This document discusses trends in assessment practices, including the differences between traditional and authentic assessments. Authentic assessments, also called performance or alternative assessments, require students to perform real-world tasks rather than select responses. The document provides tips for developing effective assessments, such as identifying clear standards and objectives, choosing appropriate performance criteria, and developing instructional activities that align with learning outcomes. It also discusses providing timely, targeted feedback to students and using assessments from other disciplines. Overall, the document promotes using a variety of authentic assessment methods to gain direct evidence of student learning.

1. Trends in Assessment
Suzanne Ehrlich, EdD

2. Types of
Assessments
Traditional -------- Authentic
Selecting a Response ---------------------------- Performing a Task
Contrived --------------------------- Real-life
Recall/Recognition ------------------------------ Construction/Application
Teacher-structured -------------------------------Student-structured
Indirect Evidence ------------------------- Direct Evidence
Authentic also known as:
Performance, Alternative, Direct

3. Cyclical

4. Real-time or post correction?
• What do you do when your assessment isn’t
working for you? Change it in the moment or
wait for to revise post delivery?
• In what ways do you know your assessment is
effective? How do you measure this?

5. Process for developing
assessments
• Identify standards (which do you use?)
• Write clear objectives
• Identify target performance
(higher order cognitive skills)
• Choose performance criteria
• Create scoring rubric
• Develop instructional activities

6. Common activities to consider:
• Guided-discovery learning
• Interactive lecture
• Student teaching
• Problem solving
• Projects
• Self/Peer Assessment
• Student presentations
• Self-study
• Reading
• Technology
• Role playing
• Consulting

7. How do you design instructional
activities?
• What resources do you use?
• Do you always consider the learning
outcomes?
• What types of learning have you
identified when developing activities?
• Do you include assessment of the
activity? If so, how?

8. External challenges
• Time-intensive to manage, monitor, and
coordinate
• Challenging to grade in a consistent manner
• Susceptible to a more subjective (and
potentially biased) approach to grading
• Demanding additional instruction, orienting
students to unfamiliar tasks such as
emulating professional writing or
presentations
• Difficult to implement in large-enrollment
courses

9. Corrective Feedback
• In ESL/SLA research
• Initial feedback should focus on effective behaviors demonstrated
by the student.
• Initial feedback should focus on a mastery criteria known to
students.
• Corrective feedback should focus on the effectiveness (or
ineffectiveness) of the strategy employed by the student.
• Corrective feedback should focus on error patterns, not specific
errors.
• Corrective feedback should use examples and nonexamples to
help illustrate effective behavior.
• Corrective feedback should be selective.
• Effective feedback includes student elaboration.
• Effective feedback focuses on increasing effort to use the strategy.
• Effective feedback includes establishing goals for improving
specific behaviors on subsequent attempts.
• Effective feedback is provided immediately after the practice
attempt and just before the next practice attempt.

10. Corrective feedback (cont’d)
• “Although many teachers are reluctant to provide
what they perceive to be negative feedback
because they are concerned about its impact on
self-esteem and motivation, research clearly
shows that the absence of explicit feedback can be
considerably more detrimental to students in both
areas.“
(Masterminds, 2001)
http://www.calhoun.k12.al.us/makes%20sense/Adobe%20Reader/DO%20NOT%20OPEN%20program%20files/Skill%20instruction/HOW%20to
%20teach%20skills/During%20Tactics/SKILL%20Feedback.pdf

11. Good feedback practice:
1. helps clarify what good performance is (goals, criteria, standards);
2. facilitates the development of reflection and self-assessment in learning;
3. delivers high quality feedback that helps learners self-correct;
4. encourage interaction and dialogue around learning (peer and teacher-
student);
5. encourages positive motivational beliefs and self-esteem;
6. provides opportunities to close the gap between current and desired
performance;
7. provides information to teachers that can be used to help shape their
teaching.

12. Examples of using other disciplines
• Free medical terminology course (http://www.dmu.edu/medterms/)
• Group feedback/evaluation for group projects
(jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/crow/altmangroupprocessrubric.pdf)
• Protocols for discussion
(http://educon20.wikispaces.com/Protocols+Examples)

13. Questions for Discussion
• How might you use questioning and discussion in your classroom in a way
that gives you formative assessment information on all students?
• How can you use assignments and tests as effective formative assessment?
• How could you design and implement a balanced assessment system that
includes pre- and post assessments for learning?