This chapter described Portfolios are and aren't. I have heard of the Whole Language Programs since the 1990's and I was surprised to read here that there is little research done on use of Portfolios. It was interesting to read that the Portfolios evolved out of the arts. In reading about this I couldn't help but to evaluate my teaching styles and techniques as it related to Whole Language approach. Some of the ideas here that I follow in the Whole Language approach is my use of thematic curriculum, using other books other than basal readers, learner-centered ( as we approach responses and critical pedagogy in response to data), meaningful (relevant material), and authentic literature ( Multicultural literature both fiction and non-fiction). Prior knowledge (funds of knowledge) is attained, engagement in oral and written language and to some extent some use of rubrics and/or checklists.
On the other hand, I have not used the Portfolios the way they were meant to be used as a means of alternative assessment. Here I would say that the type of Portfolio that I have used is between a Showcase and a Collections. I have collected students tests in Math, writing, and samples of Reading vocabulary and Fluency tests. Other assignments in the Portfolios are final products and not so much of things in progress. Some of the rubrics if any used are the ones that I am to use in assessing their writing for the end of level assessments in reading and writing, but nothing that we as a class (students and teacher) have created. It seems to me just a jumble of assignments placed in a folder, and the only system in place here is that its all thematic, other than that it's a pile of work the students completed, good work and not so good, selected by just me the teacher.
It seems to me that the underlying purpose of Portfolios are meant to be that of Assessment Portfolios. In this format the contents show growth, contents selected by both student and teacher, criteria specified by both students and teacher, can be made into a rubric or checklist, assessed by the student, peers, and teacher, and goals are made and/or met. This seems to be the ideal Portfolio, one which I have not implemented in all my teaching experiences.
Some of the ideas in this chapter I would like to try is to become more systematic in the use of Portfolios. I would like to begin by having students self assess and I liked the Figure 3.4 on page 44 where students were asked Reading and Writing questions to reflect on themselves. But, the most important part of Portfolios would be to begin with a goal in mind. I would have to begin with setting the purpose. My only weakness here is that I would be the only one in my site to use this. This is not used in our school and I don't know about the school district. So it is up to each individual teacher to use as his/her discretion.
What I would like to share with my coworkers are some of the Figures here so that this can get the ball rolling toward a more systematic Portfolio use for the whole school.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Who is given tests, & Making assessment practices; Articles for 10/28/08
There have been very similar discussion topics from both articles that spoke to things that worked and things that hindered assessment of Native students. I will begin here with my reflections of the articles in general before I begin the positives and negatives. I really liked the suggestion that Nelson-Barber and Trumball make on page 142 in their Discussion and Conclusions when they said that "In the best possible situation, the school staff would include Native teachers who can help non-Native teachers understand and judge student work. As in any community, continuous information flow between parents and teachers is also critical to understanding students' school performance." This was a very bold and strong sentence to make. I agree with the authors that Native teachers are the go-to experts of their own people. This is not to say only Native teachers are experts and can non-subjectively judge student work and progress, but that we are familiar and are aware, education in the village and in the area. My concern here is that current staff here in my site believe or display actions which hinder and impede Native teachers' knowledge and expertise. It's been a challenge to read all these articles of testing validity, reliability, and funds of knowledge, even Multimodality and Multi education, when I am constantly reminded at work that I am not an asset. I have worked hard and studied more, to be treated as such. It feels like I have not gone far, and I do hear my Native co-workers that feel the same as I do. I am seen but not heard, and my voice and ideas mean nothing. So , what's an educated Native teacher to do? The articles here hit home and I am confronted with constant bombardment of this at work and in my studies.
Moving along to the current assessment situations that hinder native and/or ELLs. These seem to be represented in both articles so I will list them: testing is usually standardized tests, which do not reflect the language, culture and local knowledge of ELLs, students are not able to be creative in such tests, in other words the test answers, content, and administration are predetermined, tests content are written elsewhere, does not take into account context of students current language strengths, does not account for dialect differences, tests are not always on-going often just a snapshot of one given week in the given year (as in high stakes tests), and students are given status of LEP because they may be viewed as "silent", which means students' heritage and cultures are not seen as relevant. I think the list would go on. These are some examples from the two articles.
The positives here is that more and more research is showing that culturally relevant material are proving to be an asset in high scores among Native students. Another is that more researchers and educators are reaching out to Native languages and cultures to find answers and to help create programs such as the Math in the cultural context creators, and the Linguistics department of UAF. Alternative methods of assessment other than standardized testing are areas being researched and sought after for a more balanced snapshot of student and ELL progress, and that progress and assessment is on-going. Native teachers are being trained in these particular areas so that the areas in assessment can produce culturally relevant curricula and matching forms of assessment which are reliable and valid.
