Accountability and Alternative Assessment: Research and Development Issues (original) (raw)
Related papers
Some Comments on Assessment in U.S. Education
education policy analysis archives, 1998
We do not know much about what assessment has accomplished but we know it has not brought about the reform of American Education. The costs and benefits of large scale mandated achievement testing are too complex to be persuasively reported. Therefore, educational policy needs to be based more on deliberated interpretations of assessment, experience, and ideology. Evaluation of assessment consequences, however inconclusive, has an important role to play in the deliberations.
Assessment Reform: Challenges and Opportunities. Fastback 377
1994
This fastback reference analyzes contrasting opinions about educational assessment and testing in the light of available evidence. The reform of student assessment is an essential component of the revitalization of American schools. Accountability issues relate to the proliferation of testing and the increasing use of high-stakes tests for policy decisions. A new focus on cognitive psychology has stimulated innovations in assessment practices. While cognitivists may attempt to go beyond behaviorally developed tests, they have yet to produce convincing and practical methods that can be easily used in classrooms. Technological developments are making tests easier to develop, administer, and score, but critical economic and technological barriers must be overcome before technology fulfills its promise in assessment. As the adequacy of current assessments is considered, three areas of debate arise: purposes of assessment, standards of technical quality, and cost. These considerations are equally important in the development of alternative assessments. Alternative assessments promise a great deal yet require sober evaluation. One figure illustrates a developed test item. (Contains 25 references.) (SLD)
1994
Three papers are presented that summarize current project findings from a study of the actual effects of introducing new forms of assessment at the classroom level. All focus on aspects of performance assessment as an alternative to traditional assessments. "Effects of Introducing Classroom Performance Assessments on Student Learning" by Lorrie A. Shepard, and others, examines effects of performance assessment on the learning of third graders in 13 classrooms. "'How Does my Teacher Know What I Know?' Third Graders' Perceptions of Math, Reading, and Assessment" by Kathryn H. Davinroy, Carribeth L. Bliem, and Vicky Mayfield uses interviews with students in the classrooms of the larger study to explore student ideas and attitudes. "How 'Messing About' with Performance Assessment in Mathematics Affects What Happens in Classrooms" by Roberta J. Flexner reviews work with the teachers of the study's classes. Eighteen tables and six figures in the three papers present study findings. (Contain 77 references in all.) (SLD)
FOCUS ARTICLE: The Foundations of Assessment
Measurement: Interdisciplinary Research & Perspective, 2003
2001). The committee issuing this report was charged with synthesizing advances in the cognitive sciences and measurement, and exploring their implications for improving educational assessment. The article opens with a vision for the future of educational assessment that represents a significant departure from the types of assessments typically available today, and from the ways in which such assessments are most commonly used. This vision is driven by an interpretation of what is both necessary and possible for educational assessment to positively impact student achievement. The argument is made that realizing this vision requires a fundamental rethinking of the foundations and principles guiding assessment design and use. These foundations and principles and their implications are then summarized in the remainder of the article. The argument is made that every assessment, regardless of its purpose, rests on three pillars: (1) a model of how students represent knowledge and develop competence in the subject domain, (2) tasks or situations that allow one to observe students' performance, and (3) interpretation methods for drawing inferences from the performance evidence collected. These three elements-cognition, observation, and interpretation-must be explicitly connected and designed as a coordinated whole. Section II summarizes research and theory on thinking and learning which should serve as the source of the cognition element of the assessment triangle. This large body of research suggests aspects of student achievement that one would want to make inferences about, and the types of observations, or tasks, that will provide evidence to support those inferences. Also described are significant advances in methods of educational measurement that make new approaches to assessment feasible. The argument is presented that measurement models, which are statistical exam-ples of the interpretation element of the assessment triangle, are cuuently available to support the kinds of inferences about student achievement that cognitive science suggests are important to pursue. Section III describes how the contemporary understanding of cognition and methods of measurement jointly provide a set of principles and methods for guiding the processes of assessment design and use. This section explores how the scientific foundations presented in Section II play out in the design of real assessment situations ranging from classroom to large-scale testing contexts. It also considers the role of technology in enhancing assessment design and use. Section IV presents a discussion of the research, development, policy, and practice issues that must be addressed for the field of assessment to move forward and achieve the vision described in Section I.
1998
A Case Study of Assessment in a High School Classroom: The Impact of Changes in Assessment on Curriculum, Instruction, Teachers, and Students This study examined the impact of changes in assessment on curriculum, instruction, teachers, and students. The study describes the complex, developmental process by which a particular course, teachers, and a class evolved, articulated goals and standards, and assessed their learning. My coteacher and I used a variety of assessments: conferences, peer review, reflections, portfolios, group projects, and presentations in addition to traditional tests and quizzes. The methodology was a qualitative study by a teacher /researcher in a high school Humanities class. My findings were that new theories about knowledge and its acquisition necessitate changes in our practice. 1) An integral part of this change is the need to shift assessment toward coaching and feedback and away from ranking and grading. 2) Students and teachers need to openly converse and grapple with ideas to assess their learning and to solve problems with a variety of solutions. 3) Assessment must be ongoing for both teachers and students. A variety of standards including the Massachusetts' Curriculum Frameworks were used to help my co-teacher and me to assess the course. My recommendations are that further research is necessary to study the impact of change on students and teachers. CHAPTER I The Context of the Study This study describes the evolution of an interdiscipHnary course and its curriculum; it looks at the complex process by which a particular course, teachers, and a class collaboratively evolved standards and goals. As a teacher/researcher I assessed a Humanities class from within and without. I discovered that setting high standards and goals must be an ongoing, collaborative process of assessment. Daily we monitored and adjusted our curriculum and instruction to the needs of the students to provide a positive environment for growth. In a complex developmental process, my co-teacher and I collaborated as we tried new assessment methods. We evolved our assessments from paper and pencil tests of skills and knowledge to authentic assessment methods including portfolio/timelines, puppet shows, and conferences. As co-teachers we realized that to evaluate complex thinking, and student competencies, instead of skills and facts alone, required us to fine-tune our judgment and develop a common language both with one another and with our students. In this environment, the students were affected positively when they saw their efforts, not their ability or talent, had a direct bearing on their achievement. This study is divided into three major parts:
Assessment: Some New Thoughts on an Old Idea
2011
Our field has devised many terms to describe assessments in which examinees demonstrate some type of performance or create some type of product (e.g., performance, performancebased, “authentic,” constructed response, open-ended). Whatever you call them, performance-based assessments (PBAs) have a long history in educational measurement with cycles of ups and downs. And once again, PBAs are currently in vogue. Why? To address the federal government’s requirements for assessment systems that represent “the full performance continuum,” the two consortia formed in response to Race to the Top funding have both publicized assessment plans that involve a heavy dose of performance-based tasks (PARCC, 2010; SBAC, 2010). Thus, PBAs are relevant to any discussion about the future of testing in America.
Every Teacher's Guide to Assessment
It's not a stretch to say that assessment is a hot button issue in education; however, you'd be hard pressed to find an educator who doesn't see the value in measuring student progress.