Issues in the Development of Authentic Assessment

Issues in the Development of Authentic Assessment

by: I.G.A. Lokita Purnamika Utami & Rina Sari

WHAT IS IT? Performance assessment, also known as alternative or authentic assessment, is a form of testing that requires students to perform a task rather than select an answer from a ready-made list. For example, a student may be asked to explain historical events, generate scientific hypotheses, solve math problems, converse in a foreign language, or conduct research on an assigned topic. Experienced raters--either teachers or other trained staff--then judge the quality of the student's work based on an agreed-upon set of criteria. This new form of assessment is most widely used to directly assess writing ability based on text produced by students under test instructions.

HOW DOES IT WORK? Following are some methods that have been used successfully to assess performance:

- Open-ended or extended response exercises are questions or other prompts that require students to explore a topic orally or in writing. Students might be asked to describe their observations from a science experiment, or present arguments an historic character would make concerning a particular proposition. For example, what would Abraham Lincoln argue about the causes of the Civil War?

- Extended tasks are assignments that require sustained attention in a single work area and are carried out over several hours or longer. Such tasks could include drafting, reviewing, and revising a poem; conducting and explaining the results of a science experiment on photosynthesis; or even painting a car in auto shop.

- Portfolios are selected collections of a variety of performance-based work. A portfolio might include a student's "best pieces" and the student's evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of several pieces. The portfolio may also contain some "works in progress" that illustrate the improvements the student has made over time.

- Project is an activity in which the students make a formal presentation (oral report), written report, or both individually or in a small group (O’Malley and Pierce). Project is not just an activity in classroom but project allows students to demonstrate a variety of skills including communication, technical, interpersonal, organizational, problem solving, and decision making as well (Burke, 1994).

These methods, like all types of performance assessments, require that students actively develop their approaches to the task under defined conditions, knowing that their work will be evaluated according to agreed-upon standards. This requirement distinguishes performance assessment from other forms of testing.

WHY TRY IT? Because they require students to actively demonstrate what they know, performance assessments may be a more valid indicator of students' knowledge and abilities. There is a big difference between answering multiple choice questions on how to make an oral presentation and actually making an oral presentation.

More important, performance assessment can provide impetus for improving instruction, and increase students' understanding of what they need to know and be able to do. In preparing their students to work on a performance task, teachers describe what the task entails and the standards that will be used to evaluate performance. This requires a careful description of the elements of good performance, and allows students to judge their own work as they proceed.

WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY? Active learning. Research suggests that learning how and where information can be applied should be a central part of all curricular areas. Also, students exhibit greater interest and levels of learning when they are required to organize facts around major concepts and actively construct their own understanding of the concepts in a rich variety of contexts. Performance assessment requires students to structure and apply information, and thereby helps to engage students in this type of learning.

Curriculum-based testing. Performance assessments should be based on the curriculum rather than constructed by someone unfamiliar with the particular state, district or school curriculum. This allows the curriculum to "drive" the test, rather than be encumbered by testing requirements that disrupt instruction, as is often the case. Research shows that most teachers shape their teaching in a variety of ways to meet the requirements of tests. Primarily because of this impact of testing on instruction, many practitioners favor test reform and the new performance assessments.

Worthwhile tasks. Performance tasks should be "worth teaching to"; that is, the tasks need to present interesting possibilities for applying an array of curriculum-related knowledge and skills. The best performance tasks are inherently instructional, actively engaging students in worthwhile learning activities. Students may be encouraged by them to search out additional information or try different approaches, and in some situations, to work in teams.

WHAT DOES IT COST? Performance assessment requires a greater expense of time, planning and thought from students and teachers. Users also need to pay close attention to technical and equity issues to ensure that the assessments are fair to all students. This is all the more important as there has been very little research and development on performance assessment in the environment of a high stakes accountability system, where administrative and resource decisions are affected by measures of student performance.

Reference

Sweet, D. (1993). Performance Assessment. Education Research Consumer Guide No.2