One thing I also noticed that seem to be reflected in both articles is Solano-Flores' conclusion is that "Valid testing can not be achieved if we focus solely on the proficiency of ELLs in English but fail to examine linguistic factors involved in the development, adaptation, administration, and scoring of the tests."(p. 196). This brings me back to my opening where Native teachers are important part of the rating process. It's amazing how one person can make or break how others feel and perform in school and work.
Moving along to the current assessment situations that hinder native and/or ELLs. These seem to be represented in both articles so I will list them: testing is usually standardized tests, which do not reflect the language, culture and local knowledge of ELLs, students are not able to be creative in such tests, in other words the test answers, content, and administration are predetermined, tests content are written elsewhere, does not take into account context of students current language strengths, does not account for dialect differences, tests are not always on-going often just a snapshot of one given week in the given year (as in high stakes tests), and students are given status of LEP because they may be viewed as "silent", which means students' heritage and cultures are not seen as relevant. I think the list would go on. These are some examples from the two articles.
The positives here is that more and more research is showing that culturally relevant material are proving to be an asset in high scores among Native students. Another is that more researchers and educators are reaching out to Native languages and cultures to find answers and to help create programs such as the Math in the cultural context creators, and the Linguistics department of UAF. Alternative methods of assessment other than standardized testing are areas being researched and sought after for a more balanced snapshot of student and ELL progress, and that progress and assessment is on-going. Native teachers are being trained in these particular areas so that the areas in assessment can produce culturally relevant curricula and matching forms of assessment which are reliable and valid.
One thing I also noticed that seem to be reflected in both articles is Solano-Flores' conclusion is that "Valid testing can not be achieved if we focus solely on the proficiency of ELLs in English but fail to examine linguistic factors involved in the development, adaptation, administration, and scoring of the tests."(p. 196). This brings me back to my opening where Native teachers are important part of the rating process. It's amazing how one person can make or break how others feel and perform in school and work.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Carol's Discussion Topic!
I couldn't add a thread to the Discussion Board, for some reason there was no message panel for me to write in. I tried writing it on a WD and added as an attachment, but when I hit submit, it asked me to write a message, BUT I had no message panel to write on. I know the message is under the writing tools, but there was nothing for me there! So here it is!
Discussion on Test Methodology
Throughout the semester as in previous semesters, we have discussed triangulation, multiple modes or multimodal, and this fall the theory of multiplism. So what teachers and Language testers need to keep in mind is if you teach in multiple modes, you should test in each of the modes or a majority of the modes. A discrepancy arises when you teach in multiple modes and assess in only one, which is usually paper and pencil
Discussion on Test Methodology
Throughout the semester as in previous semesters, we have discussed triangulation, multiple modes or multimodal, and this fall the theory of multiplism. So what teachers and Language testers need to keep in mind is if you teach in multiple modes, you should test in each of the modes or a majority of the modes. A discrepancy arises when you teach in multiple modes and assess in only one, which is usually paper and pencil
Oral Assessment Ideas! WOW!
Often my students in my classroom say that they are lost and need help pinpointing where we are at given time and that given lesson, so we stop and redirect each other. Then I ask them what's the opposite of "lost" they say "found", "I'm found!". I think this is the cutest expression from them, when they are not lost anymore. :)
This is exactly how I am beginning to feel in finding this excellent website on Oral Assessment. I was doing a search on Oral Assessment Rubrics, I had one by the way, but I did not want to type it all, I wish I had a scanner. Perhaps, I can fax a copy of it to Marilee and she can post it on blackboard. However, I have found this website in my searches, and I don't feel so lost anymore. I now have an idea of where I want to take my research as I tailor this to fit my research question. Here it is:
This is exactly how I am beginning to feel in finding this excellent website on Oral Assessment. I was doing a search on Oral Assessment Rubrics, I had one by the way, but I did not want to type it all, I wish I had a scanner. Perhaps, I can fax a copy of it to Marilee and she can post it on blackboard. However, I have found this website in my searches, and I don't feel so lost anymore. I now have an idea of where I want to take my research as I tailor this to fit my research question. Here it is:
: (http://www.cal.org/twi/rubrics/oraltask.html)
Sample Tasks To Elicit Oral Language
Interviews
20 questions
interview a classmate
interview a community helper
interview a person asking biographical information
do a survey
Discussions
calendar activities
daily news/current events
book discussion
language experience- retelling
be a "person" and speak to the class
class debate
Sequencing pictures and discussion
Presentations
show and tell
puddle or math problems
rhymes w/question and answer
adapt jazz chants and songs
share knowledge about exploration and experimentation
book review
advertisement
Dramatization and Role playing
acting out stories/plays
take a character and act it out
act out your own story
TV show
be a reported and broadcast the news
Oral Rubric:
This is the website I found that I plan on using the Oral Rubric from for 2nd grade.
