ASSESSMENT
21 EMULOV • 01 EUSSI • 9102 REBOTCO
ABC BOOK
PRINCIPLES OF ASSESSMENT UNDERSTANDING THE CEFR STANDARDS
Assessment It can be defined as the process in which you gather information about your students and even about yourself. You can assess in all the distinct stages of the learning process.
REFLECTION In my experience, assessing our students using different tools provide us reliable data to guide them to achieve their learning goals and also, it helps us teachers to design, plan and deliver meaningful lessons for them.
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Authenticity
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It is the degree of correspondance between the material, classes or tests with the features of the target language. REFLECTION In my opinion, students are more engaged when they learn thru authentic materials. Real life context scenarios are meaningful for the students because those scenarios reflect how the language is used in different situations.
Benchmark Also known as interim assessment, benchmark allow us to evaluate where students are in their learning process and determine how well they will perform on future assessments. REFLECTION Benchmarking can benefit my teaching practice. By gathering data on how students are performing and comparing their performance with the standards, they can understand how they are going to be assessed and also, how other students did. By providing real examples of other students they can analyze and reflect about their performance, identifying the organization of ideas, the use of vocabulary, the application of grammar in context and also, visualizing common errors and how to correct them.
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BICS and CALP BICS (Basic Interpersonal Skills) is what we use to communicate or interact with other people in a social context while CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) focuses in academic language. It is more abstact, context reduced and specialized. REFLECTION In my experience, students benefit from both. When they start learning the language, BICS is crucial in order to help them to communicate in a meaningful way. While they acquire those skills, they also need to master the academic proficiency of the language. It is needed for academic writing, research, TOEFL and other tests.
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Common European Framework of Reference for Languages
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The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is an international standard that describes language ability. It describes language ability on a six point scale. It aims to help learners, teachers and administrators measuring students levels and compare results between different institutions. REFLECTION I have not used it yet but while taking grammar for English teachers, it was introduced by the teacher. They use it in Costa Rica and it has helped them to assess their students and gather data to improve their English programs. I listened to a podcast with Dr. Ivana Vidakovic and he stated that one of the advantages of CEFR is that is a global tool to assess different learners regardless their countries. Also, it provides information to develop realistic learning goals based on realistic data. I think it is feasible to use it in Panama.
Classroom Based Assessment It is used to aid teachers in clasroom decision making. When teachers are involved, they can decide which type of assessment works better for their students. In addition, it allows us to collect data regarding the students' strenghts, opportunites to excell and design better lessons with meaningful content. REFLECTION In my experience, we use this type of assessment in a natural way. With every lesson that we plan and deliver we also get to know our students better and sense if the content is appealing for them and making adjustments right away.
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Criterion Based Assessment Also known as criterion referenced assessment it is desined to measure the student performance using a fixed criteria or learning standards. For instance, what students should be able to do at any level or stage of their education. REFLECTION This type of assessment is widely used and it has been controversial as well. Some arguments in favor are that they measure students' progress in a fairer way and all standars are the same for all students. On the other hand, critics argue that results can be misleading, it doesn't allow accomodations and it can be used politically as well.
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Content validity
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It is one of the principles of assessment. When designing a test, the content should be representative and comprehensive and that it measures what is needed to be measured. A way to verify the validity of the content, is to make sure that all the domains are presented on the test. REFLECTION In my experience, all tests need to comply with this principle regardless of the type.
Diagnostic test It helps teachers to identify previous knowlege and possible problems with the language. REFLECTION I find them useful to gather information about what they already know and what areas do the students's need reinforcement. Moreover, with a diagnotic test we can scaffold our class activities.
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Evaluation
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It is a process of gathering information or data to form the values of judgement, educational status or achievement of the students. It has different functions such as: placement, instructional, diagnostic, predictive, administrative, guidance, motivational. develompent, research, and communication functions. REFLECTION Evaluations are necessary to have all the necessary elements to measure the achievement of the students. We do need to evaluate and use the gathered data in a sensible way.
Formative Assessment Formative assessment happens while learning. It is helpful to identify concepts that may be challenging for the students, skills that are not yet acquired so lessons, instructional techniques and academic support can be adjusted. REFLECTION We have a wide variety of tools that can be used for formative assessment: class activities, discussions or forums, tasks, tests or quizzes. What makes them formative is the way we use them.
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KWL charts KWL charts are graphic organizers that can be used as a tool to assess our students in all the different stages of the learning process. This tool engages students offering them a moment of reflection about what they know, what they still wonder and what they have learned. REFLECTION The first time I saw a KWL chart was when one of my classmates was lecturing a class. As a student, I felt the power of the tool, even though the class was designed for children. I think it would be interesting to use them with adults as well. They can serve as self-assessments, even peer assessment and a guidance for the teacher to reinforce or answer the students' questions.
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Practicality It is another principle of assessment. Practicality implies that tests should be easy to design, administer and interpert. REFLECTION Regardless of the levels of proficiency of our students, assessment should be practical. It makes no sense to assess without being clear or asking things that were not explained. Also, the outcome of the assessment needs to be interpreted correctly.
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Reliability It is another principle of assessment. Reliability is the accuracy and precision of measurements. Also, it has to do with the reproductibility and the production of stable and consistent results. REFLECTION There are different types of reliability. It can be used for tests (and re-tests), also in parallel forms and, inter-rater reliability. When revewing the WIDA levels, we applied an inter-rater consensus to assess the level of the students. It was a powerful process and we should seek for more opportunities to collaborate.
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Rubrics
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Rubrics consists on a set of criteria that students should be achieving according to a defined level. They are useful to assess our students in an objective (measurable) way. Rubrics can be holistic or analytic. REFLECTION The process of developing a rubric was challenging. First, organizing the achievements and paring them with levels demanded our focus and clarity on what and how we were going to assess each item. Then, the process flowed and it was quite engaging. Once they are made, grading gets easier and also, sharing the rubric with our students gives them a guide on what is going to be assessed. They are useful for self-assessments, peerassessments and also, teacher assessments. With the use of technology, developing a rubric is easier.
T is for...
T is for teacher. For that magnificent human being that shapes the lives of other people and plant seeds of love, wisdom, and hope in other souls.
T is for... Thank you! Being grateful for you, for what you do and appreciating that we all are in this permanent school called life.