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As for the metacognitive aspect of learning (pupils thinking about their own
learning), skills such as reflection and self-assessment also contribute to the
learning process. When teachers require pupils to think about what they are
learning, how they learn and how well they are progressing, they develop
skills which make them more independent and critical pupils.
product. They are assessed on both the process and end result of their work.
Many performance assessments include real-life tasks that call for higher-
order
The following are some examples of performance tasks, divided into products
and performances:
PRODUCTS PERFORMANCES
books (fables, cook books, stories, flip-flop song contest, poetry contest, joke contest
books, accordion books, scrolled books, big
books, cartoons, autobiographies,
biographies)
wall display (story train, collage, poster, ad, game show
bulletin board, exhibition)
computer game, board game, card game radio broadcast
advertising campaign multimedia presentation
survey poster presentation
poem/rap/advertising jingle dramatic performance
letter, petition, postcard show-and-tell presentation
album (alphabet, family, zoo, holiday) speech
rules or instructions video clip (news, weather, interview)
pamphlet (e.g., road safety rules for parents) demonstration (cookery, craft)
3-D model debate
newspaper/ newsletter/article plan or diagram storytelling
Step 1
List the specific skills and knowledge you wish pupils to demonstrate.
Teachers should identify the goals (i.e. types of knowledge and skills) pupils
are expected to reach in each teaching unit. This step is quite simple, since
the knowledge and skills a pupil needs are the Curriculums standards and
benchmarks in the various domains. Once this list is compiled, the teaching
goals to be assessed through performance tasks (as opposed to other
assessment tools) should be selected.
Step 2
Design a performance task that requires pupils to demonstrate these skills
and this knowledge.
Teachers should set tasks that will demonstrate which language knowledge
and skills have been developed. The pupils performance on these tasks
should illustrate what they have learned and the degree to which they have
achieved the teaching goals. Performance tasks should be motivating,
challenging and appropriate to pupils language level and cognitive ability.
Foundation level tasks will be simple and structured, and as pupils become
more proficient and independent, the tasks will become more complex and
less structured. As mentioned above, the tasks should be related to real-life
experiences. See the list of performance task types above.
Step 3
Develop explicit performance criteria and expected performance levels
measuring pupils mastery of skills and knowledge (rubrics).
Determine criteria for successful task mastery. The Curriculum (for example,
p. 25) specifies criteria relevant to each domain. The following section on
rubrics will further clarify this point.
Rubrics
Introduction
How often have you tried to grade your pupils book tasks or other open-
ended oral or written projects, and not known if you have graded them
accurately? Could you justify the grade if necessary? Would another teacher
give the same grade as you? In other words, how reliable is your
assessment?
Can you clearly evaluate your set goals using this task? Do these criteria
reflect quality performance on this task? In other words, is your assessment
valid?
Having well-defined rubrics increases the validity and reliability of
assessments.
A rubric is a scoring tool outlining required criteria for a piece of work, or what
is important to assess. It also indicates the weighting that has been
determined for each criterion, based on its relative importance to the overall
task, and describes what the performance would look like at different quality
levels. If the pupils receive this before beginning the task, they can more
easily internalize the criteria, understand how they will be assessed and thus
the performance level they should be striving for. Ideally, teachers develop
this together with pupils, though it can be prepared by the teacher and given
to the pupils for comments before they begin the task.
See below for a rubric to assess the benchmark of interacting for purposes of
giving and following directions. In this, pupils form pairs, giving and following
directions using a town map. The selected criteria are listed on the left.
Expected levels of performance for each criterion are outlined.
Rubrics are easy to understand and use. They can be referred to in parent-
teacher meetings and pupil-
teacher conferences where performance is discussed.
Building a rubric
The following flow chart shows the process of designing a rubric. Samples of
rubrics used in tasks are presented in the section on Classroom Assessment
Tools.
Determine the weighting of Determine the most important Ask your pupils what they think
each of the different indicators that ensure that the counts" in assessing the task,
criteria. goals of the task have been and which of these elements
met. should receive most points.
When possible, do this
stage with your pupils. Criteria related to content
should come first (most
important), while the technical
ones (e.g., spelling) should
come lower down in the table.
Next, each group presented their top three criteria to the class. I wrote them
on the board and asked the class to determine the most relevant ones. With
my guidance, they agreed on four qualities: inclusion of main events, relevant
descriptions, accurate language and presentation.
Pupils were then asked, What should be considered poor, fair, good and
excellent performance for each criterion? One pupil suggested a poor
presentation would include mostly incorrect captions, or a large number of
language errors, which the other pupils conceded. What if only some of the
facts are wrong? I asked. That would be a fair grade, said one pupil. I think
having some of the facts wrong should still be a poor grade, argued another
pupil. Finally, after further discussion, a consensus was reached among the
class that making only a few factual errors would earn a fair grade, and
correctly composing all the captions warranted an excellent score on
accuracy. Similarly, outstanding graphics demonstrating effort and time
invested would earn an excellent rating on the fourth criterion.
Following our negotiations, before the pupils began to work, they were given a
copy of the rubric we had designed. Pupils had the satisfaction of having input
into establishing a rating system they considered clear and fair.
Although it may initially be difficult (and some of our discussions did take
place in Hebrew), I highly recommend involving pupils in the rubric design. It
is extremely rewarding.
Implementing Performance-Based Teaching and
Assessment
The importance of planning
Asking and
answering
simple
questions
Independent
pair-work
* The enabling skills/prerequisites are the components enabling pupils to reach the benchmark.
They include, for example, practice of vocabulary and grammar items that are needed to meet the benchmark criteria.
The example shows this process for a single benchmark, interacting for
purposes of giving and following directions. The enabling skills/prerequisites
for this benchmark the vocabulary of directions, familiarity with maps, the
grammar of asking and answering simple questions and the ability to work
independently in pairs are mapped out on the Advance Organizer. These
skills must be taught before pupils perform the task.
To show the final stage of the process, let us take another, more detailed look
at the rubric for this benchmark.
Rubric for the benchmark Interacting for purposes of giving and following
directions
5 10* 15 20* 25
Did not get Followed part of Got message
Product message across; route across: found place
did not find place on map
on map
5 10 15 20 25
Fluency Spoke hesitantly, Fairly fluent Spoke fluently
read out answers
Accuracy 5 10 15 20 25
(vocabulary Incorrect or no Some correct Correct
expressions and expressions and expressions and
and question forms question forms question forms
question used used used
form)
5 10 15 20 25
No evidence of Some Took turns, listened
Process cooperation and cooperation and to each other and
practice practice practiced
This rubric includes the following criteria: product (Did they get the message
across?); fluency (Did they practice their performance? Did they speak
without hesitation?); accuracy (Did they use the correct vocabulary of
directions and the correct question forms?); and process (Was there evidence
of cooperation; did they work in pairs independent of the teacher?).
This tool ensures that assessment is an integral part of the learning-teaching
process and that performance is assessed systematically according to
planned criteria compatible with the teaching goals and made known to pupils
beforehand. See below a pupils checklist for this benchmark, to enable self-
monitoring of the task.
Pupils Checklist