http://www.cal.org/twi/rubrics/oral1-5.pdf
Friday, October 17, 2008
McNamara Chapter 5-Validity:testing the test
Well hey! This is what I spoke to earlier in the semester. There are tests that test tests and the world goes around! It makes sense that tests should be valid especially when creating High Stakes Tests. This is where the goals from the curricula are highlighted and taken into account. There should be a clear focus in the test content, method, and construct since these are the areas that can make or break test validations. If tests are carefully constructed then the rating process can be smoother. However , on the other hand, if tests are questionably created, then is that valid? (that's my display question of this blog).
What I attained from the Bethel trip is that validity is if you are teaching orally, you should test orally. I try not to use validity and reliability together too much, however, they seem to be related in a sense that both are involved in testing. My personal gain from this chapter is to become a more valid teacher, creating valid tests, either in the areas of content, method, and construct. I want to see actual data or evidence of my students, shouldn't that be valid test data? (next display question).
In terms of my colleagues here, I trust they are level headed and aware of testing issues; however if I can choose one aspect of this chapter to share, I would share them the definition of validity and differentiate it with the definition of reliability. Often, like here, people use them interchangeably and fail to see the differences. Thank you for last weekend. It was an a nice get away and the little break this week. It was a good refresher, now I can complete the second half of the semester feeling like I am rested.
What I attained from the Bethel trip is that validity is if you are teaching orally, you should test orally. I try not to use validity and reliability together too much, however, they seem to be related in a sense that both are involved in testing. My personal gain from this chapter is to become a more valid teacher, creating valid tests, either in the areas of content, method, and construct. I want to see actual data or evidence of my students, shouldn't that be valid test data? (next display question).
In terms of my colleagues here, I trust they are level headed and aware of testing issues; however if I can choose one aspect of this chapter to share, I would share them the definition of validity and differentiate it with the definition of reliability. Often, like here, people use them interchangeably and fail to see the differences. Thank you for last weekend. It was an a nice get away and the little break this week. It was a good refresher, now I can complete the second half of the semester feeling like I am rested.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Skype Dialogue Focus!
1. Here are the topics of discussion. Each partner can discuss these points in their chats. Then after about 15 minutes I call each group back and have each group talk about their findings in their chats and update what was discussed.
· How do I interpret data? Am I alone, do I ask coworkers, do I involve students?
· How do I report results? Do I send progress reports to parents, is it ongoing?
· What if any do I show at Parent Teacher Conferences?
· What would I like to try from this article?
· How do I interpret data? Am I alone, do I ask coworkers, do I involve students?
· How do I report results? Do I send progress reports to parents, is it ongoing?
· What if any do I show at Parent Teacher Conferences?
· What would I like to try from this article?
Monday, October 6, 2008
Please add comment to this blog!
Self reflection, classmates take a few minutes to comment answers to the following:
- Why do I assess, list all reasons.
- What tests (authentic assessments), methods of assessments have worked well for me, & why.
- What assessments (authentic assessments )have not worked well, & list reasons.
Please feel free to add anything else you would like to!
Something to keep in mind as we begin to conduct research and collect data!
"The Scientific mind does not so much provide the right answers as ask the right questions."~ Claude Levi-Strauss
LING 612-Dr. Coles-Ritchie; Authentic Assessment and Multiplism
Valdez-Pierce & O'Malley: Ch.2, Designing authentic assessment
Shohamny, E. & Inbar, O. (2006), The language assessment process: A "multiplism" perpective, (CALPER Professional Development Document 0603). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvannia State University, Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research.
These two articles beautify the notion of authentic assessment and rightfully so. If we are striving to gain access to valid and reliable data, then the test tools used should be carefully constructed so that the results display exactly what we are testing for. As previously discussed my working definition of authentic assessment is triangulation. The idea of multiplism lends itself to all and any areas in planning, implementation, teaching, and assessment. What you do after assessment furthers the variety of things that are available to you as a rater and researcher. I do agree that the standardized assessment and paper and pencils are not working for the most part in language assessment. We have learned that in language acquisition and learning, receptive skills such as reading and listening skills were the primary focus in any testing. This has evolved into further tests needed to assess productive skills such as speaking and writing. So standardized tests were not testing all the skills in ELL.
