, evaluations and
checklists.
Six possible attributes of a portfolio (CRADLE)
• Collecting: As collection, portfolios are expression of students’ lives
and identities.
• Reflecting: Reflective practice through journals and self-assessment
checklists is an important ingredient of a successful portfolios.
• Assessing: Both teacher and student need to take the role of
Assessment seriously as they evaluate quality and development
overtime.
• Documenting: a portfolio is an important Document in demonstrating
student achievement, and not just an insignificant adjunct to tests and
grades and other more traditional evaluation.
• Linking: A portfolio can serve as an important Link between student
and teacher, parent, community, and peers.
• Evaluating: Evaluation of portfolios requires a time-consuming but
fulfilling process of generating accountability.
Benefits of portfolios

• Foster intrinsic motivation, responsibility and ownership

• Promote teacher- student interaction with the teacher facilitator
• Individualize learning and celebrate the uniqueness of each
student
• Provide tangible evidence of a student’s work
• Facilitate critical thinking, self- assessment & revision processes
• Offer opportunities for collaborative work with peers
• Permit assessment of multiple dimensions of language learning
Steps and guidelines for successful portfolio
development
1. State objectives clearly

2. Give guidelines on what materials to include

3. Communicate assessment criteria to students

4. Designate time within the curriculum for portfolio development

5. Establish periodic schedules for review & conferencing

6. Designate an assessable place to keep portfolios

7. Provide positive washback-giving final assessment

• Portfolios have a relatively low practicality rating as
it takes a lot of time for teachers to respond and
conference with students.

• Following the above guidelines for specifying the

criteria and evaluating portfolios can raise the
reliability to a respectable level

• The washback effect, the authenticity, and the face

validity of portfolios remain exceedingly high.
2. Journals

• Free writing.
• Play a prominent role in a pedagogical model that
stresses the importance of students’ self-reflection.
• A log of one’s thoughts, feelings, reactions,
assessments, ideas, progress towards goals, usually
written with little attention to structure, form, or
correctness.
Types
• Language- learning logs

• Grammar journals

• Responses to readings

• Strategies- based learning logs

• Self- assessment reflections

• Diaries of attitudes, feelings, & affective factors

• Acculturation logs (writing about the process of learning to

live successfully in a different culture)
Critics of journals:

• Too free a form to be assessed accurately.

• With so much potential variability, it is difficult to

set up criteria for evaluation.

• Ethical concerns: students may be asked to reveal

an inner self, which may be not appropriate in some
culture
• Most classroom-oriented journals are now known as
dialogue journals – implying an interaction between a
reader (the teacher) and the student through
dialogues or responses.
Advantages of dialogue journals
➢Serving important pedagogical purposes: practice in the
mechanics of writing, using writing as a ‘thinking’
process, individualisation, and communication with the
teacher.

➢The assessment qualities of journal writing have assumed

an important role in the teaching-learning process.

➢Because most journals are – or should be – a dialogue

between student and teacher, they afford a unique
opportunity for a teacher to offer various kind of
feedback
Steps and guidelines for using journals as
assessment instruments
1. Sensitively introduce students to the concept of journal writing

2. State the objective(s) of the journal

3. Give guidelines on what kinds of topics to include

4. Carefully specify the criteria for assessing or grading journals

5. Provide optimal feedback in your responses

6. Designate appropriate time frames and schedules for review

7. Provide formative, washback-giving final comments

3. Conferences
• a routine part of language classroom, esp. of course in writing.
• are not limited to draft of written work (portfolios, journals).

Examples of functions and subjects for conferencing:

• commenting on draft of essays and reports

• reviewing portfolios
• responding to journals
• advising on a student’s plan for an oral presentation
• assessing a proposal for a project
• giving feedback on the results of performance on a test.
The list of possible functions and subject matter for
conferencing (cont.)

