+ UW-Whitewater Languages and Literatures Ellen Titzkowski Boldt boldte@uww.edu August 6, 2014 Summer Assessment Workshop for High School World Language Instructors The Three Modes of Assessment: Interpretive, Interpersonal, Presentational + Overview Understanding Assessment Designing Assessments Implementing Assessments Evaluating Assessments + Overview  Introduction  The Purpose of Assessment  Attitudes Towards Assessment  Intended Use of Assessments  Developing Effective Assessments  Types of Assessments  Integrated Performance Assessments (IPA)  The Three Modes of Communication  Assessing the Modes: Tasks & Strategies  Designing Performance Assessments  Rubrics Why is assessment important? + Why we keep doing it in our classrooms, despite the challenges it can present? + The Purpose of Assessment  To motivate students  To serve as more than a vehicle to assign a grade  To drive the instruction (Sandrock 2010)  To show evidence that learning is occurring  To evaluate the effectiveness of instruction  To identify areas needed for improvement + The Purpose of Assessment  Assessment is used as a diagnostic tool to  describe what students have learned in the past  shape future learning goals  document progress towards student learning objectives  identify areas needing improvement (in instruction and student performance)  measure language proficiency, communicative competency, and cultural awareness  evaluate teacher effectiveness*  WI Educator Effectiveness System  DPI  *Starting in 2014-2015, all WI educators will be evaluated on student achievement & student learning objectives/outcomes (SLOs)  See http://ee.dpi.wi.gov/ for the latest information + The Purpose of Assessment  “Language assessment is the process of using language tests to accomplish particular jobs in language classrooms and programs” (42)  “To keep our language assessment practice purposeful, we therefore need to evaluate the extent to which the language testing tools we select and use are actually helping to accomplish the jobs of language assessment in our classrooms and programs” (44) (Norris 2000/2012) + Attitudes towards Assessment http://gratisography.com/ + Attitudes towards Assessment http://gratisography.com/ + Assessment Stakeholders: How different groups view assessment and why?  Stakeholders  Teachers  Students  Administrators  Students’ Families  Curriculum planners  Future employers  University admissions counselors Step 1: Brainstorm individually  Goals?  Attitudes?  Problems? Step 2: Share and compare  Discuss ideas with a partner  Focus on differing motivations (Norris 2000) (Sandrock 2010: 28) + Designing Performance Assessments  Backward Design  By first selecting the intended goal, performance assessments can function as a filter for selection the content needed to achieve the student learning outcome(s) in a unit  What is necessary to complete the task(s)?  Develop an essential question based on the content/thematic unit in order to determine the tasks  Create learning targets and formative assessments to build towards summative performance assessments in the three modes + Templates for Designing Performance Assessments  Download the Blank Curriculum Planning Template  http://wimedialab.org/worldlanguageassessment/resources.htm  Templates for designing integrated performance assessment tasks in future thematic units  Copies are in your folder for use in afternoon workshop session (Sandrock 2010: 34) and with workshop handouts/references online  Nature Unit  detailed example  With workshop handouts/references online + Example Unit: Clothing (Intermediate Level) Essential Question: What clothes say about a person? Mode Interpretive Interpersonal Presentational Read & answer questions Interview a partner about their Fashion Show: Write and present a text Performance from an authentic article in personal style preferences in various describing and a peer’s outfit and Assessment a fashion magazine about contexts and what they project comment on what trends & image(s) it current trends In-Class projects in which contexts Read & analyze culturally Info-gap tasks describing outfits/ Describe outfits in writing (draft & authentic clothing style; view/analyze YouTube interviews revise); describe orally what others are advertisements online  “Kleider machen Leute” wearing, how the clothes they fit and outfit/personality perceptions what they project about the wearer Practice Necessary Clothing vocab Question-Answer Adjective endings Language, Adjectives-styles/trends Dative verbs (synthesis and application of everything Structures, Pricing in Euros Personal Pronouns previously listed) Functions, Cultural European sizing Comparative/Superlative Info Express opinions + Sequencing Performance Assessments   ACTFL suggests a sequenced approach: Interpretive