Assessment In Secondary Social Studies: Michael P. Vale

Assessment in Secondary Social Studies Michael P. Vale

DEFINITION PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT OTHER ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT Often argued as synonymous to authentic assessment or part of authentic assessment and vice versa is used to determine what students can and cannot do, in contrast to what they do or do not know. In other words, an alternative assessment measures applied proficiency more than it measures knowledge.

RATIONALE

• To capture complex outcomes – Alternative assessment goes beyond the assessment of knowledge and facts to the more complex goals of assessing and developing life-long skills of creative thinking, problem solving, summarizing, synthesizing, and reflecting.

RATIONALE

• To address realistic tasks – Students are involved in tasks, performances, demonstrations, and interviews reflecting everyday situations within realistic and meaningful contexts

RATIONALE

• To include good instructional tools – Alternative assessment focuses on the students’ strengths, therefore enabling the teacher to get a more accurate view of students’ achievement, of what they can do, and of what they are trying to do

RATIONALE

• To meet the students’ different learning styles

– Alternative assessment offers a broad spectrum of assessment possibilities to address the different learning styles. Some students might choose to demonstrate understanding by writing about something while others might prefer to perform, to display visually, or to create a timeline.

RATIONALE

• To collaborate and interact with students

– Even though schools usually focus on students working alone, the real world allows and encourages people to talk, ask questions, get help and receive feedback. Denying students the right to cooperate and collaborate diminishes the authenticity of the achievement.

DEFINITION PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT OTHER ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

PORTFOLIO A purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the students efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas.

TYPES OF PORTFOLIO

• DOCUMENTATION PORTFOLIO – A collection overtime showing growth and improvement reflecting students learning or outcome overtime.

– Documentation portfolio includes almost everything from drafts to finished products from best and weakest students works.

TYPES OF PORTFOLIO

• PROCESS PORTFOLIO – A portfolio which shows all facets and phases of learning.

– Contains extensive amount of reflective journals to show how students integrate learning for advanced mastery.

TYPES OF PORTFOLIO

• SHOWCASE PORTFOLIO – A portfolio which shows the best outputs of the students.

– Contain only completed works commonly agreed upon by the teacher and student to be displayed. These may include photographs, videotapes and electronic records of students works.

STAGES IN IMPLEMENTING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT • STAGE 1- Identify teaching goals – The teacher clearly creates goals to be achieved with the portfolio assessment.

• STAGE 2- Introducing the Idea of Portfolio Assessment – The teacher clearly introduces the concept of portfolio assessment in the class, why there is a need to produce one and what are the expectations of the teacher from the students portfolio

STAGES IN IMPLEMENTING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT • STAGE 3- Specification of Portfolio Contents – The teacher explains the Portfolio entries which can take many form – written, audio, video recorded, items, artifacts e.g. drawing, model, etc. – Essential Parts of Portfolio: – Cover Letter, Table of Contents and Dated Entries

STAGES IN IMPLEMENTING PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT • STAGE 3- Giving clear and detailed guidelines for portfolio presentation and assessment.

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES 1. Cheer Compose a cheer for someone in history who has struggled through something in your latest unit. 2. Fashion Sketch Draw an example of what a person would wear from the era being studied.

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES 3. Toy Create a drawing (or a prototype) of a toy that might have been used from the children of that specific time period. 4. Documentary Recreate an important historical event and document it. Or document a milestone (local history)

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES 5. Family Tree Research the family tree of a famous historical person. 6. Time Line Students create a class timeline as they study different eras. Post the master time line up in the classroom and add as new eras are learned.

ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT ACTIVITIES 7. Speech Memorize and recite an important historical speech. 8. Museum Exhibit Students each seek/create a museum “artifact” and set them up in the classroom as a museum, where they will stand next to their artifact to explain and answer questions from visitors. Invite other classes or parents to come do a walkthrough of your museum.

MARAMING SALAMAT PO! “WHEN YOU ARE TIRED WITH WHAT YOU’RE DOING, ALWAYS GO BACK TO YOUR REASON

WHY.”

BREAK THE ODDS, CONQUER YOUR FEARS, BE THE NEXT LET TOPNOTCHER!

-MICHAEL P. VALE Licensed Professional Teacher (LPT) September 2016 LET, 4th National Placer