|
...learner-centered psychological and revised based on a content validation study involving a panel of 46 experts representing a variety of educational professionals. In addition to the content validation study of the assessments, interrater reliability estimates based on Kappa were calculated using student responses to the assessments in classrooms in two states. Results provide evidence that these types of assessments can provide quantifiable information about student learning, as well as inform the instructional process.
**********
From today's understanding of cognitive science, students are not viewed as recorders of factual information, but rather as creators of their own unique knowledge structures. As such, meaningful learning is viewed as being reflective, constructive, and self-regulated (Gordon, 1992). Thus, learning that strongly emphasizes drill and practice on discrete, unconnected, or isolated factual knowledge is a tremendous disservice to students, including those who are academically talented (Moon, Brighton, & Callahan, 2003).
While use of high-stakes testing has focused teacher planning on specified, agreed-upon state-level standards, exclusive use of traditional assessments--often in the form of pencil-and-paper multiple-choice tests--have been judged to be a negative in the middle school classroom (Archbald, 1991; Dana & Tippins, 1993; Kennedy, 1996). Critics of these traditional forms of assessment argue that "standardized, multiple-choice tests have definite limitations, are overused and overinterpreted, and are unlikely to help schools achieve the reform goals" (Archbald, p.1). While best practices in the middle school include teaching conceptually and assessing student understanding of concepts, traditional standardized tests fail to do so. Cheek (1993) argued that traditional test items that examine core understanding of disciplines are often discarded because they fail to discriminate among test takers. Rather, questions that deal with peripheral details or subskills do a better job of discriminating among students and are therefore the questions selected for inclusion on traditional standardized tests.
Others maintain that traditional assessments are incompatible with the genuine knowledge, skills, and dispositions of disciplines (Cheek, 1993; Dana & Tippins, 1993; Gordon & Bonilla-Bowman, 1996). Further, Dana and Tippins have argued that these traditional assessments cannot test the extent to which a student has mastered a body of knowledge surrounding a concept, only the information tested in the selected items, nor can they provide rich information about the multifaceted thinking necessary for complex problem solving. Resnick (1987) described the imbalance between how intellective work is conducted in school and in real life: "In real life one actually engages in performances that contribute to the solution of real problems, rather than producing, on demand and in artificial situations, symbolic samples of one's repertoire of developed abilities."
Furthermore, traditional assessments in the middle school ignore the diverse needs of the learners in that setting. Traditional testing requires passive involvement with the subject material and thus is inconsistent with the developmental needs of young adolescents (Dana & Tippins, 1993). However, authentic assessments have been shown to be relevant to curricula for high-ability students (Van Tassel-Baska, Bass, Ries, Poland, & Avery, 1998), as well as curricula that focus on higher level thinking (Van Tassel-Baska, Zuo, Avery, & Little, 2002). In addition, authentic assessments are viewed by some in the field of gifted education as a more valid measure of student learning (Baldwin, 1994; Callahan, Tomlinson, Moon, Tomchin, & Plucker, 1995; Clausen, Middleton, & Connell, 1994). In short, traditional assessment is increasingly being viewed as insensitive to differences among learners and asynchronous with optimal learning conditions (Gordon & Bonilla-Bowman, 1996; Kennedy, 1996).
In response to these criticisms of the traditional assessment paradigm, some measurement experts have begun advocating for the use of authentic, or performance, assessment. "Performance measures have the potential for increased validity because the performance tasks are themselves demonstrations of important learning goals rather than indirect indicators of achievement" (Resnick & Resnick, 1992).