assessment Interpersonal assessment Presentational assessment This methods allows each assessment to build on the following one, securing vocabulary and language functions from textual modeling via authentic texts in the interpretive mode which are needed to be successful in the interpersonal and presentational modes when the language becomes productive  There is some debate about the last two steps since spontaneous dialogic communication with its inherent negotiation of meaning may appear more complex than monologic presentational tasks, such as writing and speaking (Tedick, D & Cammarata, L 2014) + Rubrics  Rubrics are a necessary tool for teachers and students to evaluate communication  Rubrics must describe the expected performance and provide useful, targeted feedback    Does not meet expectations Meets expectations Exceeds expectations  Rubrics should demonstrate how increased proficiency can be achieved so students know what to aim for + Rubrics  Share rubrics with students to allow familiarity and goals for expected performance levels  Model rubric evaluation with students via sample performances  Examples (included in your folders)  ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners (2012) can serve as a basis for creating rubrics  UW-Whitewater Rubrics  based partially on the ACTFL Performance Descriptors for Language Learners (1998 Version) & ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines    Presentational-Writing Rubric Presentational-Speaking Rubric Interpretive Rubric (Assessing Textual Literacy) + K-12 Assessment Resources in WI  Get in the Mode: Assessment Videos (2008)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAJ8ZqanZr4&list=PL77DDFFFF389160BB &index=  http://wimedialab.org/worldlanguageassessment/video.htm picture to placeholder or click icon to add Challenges + Time Constraints Class size Curriculum Departmental Involvement Student Attitudes  “test” or “performance” anxiety http://gratisography.com/ + Final Thoughts “Assessment is perhaps one of [the] most difficult and important parts of our jobs as teachers Ideally, it should be seen as a means to help us guide students on their road to learning No single procedure can meet the needs of all learners and situations, so we need to remember to incorporate a variety of tools to help our students know how they are progressing and to gauge the effectiveness of our own methodology and materials.” ~ Jerrold Frank (Frank 2012: 32) + Final Thoughts Assessment… …is more than a test  …is all the things along the way that prepare students  …builds on itself to help students progress  …needs to be both formative and summative  …can be informal and formal  …provides opportunities for meaningful feedback …needs to be purposeful and meaningful for students …is motivational by setting a clear path for performance goals …drives instruction …is integrated in the classroom and allows for evaluation of all three modes of communication  interpretive, interpersonal, presentational + Final Thoughts “Language assessment…is much more than simply giving a language test; it is the entire process of test use Indeed, the ultimate goal of language assessment is to use tests to better inform us on the decisions we make and the actions we take in language education.” ~John M Norris (Norris 2000/2012: 42) + References  American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (2012) language learners, 2012   ACTFL performance descriptors for Edition Alexandria, VA: ACTFL http://www.actfl.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/PerformanceDescriptorsLanguageLearners.pdf Byrnes, H (2001) Faculty assessment and evaluation: additional considerations ADFL Bulletin, 32(3), 34-36   http://www.adfl.org/bulletin/V32N3/323034.htm Frank, J (2012) The roles of assessment in language teaching 32  http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/50_3_7_frank.pdf English Teaching Forum, 50(3), + References  Norris, J M (2014, April) How we assess task-based performance? and assessment webinar   Invited LARC/CALPER testing http://larc.sdsu.edu/testassesswebinar/jnorris/Norris_Task-BasedAssessment_PPT.pdf Norris, J.M (2012) Purposeful language assessment English Teaching Forum, 50(3), 41–45 (Reprinted from Norris, J.M (2000) Purposeful language assessment English Teaching Forum, 38(1), 18–23.)  http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/50_3_10_norris.pdf  Sandrock, P (2010) The keys to assessing language performance: A measuring student progress Alexandria, VA: ACTFL  Tedick, D & Cammarata, L (2014) "Integrated Performance [online  teacher’s manual for Assessment: Adapting the Model for CBI." http://carla.acad.umn.edu/cobaltt/modules/assessment/ipa/index.html + Questions? Feedback? Contact me at boldte@uww.edu http://gratisography.com/