• Clarifying understanding of a reading

• Exploring strategies – based options for enhancement or
compensation
• Focusing on aspects of oral production
• Checking a student’s self-assessment of a performance
• Setting personal goals for the near future
• Assessing general progress in a course

❑Conferences are by nature formative, not summative

and their purpose is to offer positive washback.
4. Interviews
❑One specialized kind of conference.

❑Some possible goals of interview:

The teacher
• assesses the student’s oral production
• ascertains a student’s needs before designing a course or
curriculum
• seeks to discover a student’s learning styles and
preferences
• asks a students to assess his or her own performance
• requests an evaluation of a course
Guidelines to frame the interview questions
1. Offer an initial atmosphere of warmth and anxiety-lowering
(warm-up).
2. Begin with relatively simple questions.
3. Continue with level-check and probe questions, but adapt
to the interviewee as needed.
4. Frame questions simply and directly.
5. Focus on only one factor for each question. Do not combine
several objectives in the same question.
6. Be prepared to repeat or reframe questions that are not
understood.
7. Wind down with friendly and reassuring closing comments.
5. Observations
• All teachers observe students in the classroom almost
constantly.

• Both the reliability and face validity of the teacher’s

feedback to students can be increased with the help of
empirical means of observing their language
performance.

• One of the objectives of observations is to assess

students without their awareness of the observation so
that the naturalness of their linguistic performance is
maximised.
Important steps in carrying out classroom
observation

1. Determine the specific objectives of the observation.

2. Decide how many students will be observed at one time.
3. Set up logistics for making unnoticed observations.
4. Design a systems for recording observed performances.
5. Do not overestimate the number of different elements
you can observe at one time-keep them very limited.
6. Plan how many observations you will make.
7. Determine specifically how you will use the results.
6. Self-and peer-assessments

• Encouraging learners’ autonomy

• Developing intrinsic motivation

• Peer-assessment: encourages cooperative learning

Types of self- and peer-assessment:

1. Assessment of a (specific) performance:

• A student typically monitors him- or herself and
evaluate his/her own performance.
• The evaluation takes place immediately or very soon
after the performance

2. Indirect assessment of (general) competence:

• evaluating general ability
• including a lesson over several days, a module, or even
a whole semester.
•Examples of peer- assessment sheets
http://www.finchpark.com/courses/sheets.htm
An example of indirect self-assessment rating scale
3. Metacognitive assessment (for setting goals)
• Purposes: not just to view past performance or competence but
to set goals and maintain an eye on the process of their pursuit.

• Advantages:
➢ Fostering intrinsic motivation
➢ Providing learners with that extra-specific impetus from having
set and accomplished one’s own goals.

• Forms:
➢ Journal entries
➢ Choices from a list of possibilities
➢ Questionnaires
➢ Cooperative (oral) pair or group planning
Examples
4. Socio-affective assessment
• including methods of examining affective factors in
learning
• requiring looking at oneself through a psychological
lens.

Purposes:

• to assess and improve motivation

• to judge and lower their own anxiety
• to find metal or emotional obstacles to learning and
then plan to overcome those barriers
Examples
5. Student-generated tests

• Students create their own tests

Ex: Students working in groups to construct weekly
quizzes or questions
• Interactive pair tests: Students assess each other using
a set of quiz items

• Purposes of student-generated tests:

➢ stimulate review and integration
➢ engender intrinsic involvement in reviewing
objectives and selecting and designing items for the
final form of the test
Guidelines for self- and peer-assessment

1. Tell students the purpose of the assessment

2. Define the task(s) clearly
3. Encourage impartial evaluation of performance or
ability
4. Ensure beneficial washback through follow-up tasks.
A taxonomy of self- and peer-assessment tasks
Some useful websites

• Experiences with alternative assessment

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/neil-t-millington/experiences-
alternative-assessment

• Assessing English language learners

https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/larry-ferlazzo/larry-ferlazzo-
assessing-english-language-learners

• Samples of alternative assessment

http://www.finchpark.com/courses/sheets.htm

• Using Technology to Support Alternative Assessment and Electronic

Portfolios:
http://electronicportfolios.org/portfolios.html