Authentic Assessment in World Languages: Making Languages Come to Life

Authentic Assessment in World Languages:Making Languages Come to LifeDePaul Catholic High SchoolSeptember 23, 2011Enza Antenos-Conforti, PhD, Montclair State University

Parla in itaiano

In francese mon franais pedantiqueje lai enseign a une cole prive Toronto en Canada pour 4 annes mais il y a 7 anne que je ne le pratique plus. Le francais etait ma 3e langue et je nai beaucoup de chance de le parler en NJ.

In spagnolo: Bienvenidos profesores de espaol. Cuidado con mi espaol porque hace poco tiempo que lo aprendo.Nunca he estudiadoespaol...loestoy aprendiendoa travs delas redes socialesy el uso deherramientas en lnea.Misevaluaciones personalesson de verdad las evaluacionesautnticas...simepuedocomunicar con hablantes nativos,tengo xito! Al menos eso es lo que pienso 1

AgendaDefining Authentic AssessmentBackward Design PlanningRubricsExamples & Resources

What is Authentic Assessment?

This video is number 3 on the Edutopia.org iTunes U site: http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/what-is-authentic-assessment/id395540712?i=962981793

Characteristics of Authentic Assessmentbased on an authentic task to demonstrate learner ability; focused on communication rather than right vs. wrong; has criteria set by the teacher and the learners; offers students the opportunity to assess themselveshttp://www.nclrc.org/teaching_materials/links_to_fl_materials/general_resources.html

Criteria of Authentic AssessmentAuthentic assessment activitiesare built around topics of student interest, replicate real-world contexts, involve multi-stage tasks, require a product or performance, use criteria known to the student, involve interaction between assessor and assessed, allow for self-evaluationhttp://www.nclrc.org/teaching_materials/links_to_fl_materials/general_resources.html

Planning: Backward DesignSet your goals FIRSTWrite your lessons to meet your goals and create your objectivesTo reach your desired end resultsDecide on the objective.Create a rubric or grading standard.Plan the instruction.Teach the lesson.

Decide on the Learning ObjectiveWith standards for education, most teachers are told what the goals must be. Yet each lesson can have objectives that are a smaller part of the entire standard. For example, a standard might be that students will write narratives with proper punctuation and grammar. In one lesson, the objective could be for the students to use proper punctuation with dialogue.Create a Rubric or Grading StandardOnce the objective is set, create a rubric that reflects exactly what the teacher intends for the students to learn. What will be evidence that the student has mastered the concept? What will prove that the students know the core objectives? The rubric should be differentiated according to the student needs of the class, adapting for differences, but still meeting the objective.Plan the InstructionOnce the objective is set, and the rubric is ready, its time to begin collecting material and planning the lesson and the assessment. Lessons can be creatively taught, as long as they meet the objective. This is not a new idea. It has been a concept taught by Stephen R. Covey for years.In The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, [Free Press, 1990], author Stephen R. Covey states,To begin with the end in mind means to start with a clear understanding of your destination. It means to know where youre going so that you better understand where you are now so that the steps you take are always in the right direction.Teaching the LessonBefore teaching the lesson, after the introduction and hook, let the students know what the objective will be. Tell them what they will be expected to know. This way, the students will study with the goal in mind, more focused on the concept to be learned. This is how higher student achievement happens.

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Example: Intermediate Italian IGOALa syllabus that prepares you to plan and go on a trip to Italy, and to discuss some specific Italian cultural features. Most of the semester you will be asked to contrast/compare your culture and Italian culture and understand and appreciate the differences between these two worlds.

Start with your rubrics, you can move to self-assessment and peer assessment later4. Elicit their thoughts on the values and limitations of traditional forms of assessment and help them see ways that alternative assessment can enhance evaluation of what learners can do with language.

