Performance Assessment in the classroom

As an English as a second language (ESL) instructor, it is a necessity to assess my students' learning often. In fact, a large portion of time is assessing students (both informally and formally). I do not choose when my students takes tests, testing dates are determined by the Ministry of Education. Being in the public school system; our school must comply. Usually, there are tests administered throughout the school year: midterms and finals. Most of the student assessment done by me is informal; I usually gauge students abilities by speaking and writing. 

Formative vs. Summative

How do I assess my students? There are two main ways: Formative and summative. Summative is the assessment that most of us are familiar with. Think back to your school days when you were a middle or high school student. Remember studying (or "cramming") for an upcoming test? You studied and studied and studied up until test time. The test itself was usually multiple choice with many options to choose from. Those tests determined how "well" we were doing as students. In my case, those test determined if I would have accelerated math or English classes; those classes were referred to as advanced placement (AP) classes. Looking back, I feel that assessing students only by test performance doesn't paint the "whole picture." What about those of us who have test anxiety? We know the material, we study, study, and study more...only to go "blank" on test day! I think there are other methods just as effective and put less stress on students. I will discuss those below. First, let's discuss the two methods of assessment: formative and summative. According to Carnegie Mellon University, formative assessment monitors students' learning by providing instant and ongoing feedback. Summative feedback evaluates students' learning usually at the end of a unit. For example, a quarterly or final exam. Formative is considered "low stakes" and is giving during instruction. It's referred to as "low stakes" because it does not have any bearing towards the student's grade. Summative is "high stakes" because it directly calculates students' grades. When students take an exam; they are scored accordingly. 





  Performance Assessment in my classroom.

The most important standard that I adhere to in my classroom set by the TESOL International Association is:

"Implementing the 4 language domains (speaking, reading, writing, & listening) into most or every lesson."

Usually, every one of my lessons contains at least 3 of the 4 domains. It is hard to exclude a specific domain as they are all entwined with one another. Reading naturally leads to listening; the same goes for speaking. 

Actual lesson title page.

Unit and Textbook focus

I will be teaching Unit 7: "Let's go to the Movies" from the ESL textbook (referenced in previous assignments). The focus of the unit is to teach students how to compare and contrast movies along with being able to choose a movie and ask about its show times. 

Formative Assessment:

For the formative assessment in this unit I will focus on objective #5:

Students will create a movie poster of a recent movie (or their favorite movie) that includes a persuasive synopsis along with movie show times by the end of the unit."

Examples of templates students will follow:
                           

Usage of these templates allows me to see how well my students write in English. Grammar is important, however, I feel being able to express one's self is just as important. This activity allows me to assess whether or not my students can express their opinions and feelings in English. 

Most of the time, I engage my students in group or pair work. However, for this activity, it will be individual work as I can have a better sense of each student's comprehension of the lesson. My students LOVE competition and they thrive in a competitive atmosphere. Because of that, there will be a contest where the class votes on the top 3 movie posters according to how persuasive and interesting it is (and of course, the artwork too)! Students will not be able to see who made the poster. The posters will be read aloud without any indication of who wrote them (to avoid work only being chosen because of a student's "popularity"). While students are working on their posters, my co-Teacher and I constant walk the room between the tables checking on students work and helping them. Usually when my students have questions on grammar and spelling; we solve it together. I give them leading clues; from there, they can usually solve their problem pretty quickly!

After students have completed their posters; they hand it to me and I put it in a pile. Once all posters are complete, I post the posters for everyone to see.  I have magnets that I use to post the posters to the front board. Student's come up in their groups to choose the best poster/essay.  Once we have selected them, we read each other together sentence by sentence. (The essays are usually no longer than 7-8 sentences as Korean and English are so different and my kids are still grasping how to write in English). When we have corrected the errors together as a class, we move to the next essay and discuss it. I hang all of my students' work on the back board; not just the top 3. This gives them a chance to feel proud of their work and that they have accomplished something. 

Additional formative assessment method:
One of my favorite ways to break the ice and engage students i conversation is a game called "Sudden Death Tennis!" My students love this game; we can play it forever! However I usually stop the game once most students have had the opportunity to speak. I tell all the students to stand up. I walk to the center of the room. We briefly review the dialogue that we learned. I ask a question, then I toss the tennis ball to the student. The ball is not supposed to stop. After the student catches the ball, he has 5 seconds to answer the question and make a question or statement then he has to throw the ball to another student. This keeps my students "on their toes" and it allows them to think and process language more quickly. Student's aren't as self conscious because every student is involved. Because I am standing in the center of the room, I can interject and pose questions at any time in case the game reaches a stalling point. This method allows me to be directly involved in assessing students speaking (pronunciation, intonation, and feeling). It is a fun method and my students and I enjoy it! In fact, my students do not realize that I am assessing them! 


Summative Assessment:

I am not allowed to test my students during the lesson. The Korean Ministry of Education and our school sets the testing dates in advance. Students will be tested over this material in October via midterm exams. I will submit 10 questions to my co-teacher; 5 essay and 5 multiple choice. 

References

Classroom Assessment Guidelines. (2015, May 16). Republic of the Philippines Department of Education. Retrieved June 22, 2017 from: http://www.deped.gov.ph/infographics/classroom-assessment-guidelines


Hilliard, P. (2015, December 7). Performance based assessment: reviewing the basics. Edutopia. Retrieved June 22, 2017 from: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/performance-based-assessment-reviewing-basics-patricia-hilliard

What is the difference between formative and summative assessment? (n.d). Carnegie Mellon University, Eberly Center. Retrieved June 22, 2017 from: https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html