Characteristics of Authentic Assessment
Authentic assessments, often called performance-based assessments, engage students in real-world tasks and scenario-based problem solving more than traditional measures such as multiple-choice pencil-and-paper tests (Darling-Hammond, 1997). Performance-based tasks are largely open-ended and often can be answered using multiple approaches (Reed, 1993). For maximum benefit, these tasks should be relevant and meaningful to students (Henderson & Karr-Kidwell, 1998). Authentic assessment can take the form of performances, projects, writings, demonstrations, debates, simulations, presentations, or other sorts of open-ended tasks (Cheek, 1993; Dana & Tippins, 1993; Reed). While authentic assessment is highly contextual, exemplary authentic assessments always allow students to demonstrate knowledge and skills that are worth knowing (Dana & Tippins). Specifically, they:
1. are focused on content that is essential, focusing on the big ideas or concepts, rather than trivial micro-facts or specialized skills;
2. are in-depth in that they lead to other problems and questions;
3. are feasible and can be done easily and safely within a school and classroom;
4. focus on the ability to produce a quality product or performance, rather than a single right answer;
5. promote the development and display of student strengths and expertise (the focus is on what the student knows);
6. have criteria that are known, understood, and negotiated between the teacher and student before the assessment begins;
7. provide multiple ways in which students can demonstrate they have met the criteria, allowing multiple points of view and multiple interpretations;
8. require scoring that focuses on the essence of the task and not what is easiest to score (p. 4).
Rationale for Differentiated Authentic Assessment in the Middle School
While many educators advocate for authentic assessment for all students, the middle school environment and the particular needs of middle school students suggest particular reasons why this approach is well suited. For example, the Carnegie Council on Adolescent Development (CCAD, 1990) calls for schools to
1. create small communities for learning where stable, close, mutually respectful relations with adults and peers are considered fundamental for intellectual development and personal growth;
2. teach a core academic program that results in students who are literate, including in the sciences, and who know how to think critically, lead a healthy life, behave ethically, and assume the responsibilities of citizenship in a pluralistic society;
3. ensure success for all students through the elimination of tracking by achievement level and promotion of cooperative learning and flexible grouping; and
4. connect schools with communities that together share responsibility for each middle grade student's success through identifying service opportunities in the community, establishing partnerships and collaborations to ensure students' access to health and social services, and opportunities for constructive after-school activities (p. 9).
This call for action from the Carnegie Council (1990) is consistent with the implementation of authentic assessment in the middle school. One option for using authentic assessment is to allow middle school students to work on tasks of value to a particular community, yielding a truer audience for authentic feedback. Hence, this approach to assessment may use community resources to enrich the learning experience as recommended by the Carnegie Council (Kennedy, 1996).
Authentic assessment may also improve teaching and learning in the middle school by preserving the integrated, complex nature of learning. In this approach, students recall learned information and utilize needed skills, but do so in the context of an authentic scenario requiring the production of new ideas in particular contexts and for particular purposes. This process of problem solving and solution finding requires and fosters a deep understanding of the discipline, as well as integration of knowledge and skills across disciplines, a basic tenet of curriculum construction in the middle school (Archbald, 1991; Tomlinson, 2001).
The National Middle School Association (NMSA) further advocates for heterogeneous groupings of students in the middle school setting, suggesting that grouping inflexibly using tracking unfairly segregates students (Jackson, & Davis, 2000; NMSA, 1995). Given this content, teachers in heterogeneously grouped middle school classrooms are placed in situations that demand appropriate, but varying degrees of challenge and support for all students. With the use of authentic assessments, students view the learning process as important and linked to skills used in the real world (Lines, 1994). The premise underlying authentic assessment is that teachers create curricular experiences targeting specific performance skills and, as a result, gain...
NOTE: All illustrations and photos
have been removed from this article.
Looking for additional articles?
Search our database of over 3 million articles.
Looking for more in-depth information on this industry?
Search our complete database of Industry & Market reports by text, subject, publication
name or publication date.
About Goliath
Whether you're looking for sales prospects, competitive information, company
analysis or best practices in managing your organization,
Goliath can help you meet your business needs.
Our extensive business information databases empower business
professionals with both the breadth and depth of credible,
authoritative information they need to support their business
goals. Whether it be strategic planning, sales prospecting,
company research or defining management best practices -
Goliath is your leading source for accurate information.
|