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Example: Intermediate Italian IWeeks 1-5 ObjectivesCercasi compagno di viaggiStudents should be able to:talk about their routines, using their trips and holidays as a basis describe family and friends and other people with whom they travelidentify different ways of moving around, and stating their preferencesdetail their daily schedules (from waking up to going to sleep)compare their daily schedules to their routine on vacationidentify actions in the sequence in which they occurrednarrate in the past, talking about past tripsdescribe the background to their vacation anecdotesexpress ideas concerning obligation, abilities and desires in the past and present with regard to travelingdescribe where they used to godescribe what they used to do with their families on vacationcompare experiences, situationsknow how to talk about past situations, habits, routines in the past, and making comparisons

I designed this curriculum in 2005/2006 and it was implemented in the FA06 semester. It was tweaked often, and revisited most recently in 2009. This is the ITAL103 curriculum for Montclair State Univ.8

Example: Intermediate Italian IWeeks 6-10 ObjectivesPrepararsi e arrivare in ItaliaStudents should be able to:ask for information about Italy (what to do, where to go, what to see)talk about what they will do when they arrive in Italyrank their activities according to the most and the least importante/interesting/etc.know where to go to fare la spesa e fare lo shopping/acquisiti talk about the experience of going shopping and grocery shopping in Italy and in the United States in the present and past tensetalk about Italian and American sense of fashionask for advice/suggestions, directions and permission to do somethingexpress wants and make requests politelytalk about the uncertainty in the future (based on song and movie)learn more about Italian geography; the role tourism has in Italy; citt darte, beaches, lakes and mountains; holiday destinations; Ferragosto, civil and religious Italian holidays throughout the year.

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Example: Intermediate Italian IWeeks 11-15 ObjectivesCosa faresti in Italia?

N.B. each class of these last weeks begins with the tour of 3 regions. Students reports/oral presentations simulate a visit: students therefore circulate from region to region and explain where to go, what to do, etc. Groups will be assigned a guide and some tourists (for each tour, the instructor will evaluate how prepared and knowledgeable of the regions both the guide and tourists are)

Students should be able to:investigate different cultural events to attend (musical performances, art exhibits, theatre)recognize some important historical figures of art, literature and musicread and interpret different tour offerings based on itinerari artistici, gastronomici, letterari & naturalistici be a tour guide for a region of Italy and provide information based on an itinerary of their preferencereply to tourists questions about the regionsuggest and advise others on different problems related to travel (i.e., getting around, where to stay, where &what to eat, what to see, etc.)visit different hotel websites and read about location, offering, cost, etc. talk about different accommodations and what they offer talk about living in Italian cities and in the suburbs read about major periods of Italy history and talk about what life would have been like had they lived through those eras

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Whats my grade?What are:the goals / expectationsthe requirementsthe time factorsthe necessary components of a good piece of work

How to:apply knowledgeorganize informationfulfill teacher expectation

When assignments are given, students are interested more in the grade than in the learning

What do I need to do to get an A in this? How can I just pass?11

The RubricA rubric is a scoring guide. It organizes criteria that describe what students need to complete for an assignment, and it measures the levels of proficiency of student work. Comprises criteria, a scale and descriptors

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CRITERIASCALEDESCRIPTORS

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Advantages of the RubricThis is the students tool with:a clear model of the necessary criteriaa concrete framework of guidelinesa self-checking and assessing system

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Examples of Authentic AssessmentTopics and Situations for Oral EvaluationLa musique franaiseMira Toca HueleLa QuinceaeraLa Tareas de Google Voice (http://span2313.wikispaces.com/GoogleVoice)

PDFs available upon request

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ResourcesNational Capital Language Resource Centerhttp://www.nclrc.org/teaching_materials/links_to_fl_materials/general_resources.html

The Essentials of Language Teachinghttp://www.nclrc.org/essentials/index.htm

Authentic Assessment Toolboxhttp://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/

Fairfax County Public Schools Foreign Language Rubricshttp://www.fcps.edu/DIS/OHSICS/forlang/PALS/rubrics/index.htm

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Novice-Mid Presentational RubricWritingExceeds ExpectationsMeets ExpectationsDoes Not Meet Expectations

Do we understand you?

(Comprehensibility)The reader understands me without difficulty.The reader understands me with occasional difficulty. The reader does not clearly understand me.

How well do I use the language?

(Language Control & Vocabulary Use) I am mostly correct when producing simple sentences and make errors when creating with the language.

My writing is rich in appropriate vocabulary. I am mostly correct with memorized language.

My vocabulary reveals basic information.

I am correct only at the word level.

My vocabulary is limited and/or repetitive.

How well do I capture and maintain my audiences attention?

(Impact)My writing is engaging and shows effort to appeal to the audiences interest.I make some effort to maintain readers attention.I make no effort to maintain readers attention.

How well do I organize the presentation?

(Communication Strategies)My main ideas are supported with examples.My writing has a beginning, middle, and end.I present information randomly.

How well would I pass for a native speaker?

(Cultural Awareness)I demonstrate some awareness of cultural appropriateness. I