Oral Progress Assessment Charts

For the Teacher

The Oral Progress Assessment

The Oral Progress Assessment is an optional activity used to informally assess students!
communication skills in speaking. This assessment is based on the full-page Oral
Review located at the end of each Top Notch unit. There are teaching notes explaining
how to use this option in the Lesson Planner page opposite the Oral Review.

In assessing communication skills, every effort should be made to put students at ease.
Being tested for one!s speaking ability can be very anxiety producing. Students should
be given adequate time to think and respond, and they should be encouraged in the
same way we would encourage them during speaking practice.

The Chart
The Oral Progress Assessment Chart is a simple-to-administer tool that allows you to
keep a record of students! progress throughout the class term. The advantage of a
reporting system like this one is that the teacher has a clear guide he or she can use to
counsel students about their performance: what they are doing well and where they can
try to improve. In addition, it can be useful for describing student progress to others.

Name: _______________________________

Does the student correctly use grammar from the unit? 1 2 3 4 5

Does the student use appropriate vocabulary from the unit? 1 2 3 4 5
Overall, is it easy to understand the student? 1 2 3 4 5
Does the student express himself or herself fluently? 1 2 3 4 5

Total Score:

Assessing students! oral progress

For each Oral Progress Assessment, reproduce enough copies of the charts so that
there is one chart for each student in your class. Write one student!s name on each
chart. Observe each student!s performance during the Oral Progress Assessment and
circle the appropriate numbers in the report.

Assess and total scores according to these guidelines:

1 Mark students on a scale of 1 to 5, with 3 being an average performance, 5 being

above average and 1 being below average.

Top Notch 1, Second Edition For the Teacher

2 Assess each student according to appropriate expectations for a student from the level
you are teaching. Avoid assessing students in comparison to students in other levels.

3 The highest possible score is 20. Total each score by adding up the four numbers you
circled. For example: If a student gets a 3 in each line, the total score would be 12. If a
student gets a 5 in the first two lines, and a 4 in the next two, the total score would be 18.
If you choose to, you can easily transfer that score to a 100% scale by multiplying any
total score by 5.

4 For a final score at the end of the class term, total all of a student!s scores and divide
that number by the number of Oral Progress Assessments you administered. For
example, if you assessed students six times during the class term, and the student got
15 points on the first three Oral Progress Assessments and 20 points on the last three,
the total score would be 105. That number divided by 6 would be 17.5 points, the
student!s final score for the class term. (Or 87.5% on a 100% scale.)

Remember that assessment is about tracking students! progress. Using a chart like this
allows teachers to give students credit for what they are doing well. If a student struggles
with speaking fluently, but his or her response is accurate and appropriate, the student
should get credit for that. This chart allows you to do that.

Top Notch 1, Second Edition For the Teacher