🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <3vk2p8$ncg@news.nevada.edu>, xu@nevada.edu (HONG XU) writes:
> Hi, Bill.  I think that you should go to the talk.  Every teacher should 
> know what authentic assessment.  One important advantage of authentic 
> assessment is to assist teachers to better know what their students can 
> do and how they have done that.  For example, you put the students' 
> writing or reading samples in a portfolio over a long period of time.  It 
> is easier for you to see students' progress in performance than the 
> letter A, B or C.  It is also easy for you to show parents what you have 
> taught and students have achieved.  
> Hope you will enjoy the talk

Thanks Shelley,
 I missed the talk but have spoken to someone who went. It was good. In
Australian schools these forms of assessment have featured prominently in
recent years:-

Norm referenced -- teach 'em, set tests, rank students in order of their scores

Criterion referenced -- setup some specific criteria regarded by the teacher or
the system as important. Teach to these criteria. Test the students. Report on
whether or not they have met the criteria.

Work required -- teacher and students *negotiate* what the student wants to
learn and how they want to learn it. There will be non negotiables but within a
framework the negotiations are genuine. Teacher assesses student based on
whether they have met the negotiated criteria or not.

There are others as well (Descriptive assessment, Self-assessment for instance) 
but what I was wondering was how this new Americanism, authentic assessment,
compared with the way we talk about these issues in Australia. BTW, the way I
teach is a combination of work required and criterion referenced. I tend to
swap between negotiated stuff (which motivates students) and skills criteria
when I think  that students are missing out on important skills that have not
crept into the negotiations. 

From what I have heard now about authentic assessment the main difference with
the above is its emphasis on some sort of *performance* by students at the end
of a unit of work. ie. the student gives a talk, presents a Portfolio of work,
to demonstrate their ability to perform in a real life context. I'd like to
hear more about it since this sounds like a useful addition to the combination
of criteria referenced // work required balance that thinking teachers in
Australia have adopted.

It is interesting to us in Australia that authentic assessment seems to be a
growing movement in the USA as a reaction against standardised testing which
has been trialled in the USA for a number of years. Standardised testing is
only in the last couple of years become a big government push in Australia. All
Australian states have recently introduced some form of standardised testing in
the last couple of years. Perhaps the American experience is suggesting that
this is a bad way to go. I'm convinced its a bad way to go and so it
encouraging to see a reaction against it in a country that has tried it for a
few years.

 Bill Kerr
 Paralowie R12 School
 South Australia

 

Self assessment --


> 
> e-mail:  xu@nevada.edu 
> 
> kerrb@magill.unisa.edu.au wrote:
> : Anyone know anything about authentic assessment?
> : I received an invite to a talk and am wondering whether to go. It sounds
> : interesting. 
> 
> : Talk is by Dinah Gieske of the Coalition of Essential Schools. She is a teacher
> : at University Heights High School, New York.
> 
> : The blurb for the talk goes like this, the expected outcomes from this approach
> : are:-
> 
> : * effective expression and communication
> : * self-awareness and self-esteem
> : * taking responsibility and preparing for the future
> : * social interaction and effective citizenship
> : * critical thinking and problem solving
> : * cultural and historical involvement
> : * valuing and ethical decision making
> 
> : Sounds a bit like what I am trying to achieve anyway ---->>> anyone 
> familiar
> : with this approach? It sounds like a reaction again Basic Skills Testing in the
> : USA (now being introduced in Australia). 
> 
> :  Bill Kerr
> :  Paralowie R12 School 
> :  South Australia
> 
> 
> --
> ********************************************************** 
> * Hong (Shelley) Xu		Internet: xu@nevada.edu  *
> * College of Education		Phone:	  (702) 895-3095 *
> * Univ.of Nevada, Las Vegas	Fax:	  (702) 895-4898 *
> * Las Vegas, NV 89154-3005                               *
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