Elise Micale

Return to: ETAP 623 Spring 2017 | Elise's mini-course

About me

I am a third-year teacher at North Syracuse Junior High. I teach 8th grade French but have also taught 7th, 9th, & 10th. I am also the advisor of our school's Language Learners' Club.

Topic: Authentic Assessment in the Modern Language Classroom

The purpose of this mini-course is to provide research that supports the use of authentic assessment in the modern language classroom while also providing the tools for teachers to create these assessments. These authentic assessments are meant to be a more accurate test of students' understanding of a language in context than traditional testing.

Needs Assessment & Learners

1. Instructional Problem

"Foreign language textbooks...are including more communicative activities, authentic materials, and culturally authentic lesson content than ever before, encouraging learners to use language in content for real-world purposes." (Teaching Language in Context, Hadley, 2001, pg. 390) Yet, according to Hadley, teachers assessments are not changing in response to the shift towards more authentic contexts. Hadley explains that this is mostly due to teachers largely focusing on specific grammar points and isolated components of knowledge and skills. (2001, pg. 390) This type of testing is very familiar, it seems more straightforward, and teachers find it difficult and time consuming to try something new. (Hadley, 2001, pg. 390)

In my experience, I have found that teachers are aware of the concept of authentic assessment but they find it difficult to implement it in the classroom. In fact, after informally surveying my modern language colleagues, I found that most leaned towards traditional testing and assessment. Of the four teachers who exclusively use traditional assessments (read multiple choice Scantron tests), three said it would be too difficult to change their assessments and one of them even said it was because projects were too difficult to grade. The fourth teacher did not understand authentic assessment or understand the benefits.

2. What is to Be Learned

Participants will learn the benefits of authentic assessment and how to create their own assessments to use in their Modern Language classroom.

3. Learners

The learners are current and pre-service Modern Language teachers in grades 7-12. Learners will have varying degrees of experience deigning and administering assessments with and without technology.

4. Instructional Context

Learners will learn the content through this mini-course with the use of a computer with an internet connection.

Performance Objectives

Course-level objectives

Learner Outcomes

By the end of this mini-course, learners will be able to...

Identify the pros of authentic assessment as opposed to traditional testing

Create authentic goals & tasks for an assessment that align with content standards

Create an assessment tool (rubric) to assess student learning and ability to use knowledge in context

Self-assess & evaluate an authentic assessment for its ability to assess student learning in context

Task Analysis & Units of Study

Unit 1:

1. Identify what you already know about Authentic Assessments (definition, examples, etc.)

2. Look at examples of Authentic Assessments.

Unit 2:

1. Read research on Authentic Assessments.

2. Create a list of pros & cons to compare Authentic with Traditional testing.

Unit 3:

1. Based on your content area & your current unit of study, identify the standards you will need to meet.

2. Create goals for the students completing your assessment based on the standards you have identified.

3. Create tasks for your assessment that are aligned with standards & goals (plan with the end in mind.)

4. Create your Authentic Assessment.

Unit 4:

1. Evaluate your own Authentic Assessment for its ability to assess students' knowledge authentically.

Curriculum Map

References and Resources

Brown, S. (2015). Authentic assessment: using assessment to help students learn. RELIEVE, 21 (2), art. M4. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7203/relieve.21.2.7674

Dempsey, J. V., Litchfield, B. C. (2015). Authentic Assessment of Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes. New Directions For Teaching & Learning, 2015(142), 65-80.

Hadley, A. O. (2001). Teaching language in context. Boston, MA: Heinle Cengage Learning.

Mueller, J. (2006). Authentic assessment toolbox. Retrieved April 15, 2017 from http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/index.htm.