Activity 1.7

Target-Method Match

Purposes:

  1. To examine the variety of assessment options, including various examples of alternative assessment
  2. To practice matching assessment methods to the various types of learning targets we have for students
  3. To realize that alternative assessment comprises many useful methods, but that there is a time and a place for more traditional methods as well

Uses:

This is an intermediate level activity that builds skills relating to Chapter 1, Key 3—Target-Method Match. Prerequisites for this activity are either (a) reading and discussing Toolkit98 Chapter 1, or (b) Activity 1.2—Clear Targets, What Types are These? Before participants can match learning targets to methods, they need to be familiar with the various targets.

Rationale:

Sometimes the alternative assessment beacon becomes so bright that educators can't keep a balanced perspective on assessment. Good assessment doesn't mean using alternatives for everything; good assessment means having a clear idea of what one wants to assess (the learning targets we have for students, many times stated in local content standards) and using the method that best assesses it. This message is especially important for Toolkit98, which focuses on alternative assessments. We want to be clear that this focus does not imply that we recommend alternative assessments as the sole method to use.

But, Toolkit98 aside, there may sometimes be pressure to use only alternative assessments. One sometimes gets the feeling that anyone using multiple-choice, for example, is evil. We advocate a more balanced approach. The key is to know when to use the various methods.

Materials:

Time Required:

60-90 minutes

Facilitator's Notes:

  1. (5 minutes) Use Overhead A1.7,O1—Target-Method Match Purposes to introduce the activity. Good assessment means having a clear idea of what is to be assessed and then finding the best way to assess it. Sometimes multiple choice is best, sometimes performance assessment. No single method is inherently better than any other method; the goal is to match methods to targets.

  2. (15-30 minutes) Use Overhead A1.7,O2—Possible Assessment Methods and Handout A1.7,H1—Examples of Assessment Methods to show the types of assessment methods. You don't usually need to discuss "selected response." Show/discuss examples of "essay," "performance assessment," and "personal oral communication," as needed. (Personal oral communication is especially important to mention because we are giving teachers permission to assess in all sorts of ways. However, the assessment, regardless of method, must be of good quality—if personal oral communication is used, it must adhere to the standards of quality described in detail in several places in Toolkit98, (e.g., Chapter 3, Activity 1.5—Clapping Hands, and Activity 1.11—Assessment Standards.)

  3. (15-30 minutes) Break participants into groups and do the target-method match activity (as described in Handout A1.7,H2—Target-Method Match and Overhead A1.7,O3—Activity: Target-Method Match). Each group can complete a different row in the table.

Caution

Affective targets are a red flag in some communities. If so in yours, you can do the whole activity using only the cognitive targets (knowledge, reasoning, skills and products) by removing the affective information from all overheads and handouts.

Ask each group to report their choices and why they made the choices they did. (One way to do this is by setting up a panel in front of the group made up of a volunteer from each "learning target" group. Place X's and O's on the overhead chart [Overhead A1.7,O4—Matching Achievement Targets and Assessment] as each volunteer reports their group's work. After each "learning target," stop and discuss the similarities and differences of the responses from other groups having the same learning target.)

The completed figure should look similar to that below. (This also appears in the Chapter 1 text.) Handout A1.7,H2—Target-Method Match summarizes the matches.

(Note: There is a fine line between "essay" and "performance assessments" that require a student to write an extended response. I like to think of "essay" as the traditional questions on tests designed to get students to elaborate on their knowledge, while "performance assessment" is based on observation and judgement. But, don't let participants get hung up on details. Sure, a writing assessment is a performance assessment based on a student essay. That's why there's an "O" on the chart in the Product/Essay cell. The important thing is that participants have a feel for how to match.)

Aligning Achievement Targets and Assessment Methods

 

Selected Response


Essay

Performance
Assessment

Personal/Oral Communication

Knowledge Mastery

X

X

  

O

Reasoning Proficiency

O

X

X

X

Skills

    

X

X

Products

  

O

X

  

Dispositions/ Affect

X

O

O

X

4. (15-30 minutes) Optional challenge round: Matching quiz (Handout A1.7,H3—Which Assessment Method Is Best?). This quiz can be used for practice, to surface issues, or as a device to assess the extent of understanding of the group. (It is also fun to point out that being able to match targets to methods requires knowledge and application skills on the part of the teacher; we are assessing their knowledge with this matching quiz.)

Suggested answers are below. Remember there are no single correct answers; however, some answers are better than others. The reason that participants might disagree on the method to use for a target is that they disagree on what the target means (a major issue for assessment development, as pointed out in Chapter 1, Key 1—Clear Targets and Activity 1.2.) If this occurs, you might have participants generate as many meanings as they can for each target and then identify assessment methods for each.

  1. c, d, e, f. Assessing writing requires students to write; it's a skill. Writing can occur in the context of any of c-f. Portfolios (f) would be the best choice to assess the ability to write for a range of audiences and purposes.

  2. a, b, c, d, e, f, g. The method depends on which aspect of the skill is being assessed—knowledge (a, b, c) or understanding (c, d, e, f, g). Understanding could be demonstrated through an essay or through application. The important point here is that we need to be clear about what we mean by this target before we can choose the appropriate assessment method.

  3. d, e, f, g. To see whether students can contribute to groups you need to watch them do it (g); this is a skills target. Such observation can bein the context of an on-demand performance assessment or a project (d, e). The skill can be documented in a portfolio (f).

  4. a, b, c, d, e, f, g. See (2).

  5. b, d, f, g. "Demonstrates" is the key word here. The goal is not demonstrating "knowledge about" these things, but actually doing them, so it sounds more like skills and application of knowledge. Students could demonstrate understanding through a short answer (e.g., clap the rhythm) or in the context of a longer performance assessment.

  6. a, b. This seems to be at the knowledge end of the continuum; the goal is to assess prerequisite knowledge.

  7. g. These are affective outcomes. We pretty much have to watch and see this one.

  8. e. This is a product target—an extended project culminating in a written report.

  9. d, e, f, g. This is a reasoning target. Some parts of this might be assessed in selected response or short answer format, but if we really want to see whether students can bring all their skills to bear to solve problems, we need to use a performance assessment. Again, we need to be crystal clear about what we mean by the target in order to pick a best method.

  10. a, g. Here's another affective target. There are some selected response and short-answer assessments designed to get at this target. However, estimates of self-confidence can be made through watching students.

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