Alternative Assessments - Suggestions for Use in Class

Stress test! 

As teachers we all know that assessment tests are not always as accurate or reflective of a students' abilities as they could be. Asking students to sit down and take a test is not only stressful, it's also not a true representation of other skills they have, such as articulation, pronunciation, artistic, writing.

There are multiple ways of assessing students' skills and showcasing these skills. Some are more labor intensive than others, and some will be more effective with parents than others. The trick is to find the subject matter you want to assess or understand better, and focus on creating an assessment that will accurately measure success, or problem areas. 

There are several methods to assess students' progress. Any of these can be used singularly or in combination with each other to build a stronger foundation and impression. 

The following are some ways I've incorporated in my classroom to assess my students' progress and growth over the school year. 

Portfolios

Presentations

Targeted Interventions

Portfolios

These are some of the most effective ways to showcase student work and progress. With this system, students and teachers choose their best work and accumulate that work in a folder, binder or pocket binder. This is a useful strategy because it allows students, teachers and parents to see actual progress in artistic ability, comprehension skills and most obviously improvements in the targeted skills you are looking at. For example, if you are creating a portfolio about writing for a grammar theme, you will see the  adaptations your students make over time. 

You will definitely see differences, growths and changes in writing style, capability, fluency, accuracy as well as penmanship, regardless of the topic. While I am describing how they work in an EFL classroom, be assured that portfolios are also perfect if you are looking to gauge success and progress in any subject in school, not just English. 

You can make physical portfolios or web based portfolios. Any simple web search will give you tons of ideas of how to implement this in your classroom. 

In my personal case, we collected all of the work students did during Theme class. Each month the theme changed, and we sent the Theme Pockets home monthly for students to share with their parents.

Presentations

If you have students that are intermediate level or higher, you can have them make detailed and specific presentations using poster board or PowerPoint, if your school resources allow. This is a great way to show skills in any topic, even math!

If your students are younger, or beginners to English, or even a bit shy, show and tell type presentations are ideal. These types of presentations usually use common phrases and can be rehearsed easily because the student is extremely familiar with the content already. Since I teach kindergarten, this is one of the ways I use to assess my students' social and emotional growth as well as their speaking and fluency. 

Targeted Interventions

Thinking about a disadvantaged group in your classroom will make you feel discouraged that they aren't understanding some aspect their education. However, this is actually a great opportunity - a real 'every cloud has a silver lining' type of moment! 

For example, there are so many beginner EFL students who have trouble with phonics sounds, and so creating an after school program designed to teach them phonics sounds via a multitude of methods, such as textbooks, worksheets, crafts and technology is a great way to increase their comprehension and ability. If there are students who don't like to read, appealing to their interests and personal experiences and choosing a book that relates to them is a great way to start a chapter book reading club to increase literacy and comprehension strategies.

Another great strategy that works as a targeted intervention is immediate, corrective feedback in class. It seems so simple, and it is! Simply telling a student that you say an elephant, not a elephant, will serve to help students remember that rule in the future. Take note of any changes or recurring patterns in a notebook. It's a simple, fast, no prep way to incorporate interventions in the classroom.

BUT!!!!!!! 

DON'T FORGET THE MOST IMPORTANT THING...

Rubrics and Scoring 

The most essential part of alternative assessments is how you weigh and score them. You should create a rubric for what success means in your classroom and ensure that you follow that scale when assigning Here is a rubric I made for assessing students' success at filling out a story map. This allows me to see any inconsistencies between students' abilities, and it also allows me to see if there are any elements of the class that none of the students are particularly good at. This can be a good indication that a targeted intervention is necessary. Rubrics and general record keeping is essential! 

As you can see from these straightforward examples, there are so many outlets for students to show their progress and abilities aside from results gleaned from a standardized test in a high pressure situation. 

It's also important to remember that all students will not be comfortable with all kinds of assessments. Just like some students become stressed out at the thought of a written test, others will feel anxious about speaking in front of the class or pressured to create beautiful supporting artwork. Each student has different skills, assets and learning styles. This is why multiple forms of concurrent alternative assessments work well in classrooms. It gives the teacher a well rounded sense of students' abilities, weaknesses and interests. 

Let me know if you have found any success with alternative assessments in  your classroom!