Traditional assessment is often failing at-risk students. Alternative assessment focuses on students' strengths, varied teaching strategies, and collaborative learning. It provides authentic, meaningful tasks that engage students and connect to real-world contexts. When implemented well with high expectations, alternative assessment can help at-risk students succeed by strengthening motivation, developing relationships, and making learning more relevant to their lives and experiences. Teachers agree alternative assessment holds promise for these students.

1. The Solution…….

2. This This

3. Or This….

4. Authentic Meaningful Active Engaging Motivating Strengthens High Expectations

5. Benard (1995), suggests , the most promising alternative approaches focus on students assets (including their background and prior experiences), varied teaching strategies, and meaningful learning in collaborative settings.

6. Alternative Assessment

8. Reveals students critical thinking and evaluation skills

9. Open ended tasks

10. Teacher created

12. Opportunities for Formative Assessment

13. Formative Assessment + Summative Assessment = SUCCESS FOR ALL LEARNERS

15. Underpinned by successful outcomes for all students

16. Opportunities to reflect

18. Traditional assessment is failing our at risk students. Alternative Assessment contains key educational advantages. Teachers Agree. …Step Further… Positive relationship between ‘at risk’ students and alternative assessment

19. At Risk Students: Generally fail in standardized testing methods According to Education reforms (1994), alternative assessment “Has the students demonstrate what they have learnt rather than how well they can take a test.”

20. At risk student: Generally display negative behaviours. Most of the time this is just a mask of larger underlying problems. Benard (1995), states alternative assessment will focus on strengths (including their backgrounds and prior experiences) rather than deficits. By highlighting the student’s strengths intrinsic motivation is developed. Thus, behaviour issues decrease.

21. At risk students: They often attend schools where there is a low expectation placed on them to succeed. Alternative assessment holds high expectations for all learners. Assessment is designed in conjunction with students so that all learners can achieve to their highest agreed upon potential. “Schools that establish and communicate high expectations and create high achieving learning environments for all students have high rates of academic success”(Howard, 1990).

22. At risk Students: Students generally have difficulty in making and maintain relationships According to Learning Points Associates, (2003) “alternative assessment focuses on meaningful learning in collaborative settings”. The instruction connects with the student’s culture and prior knowledge thus engaging the students and making it meaningful in their own context. Collaborate learning also allows the students opportunities to form and maintain relationships with other peers.

23. At risk students: Students seem distracted and don’t have interest in educational activities. This is generally because they spend much of their time thinking about issues outside of the classroom. Alternative assessment offers opportunities for varied teaching strategies. “There are 3 variations of alternative assessment and in any given tasks more than one form may be involved” (Alternative Assessment Overview (2008). Using a variety of strategies caters for a diverse group of learners.

24. At risk students: Students need real life connections to content if they are to participate in the learning activity. Alternative assessment ensures students are active participants in making tasks authentic. According to Teaching Today (2008), “Students evaluate and reflect on their own processes, and actively help set the criteria for the assessment”.

25. Authentic Meaningful Active Engaging Motivating Strengthens High Expectations

26. The challenge

28. Think about the lives you could help change

29. Think about the opportunities you can help to create

30. Perhaps even the lives you will saveAt Risk students desperately need you help to succeed……

31. Time to make your judgment…. Stand up, work hard, and deliver meaningful, authentic, active, engaging, motivating, alternative assessment practices that hold high expectations And achieve success for at risk students