DOCUMENT RESUME CS 012 607 ED 399 524 Abdullah, Mardziah Hayati, Comp. AUTHOR Standardized and Alternative Assessment. Hot Topic TITLE Guide 59. Indiana Univ., Bloomington. School of Education. INSTITUTION PUB DATE 96 NOTE 207p. Non-Classroom Guides Information Analyses (070) PUB TYPE Use (055) MF01/PC09 Plus Postage. EDRS PRICE Annotated Bibliographies; Class Activities; DESCRIPTORS Elementary Secondary Education; Liberal Arts; Performance Based Assessment; *Standardized Tests; *Student Evaluation; *Testing; Workshops *Alternative Assessment; Authentic Assessment IDENTIFIERS ABSTRACT One of a series of educational packages designed for implementation either in a workshop atmosphere or through individual study, this Hot Topic guide presents a variety of materials designed to assist educators in designing and implementing classroom projects and activities centering on the topic of standardized and alternative assessment. The Hot Topic guide contains guidelines for workshop use; an overview of standardized and alternative assessment; and seven articles (from scholarly and. professional journals) and ERIC documents on the topic. A 19-item annotated bibliography of items in the ERIC database on the topic is attached. (RS) *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. **********************************AAA"'A****************************** HOT TOPIC GUIDE 59 Standardized and Alternative Assessment e so eo ettevo e tm sp e 40 tItek Au' edu d Wit Asyou o g a b e 04() 14.1 TABLE OF CONTENTS: HELPFUL GUIDELINES FOR WORKSHOP USE Suggestions for using this Hot Topic Guide as a professional development tool. OVERVIEW/LECTURE Standardized and Alternative Assessment by Mardziah Hayati Abdullah ARTICLES AND ERIC DOCUMENTS The Need for a New Science of Assessment Raising Standardized Test Scores and the Origins of Test Score Pollution Performance-Based Assessment and Educational Equity Assessment and the Morality of Testing Assessment Worthy of the Liberal Arts The Morality of Test Security Testing and Tact BIBLIOGRAPHY A collection of selected references and abstracts obtained directly from the ERIC database. Indiana University, School of Education. Blooming t on . Compiler. Mardziah Hayati Abdullah Series Editors: Carl Smith, Eleanor Macfarlane, and Christopher Essex 1996 pkckwr an d 11\Orthwa n 'Other Gutde Of t etrtcomg of A4' skpe, ors ou ,ma sand pripOblishi tsstor oft 40vAf-,1k The e etreproduce -acitransmittealrnon aY eons eei c.a o ocoproran rmotion4torage and retne a stem ass:\lt ts.suon t. :ho ardilit rmation GI.Cfs es fDiNF041-ess sear Smith searzn Center Suite ,2805\ 90,1 OffiksStree ,ftwortun PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION 'TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of view or opinions stated in this Office of Educational Research and Improvement DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION HAS BEEN RANTED BY official OERI position or policy. CENTER (ERIC) EKThis document has been reproduced as C. received from the person or organization originating it. Minor-changes have been made to 2 improve reproduction quality. REST COPY AMICABLE In-Service Workshops and Seminars: Suggestions for Using this Hot Topic Guide as a Professional Development Tool Before the Workshop: Carefully review the materials presented in this Hot Topic Guide. Think about how these concepts and projects might be applied to your particular school or district. As particular concepts begin to stand out in your mind as being important, use the Bibliography section (found at the end of the packet) to seek out additional resources dealing specifically with those concepts. Look over the names of the teachers and researchers who wrote the packet articles and/or are listed in the Bibliography. Are any of the names familiar to you? Do any of them work in your geographical area? Do you have colleagues or acquaintances who are engaged in similar research and/or teaching? Perhaps you could enlist their help and expertise as you plan your workshop or seminar. As you begin to plan your activities, develop a mental "movie" of what you'd like to see happening in the classroom as a result of this in-service workshop or seminar. Keep this vision in mind as a guide to your planning. During the Workshop: Provide your participants with a solid grasp of the important concepts that you have acquired from your reading, but don't load them down with excessive detail, such as lots of hard-to-remember names, dates or statistics. You may wish to use the Overview/Lecture section of this packet as a guide for your introductory remarks about the topic. Try modeling the concepts and teaching strategies related to the topic by "teaching" a minilesson for your group. Remember, if your teachers and colleagues ask you challenging or difficult questions about the topic, that they are not trying to discredit you or your ideas. Rather, they are trying to prepare themselves for situations that might arise as they implement these ideas in their own classrooms. If any of the participants are already using some of these ideas in their own teaching, encourage them to share their experiences. Even though your workshop participants are adults, many of the classroom management principles that you use every day with your students still apply. Workshop participants, admittedly, have a longer attention span and can sit still longer than your second- graders; but not that much longer. Don't have a workshop that is just a "sit down, shut up, and listen" session. Vary the kinds of presentations and activities you provide in your workshops. For instance, try to include at least one hands-on activity so that the participants will begin to get a feel for how they might apply the concepts that you are discussing in your workshop. Try to include time in the workshop for the participants to work in small groups. This time may be a good opportunity for them to formulate plans for how they might use the concepts just discussed in their own classrooms. Encourage teachers to go "a step further" with what they have learned in the workshop. Provide additional resources for them to continue their research into the topics discussed, such as books, journal articles, Hot Topic Guides, teaching materials, and local experts. Alert them to future workshops/conferences on related topics. 