Job Discussion Forums

[george30]

I do not know how many of you feel about alternative assessment methods of evaluation which are today in great vogue in North America but to evaluate students on the basis of self-assessment or peer assessment grids seems sometimes confusing though they sound attractive.
It is true they have a formative value which I fully acknowledge but to grade students on the basis of peer assessment,for example,well that's a complex issue.Being for the moment enrolled in a Bachelor's Program in Canada,the Reform that promotes alternative asssessment evaluation is held in high-esteem.

[Sherri]

Hi George
I think there is a lot of merit in getting students involved in assessment. I have successfully used self-assessment for placement (as well as traditional, but our adult students were about 95% accurate in their placement). Right now we are experimenting with having students work together with their teachers to make up their grading criteria--of course the teachers are still using traditional assessments too.

I have also had success with having students give input on rubrics that I have made.

I personally would not use self-assessment as the only tool for assessment, but it is a powerful one as is having students give input on how they are assessed.
Sherri

[denise]

As long as the students are properly trained. With self-assessment, they may be too shy to ask for the grade that they think they deserve. With peer assessment, you've got to make sure it's not just a popularity contest.

d

[mondrian]

Now why didn't I think of that method before?
It would save all my time at the end of each semester, trying to provide for my "leaders" an objective view of the little darlings' English capabilities.
So I just give them the blank grading sheets and tell them how to fill in the boxes themselves? Tell them to be honest?
"I speak the English very good" is high level communication because it is understood by all. This will give at least a pass grade?
The only sure result of this method of assessment would be to get me assessed and fired!

[Jizzo T. Clown]

Sherri--

I'd be interested to see the rubric you allow the students to use...or do you just ask them "How is your English?" What happens if they can't understand what's on the rubric?

If they're like our students, they'll say "My writing is perfect. I must practice my speaking," even though their spoken English is probably the least of their worries!

There's another discipline that uses "alternative" assessment--Special Ed.

[Sherri]

Hi JTC
At the simplest level, on their application form, while they are still in their home country, we ask "rate your English level" and they can choose from basic to intermediate for each skill (reading, writing etc). We just started doing this but it helps a lot when planning for a new intake of students.

In Japan, we had more of a "can do" list that they rated themselves on and it was written in Japanese (for serious adult learners I should add) It had statements gradually increasing in difficulty. Like "I can introduce myself in English to a new business client", "I can give a 10 minute prepared presentation on my company's services" to "I could take notes of a meeting conducted in English and then write a summary for my American boss". We found that most people (not all) rated themselves pretty accurately. We still did traditional placement testing.

Does that help? I want to make a similar can do list for where I work now.
S

[george30]

Sherri,

It seems that the greatest problems in the self-evaluation and peer evaluation come with lack of objectivity.That's why you combined both ways and it works fine like that.But to rely on self-assessment grids only for placement,would be a disaster.Most of the time,students cannot evaluate thier level objectively as pacients cannot evaluate their state of health unless examined by a professional.

[Sherri]

Hi George
To a certain extent I agree. When I first seriously considered self-assessment for placement I thought it was the stupidest thing I had ever heard (that was about 5 or 6 years ago). But after trying it and seeing the results, I know that it is a pretty useful tool and in that context of serious adult learners, it worked just as well as our traditional testing. I don't remember the exact percentage of accuracy now, but it was almost perfect. I don't think it would be a "disaster" to only use self-assessment. If done correctly, then it would certainly be as accurate as using say a TOEFL test score or a Michigan EPT score to place students.

I think adult students (I have no experience with teens or kids) can assess themselves accurately. Think about a foreign language you have learned in the past, would you be able to access yourself? If you had a list of can do statements, wouldn't you be able to reflect and think about what you could and couldn't do well in that language?

Still I know that I am a chicken not to just use self-assessment if I think it is so great! Partly down to face validity I suppose, that students wouldn't think we were doing our job, partly down to simply wanting to have more evidence, like a level check interview or a writing sample.

As for peer assessment, that is something I admit I have never considered as a tool for overall assessment of a student. I think it is useful for students to assess each other and give constructive feedback on say a presentation, but I would not include that in my own assessment process.

Allowing students to give input to rubrics and grading scales allows them to take more responsibilty for their learning and that is something I can never have enough of!
Sherri

[Wild Bill]

My school district is big on that now. It seems to be a way NOT to give failing grades to students who don't do well on tests. In reality, it has hurt more students grades than it has helped. It seems to be another liberal theory coming out of the ivory tower junkyard.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

Wild Bill-

Are you talking about esl, special ed, or mainstream students??

[rusmeister]

I would actually agree with wildbill and clarify the focus to mainstream students, although ESL and special ed are also affected. (Notice how in the states, ESL gets lumped with special ed rather than with foreign languages. It's just part of the regard foreigners are held in. (I know you don't mean it that way, Jizzo)

There is a place for 'assessment', but I object to the mere word on the whole if it is used to replace the word 'testing'.

The idea of 'assessment' is to eliminate absolute standards. It allows a subjective measure of whatever is being measured.
In any situation where knowledge ought to be measured in absolute standards (can this kid solve (9x6) or not?), the elimination of those standards in favor of smiley faces, 'very goods', or rubricking ("This child has 'some' knowledge of the given topic but needs to develop it further'...) is disastrous, and of course, tends to lower the objective standards kids (or any learners) do reach.

It IS an outgrowth of the philosophy that has taken over our schools of education, one of whose expressions is that 'everybody is exceptional'. Remember the recent film "The Incredibles"? "If everyone is special, then no one is." That's the road that assessment, in this sense, leads to.

That should lead to an examination of the philosophy taught in the schools of education (those that teach the teachers) and an introspection of that by everyone who went through those schools (certified teachers) identifying the nature of the philosophy that they were taught, generally without realizing it. (although in my required 'social foundations of education' course, it was obvious to all but the obtuse, imo).

Does that at least begin to outline the 'ivory tower', Bill?

[Wild Bill]

Actually, it is an across the board program. And the reason it doesn't work is that the students just won't hand in what is required, therefore they don't get the grade and THEN they fail.