Changing the way you learn

Be Authentic!

Informal Assessments
1. My favorite thing about informal assessments is that teachers can easily target specific skills or problems that students are having trouble with or the ones that they are succeeding in. Informal Assessments also allow teachers to adapt their instruction to ensure that students gain a better understanding of the skill or concept.
2. IN THE CLASSROOM: I use many types of informal assessments in my classroom throughout the day. These assessments help me track my three Emgerent Bilingual students' progress. I can quickly see if they have mastered the skill at hand, if they need more practice, or even deeper instruction. EB's need to be involved in their learning and these activities allow them to do that. Some examples are retelling a story with picture cards, role play, hands-on activities requiring the students to answer questions or complete a task, and team projects.
3. Informal Assessments allow teachers to track students' progress regularly. These assessments can provide teachers with a well-rounded picture of the student's skills, abilities, problem areas, and progress as the year continues.
4. Informal Assessments should be monitored by teacher observations and can also be a self-assessment for students. They can check their own work and learn through their own experiences.
Portfolio Assessments
1. A Portfolio Assessment is a type of performance-based assessment that assesses the student's work produced in the classroom. This is not a collection of all of the student's work, only their best accomplishments .
2. To develop a well-prepared display of student work, the student portfolio should have five important characteristics. The first characteristic is comprehensive, meaning there is both breadth and depth in the work. The work should also be predetermined and systematic. The portfolio should be informative as it should show the student's progress and achievements. The fourth characteristic is tailored. The portfolio should be crafted and precise in order to meet the needs of the student. The final characteristic is authentic. Portfolios should consist of actual classroom activities and work that came from particular tasks completed in the classroom.
3. IN THE CLASSROOM: Teachers can create portfolio assessments for Emergent Bilinguals by collecting exemplary work that is completed in the classroom, as well as work that is completed during their pull-out sessions with the ELL Specialist at school. Teachers can make this a fun and exciting time for EBs and allow them to add each piece to the collection. Students would also love to look at their portfolios from time to time and look back at recent work.
Performance-Based Assessments
1. Performance-Based Assessments allow students to demonstrate what they can actually do. They use the information that they have learned and perform a task or skill that exhibits their new knowledge.
2. IN THE CLASSROOM: Students engage in performance-based assessments each day. They conduct science experiments using the information they have learned in class. Drama students perform plays based on their new knowledge and skills. Students can also perform in the classroom by reciting poems, or putting together math puzzles. Teachers need to have a more analytical approach to grading these assessments for Emergent Bilinguals, especially for a writing assessment. Having only one set-score can cause these students to score poorly. Teachers must consider their accommodations when grading.
3. By engaging in performance-based assessments, students will gain social skills, as well as academic skills. Emergent Bilinguals should be given numerous opportunities to develop oral language. This should include both receptive skills to comprehend the content, and expressive skills to speak and convey thoughts to others. Students should also use conversational and academic language. This will improve and Emergent Bilingual's BICS and CALP.
Authentic Assessments
1. Examples of Authentic Assessments include Reader's Theater, Role Play, Classroom Store, Interactive Writing/Drawing Journals, Hands-On activities, and much more! Authentic Assessments are very important for Emergent Bilinguals; they need this type of assessment to receive comprehensible input.
2. IN THE CLASSROOM: Teachers should provide students with many opportunities to engage in Authentic Assessments and should use minimal Traditional Assessments to complement them. Teachers need to use rubrics to determine if the students met the criteria.
3. Authentic Assessments differ from Traditional Assessments. Authentic Assessments consist of meaningful tasks that relate to the real world; whereas, Traditional Assessments are more basic with multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank questions.
4. Authentic Assessments drive the curriculum. Teachers should create an Authentic Assessment first and then develop the unit around the assessment. This is referred to as "planning backwards". This enables the students to gather information they have learned or use their personal experiences to construct their own meaning.
High Stakes Assessments
1. IN THE CLASSROOM: Teachers use these tests state-wide. Proctors administer the tests. Teachers can only help their students prepare by teaching to the content standards and performance standards. Although these tests are not Authentic Assessments, teachers can use Authentic Assessments to help Emergent Bilinguals retain the standards to be successful on High Stakes Assessments. Teachers need to also include diverse cultural content that Emergent Bilinguals may not be familiar with.
2. High Stakes Assessments determine if the content standards and performance standards have been achieved by the student. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) must be shown through these tests. This means the students' test scores must show a progression.
3. High Stakes Assessments are NOT considered Authentic Assessments. These tests do not assess students while they are doing certain tasks. However, they are still important. These tests are the standardized assessments that are used to make important decisions about students' progress. These scores are considered when they are promoted, retained, and when they graduate. These tests are culturally responsive because they must be comprehensible to the students.
Initial Assessments
1. It is very important for Initial Assessments to value the student's native language. Assessing academic skills in only the second language will imply to the the student that his or her first language is not important.
2. Initial Assessments are used to identify and assess a student's prior knowledge. This assessment will inform the teacher of what information the student knows, as well as, give the teacher some direction as to what skills and instructional strategies the learner can build on. The teacher can then make appropriate educational decisions and provide the appropriate services to the student.
3. IN THE CLASSROOM: Initial Assessments are crucial for Emergent Bilinguals. Teachers can find some Traditional Assessments for major language groups through many resources. Teachers should also consider using story retelling activities, KWL charts, and Turn & Talk opportunities to be successful in building this prior knowledge.

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	Created by Megan Talton over 8 years ago