11/94 3 After the Workshop: Follow up on the work you have done. Have your workshop attendees fill out an End- of-Session Evaluation (a sample is included on the next page). Emphasize that their responses are anonymous. The participants' answers to these questions can be very helpful in planning your next workshop. After a reasonable amount of time (say a few months or a semester), contact your workshop attendees and inquire about how they have used, or haven't used, the workshop concepts in their teaching. Have any surprising results come up? Are there any unforeseen problems? When teachers are trying the new techniques, suggest that they invite you to observe their classes. As you discover success stories among teachers from your workshop, share them with the other attendees, particularly those who seem reluctant to give the ideas a try. Find out what other topics your participants would like to see covered in future workshops and seminars. There are nearly sixty Hot Topic Guides, and more are always being developed. Whatever your focus, there is probably a Hot Topic Guide that can help. An order form follows the table of contents in this packet. Are You Looking for University Course Credit? Indiana University's Distance Education program is offering new one-credit-hour Language Arts Education minicourses on these topics: Elementary: I really enjoyed working at my own pace.... Language Learning and Development It was wonderful to have everything so Varied Writing Strategies organized...and taken care of in a manner where I really felt like I was a student, Parents and the Reading Process however 'distant' I was....' Exploring Creative Writing with --Distance Education student Elementary Students Three-Credit-Hour Courses Secondary: are also offered (now with optional Varied Writing Strategies videos!): Thematic Units and Literature Advanced Study in the Teaching of: Exploring Creative Writing with Reading in the Elementary School Secondary Students Language Arts in the Elementary School Secondary School English/Language Arts K-12: Reading in the Secondary School Reading across the Curriculum Writing as a Response to Reading Writing across the Curriculum Developing Parent Involvement Programs Organization of the Classroom Critical Thinking across the Curriculum Organization and Administration of a Course Requirements: School Reading Program These minicourses are taught by For More Information: correspondence. Minicourse reading For course outlines and registration materials consist of Hot Topic Guides and instructions, please contact: ERIC/EDINFO Press books. You will be Distance Education Office asked to write Goal Statements and Smith Research Center, Suite 150 Reaction Papers for each of the assigned 2805 East 10th Street reading materials, and a final Synthesis Bloomington, IN 47408-2698 paper. 1-800-759-4723 or (812) 855-5847 4 Planning a Workshop Presentation Worksheet Major concepts you want to stress in this presentation: 1) 2) 3) Are there additional resources mentioned in the Bibliography that would be worth locating? Which ones? How could you get them most easily? Are there resource people available in your area whom you might consult about this topic and/or invite to participate? Who are they? What would you like to see happen in participants' classrooms as a result of this workshop? Be as specific as possible. Plans for followup to this workshop: [peer observations, sharing experiences, etc.] Agenda for Workshop Planning Sheet Introduction/Overview: [What would be the most effective way to present the major concepts that you wish to convey ?] Activities that involve participants and incorporate the main concepts of this workshop: 1) 2) Applications: Encourage participants to plan a mini-lesson for their educational setting that draws on these concepts. [One possibility is to work in small groups, during the workshop, to make a plan and then share it with other participants.] Your plan to make this happen: Evaluation: [Use the form on the next page, or one you design, to get feedback from participants about your presentation.] 6 END-OF-SESSION EVALWITION Now that today's meeting is over, we would like to know how you feel and what you think about the things we did so that we can make them better. Your opinion is important to us. Please answer all questions honestly. Your answers are confidential. 1. Check ( V ) to show if today's meeting was Not worthwhile Somewhat worthwhile Very worthwhile 2. Check ( ) to show if today's meeting was Not interesting Somewhat interesting Very interesting 3. Check ( ) to show if today's leader was Not very good Just O.K. Very good 4. Check ( V ) to show if the meeting helped you get any useful ideas about how you can make positive changes in the classroom. 1:1 Very little Some Very much 5. Check ( ) to show if today's meeting was Too long Just about right 'Pao short 6. Check ( ) whether you would recommend today's meeting to a colleague. Yes No 7. Check ( V ) to show how useful you found each of the things we did or discussed today. Getting information/new ideas. Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful Seeing and hearing demons trations of teaching techniques. Li Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful Getting materials to read. Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful 7 Listening to other teachers tell about their own experiences. Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful Working with colleagues in a small group to develop strategies of our own. Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful Getting support from others in the group. Not useful Somewhat useful Very useful 8. Please write one thing that you thought was best about today: 9. Please write one thing that could have been improved today: 10. What additional information would you have liked? 11. Do you have any questions you would like to ask? 12. What additional comments would you like to make? Thank you for completing this form. STANDARDIZED AND ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Overview by Mardziah Hayati Abdullah M.S. Language Education, Indiana University We evaluate every day. We make judgments about the most common things without even realizing it when we comment on how a dish tastes, which TV program is more entertaining or how to perform a chore better. Understandably, we would expect evaluation to be an important part of a system in which so much national interest and expenditure is invested: education. Evaluation should inform educators about how well they have done or are doing, and it should indicate how to educate better. However, educational assessment has other social and political consequences which significantly impact society and thus provoke debate. This overview introduces some of the major issues surrounding educational assessment and provides a guide to further reading on particular aspects. Trends in Assessment The practice of evaluating human ability and performance in an organized manner has been around for centuries, dating as far back as 2000 B.C. when Chinese civil examinations were established in a move toward appointing civil servants based on meritocracy instead of unfair preference. Since then, trends in assessment have undergone changes in response to changes in the philosophy of education, assumptions about learning, and political ideologies. In the 400's B.C, the Greek philosopher Socrates used oral conversational methods for examining rhetorical abilities in presenting and defending arguments. Much later, in the 1700's, early testing in the United States also involved oral examinations conducted by faculty who used their expert judgment to determine the quality of their students' performances, much like the oral defenses required of doctoral students today. Horace Mann started using written standardized tests in Massachusetts and Connecticut in the 1830's, leading to the development of Mann's Boston Survey in the first printed test for large-scale assessment of student 1846, achievement in various disciplines. The tests were discontinued because the results were not used. Standardized examinations were again recommended after when Joseph 1895 Rice conducted tests in a number of large school systems that yielded large differences in math scores among schools. In the Thorndike, often called the 1900's father of the educational testing movement, persuaded educators to measure human change. There was a call for immediate, demonstrable results, and by testing 1915, 9 had become the primary means of evaluating schools. A lack of trust in teachers developed because of the assumption that they were biased in evaluating students, and standardized norm-referenced tests emerged so that individual students' or group scores could be compared against those of other individuals or groups on a bell-shaped normal curve. Dewey's progressive education movement favored education based on natural learning and practical problems in the 1930's, and while that may have called for more authentic testing, standardized norm-referenced testing was still employed, leading to a boom in the technical development of tests to compare schools on a larger scale. As educators realized that standardized test outcomes did not adequately reflect the complexity of learning, opposition against standardized testing grew. The 1980's saw a rise in the use of criterion-referenced tests that, in reality, are also standardized, but students are assessed against a set of criteria instead of other students. By the 1990's, however, educators were raising and documenting more and more problems with standardized testing. In answer, educators explored alternatives to standardized testing which fall under the umbrella term alternative assessment. Different forms of alternative assessment are still being developed and tried enthusiastically by some educators, but they, too, face opposition. In Chapter 1 and part of Chapter 8 in the book Toward a New Science of Educational Testing and Assessment, which have been included in this Hot Topic guide, Berlak discusses some of the epistemological contentions in the history of evaluation. Testing and assessment Before engaging in a discussion on standardized testing and alternative assessment, I think it is important to read Chapter 1 in the reading text for this guide, Assessing Student Performance: Exploring the Purpose and Limits of Testing, in which Wiggins (1993) makes an enlightening distinction between testing and assessment. In a nutshell, a test is a "one- shot" procedure which assumes to measure the test-taker's ability or knowledge. It requires the test-taker to provide uniform, 'correct' responses to items formulated and scored by other parties using criteria over which the test-taker has no say. Thus, Wiggins claims, to "test" a student is "a practice of determining whether the student has mastered what is orthodox" (p. 10). Tests are often "secure" (the contents kept secret) before they are administered. The role of human judgment in scoring is deliberately minimized. Standardized items and scoring also necessarily minimizes responsiveness to individual test-takers and contexts. Assessment, in contrast, is a comprehensive, multi-faceted analysis of performance; it must be judgment-based and personal" (p.13). By Wiggins' definition, assessment requires the systematic collection of data about a student's performance 10