The Shohamy article was a great review on the process of constructing language assessments. All areas of language assessment should be clear and concise when planning, implementing, and analyzing ELLs. This provided me some ideas to work on in my own research. So far I am having trouble with creating questions or prompts for my pre and post tests . I am planning on collecting data through audio tapes and so far I have done a pilot test. However all my components are not yet cleared. I have my hypothesis and research questions. But where it gets foggy for me is designing some questions that would help me understand where the students are. So for example, I would like to know what the students think of themselves as Yup'ik people. I would like to see and understand where they are in that process before they begin to compare themselves to other cultures and languages. So the pretest that I want to do is more of a dialogue where the learners tell about themselves and what they think it means for them to be Yup'ik. As the year progresses I would also do a post test so that they can compare themselves to other cultures and languages they might be studying. I am still collecting data on the pretests. So far the data I have gathered does not provide me with clear and concise answers about where the learners are in terms of how they view themselves. So, I will go back to this article to see if I can find a possible solution. What I take from this article is the process in creating language assessments and my tool options. I need to revisit my research question and the tools I wanted to use to collect this. I also need to come up with working questions that would elicit the kind of responses I am looking for.
The authentic assessment chapter by Valdez was a great opener for me to fully understand the options in assessment other than standardized tests. I like how the author creates tables and charts to show examples of. What I would find useful is defining what type of assessment I would like to make. Why use this, what are the best methods and tools for achieving this information, and how would i score the data, what will the data and what should the data show. Those are some of the key questions I need to begin asking myself. I am suppose to begin using teacher observations in my class this fall, so far it seems like a tedious task and I can't seem to get started. Joan has given us some ideas on how to go about beginning this. but the hardest part is beginning this on-going teacher observations journal. Hmmm. So far in my research I will be using oral interviews, writing samples, and teacher observations. For the oral interviews I will break that into pre/post tests and oral interviews. I just need to clearly state my goals for the pre/post test and make that more clear for me and my research. I have already listed my interview questions, so that's easy. I still need to get the ball rolling on my observations.
As I read the two readings, these were on my mind; my research and my methods for gathering data. Hmmm!
Shohamny, E. & Inbar, O. (2006), The language assessment process: A "multiplism" perpective, (CALPER Professional Development Document 0603). University Park, PA: The Pennsylvannia State University, Center for Advanced Language Proficiency Education and Research.
These two articles beautify the notion of authentic assessment and rightfully so. If we are striving to gain access to valid and reliable data, then the test tools used should be carefully constructed so that the results display exactly what we are testing for. As previously discussed my working definition of authentic assessment is triangulation. The idea of multiplism lends itself to all and any areas in planning, implementation, teaching, and assessment. What you do after assessment furthers the variety of things that are available to you as a rater and researcher. I do agree that the standardized assessment and paper and pencils are not working for the most part in language assessment. We have learned that in language acquisition and learning, receptive skills such as reading and listening skills were the primary focus in any testing. This has evolved into further tests needed to assess productive skills such as speaking and writing. So standardized tests were not testing all the skills in ELL.
The Shohamy article was a great review on the process of constructing language assessments. All areas of language assessment should be clear and concise when planning, implementing, and analyzing ELLs. This provided me some ideas to work on in my own research. So far I am having trouble with creating questions or prompts for my pre and post tests . I am planning on collecting data through audio tapes and so far I have done a pilot test. However all my components are not yet cleared. I have my hypothesis and research questions. But where it gets foggy for me is designing some questions that would help me understand where the students are. So for example, I would like to know what the students think of themselves as Yup'ik people. I would like to see and understand where they are in that process before they begin to compare themselves to other cultures and languages. So the pretest that I want to do is more of a dialogue where the learners tell about themselves and what they think it means for them to be Yup'ik. As the year progresses I would also do a post test so that they can compare themselves to other cultures and languages they might be studying. I am still collecting data on the pretests. So far the data I have gathered does not provide me with clear and concise answers about where the learners are in terms of how they view themselves. So, I will go back to this article to see if I can find a possible solution. What I take from this article is the process in creating language assessments and my tool options. I need to revisit my research question and the tools I wanted to use to collect this. I also need to come up with working questions that would elicit the kind of responses I am looking for.
The authentic assessment chapter by Valdez was a great opener for me to fully understand the options in assessment other than standardized tests. I like how the author creates tables and charts to show examples of. What I would find useful is defining what type of assessment I would like to make. Why use this, what are the best methods and tools for achieving this information, and how would i score the data, what will the data and what should the data show. Those are some of the key questions I need to begin asking myself. I am suppose to begin using teacher observations in my class this fall, so far it seems like a tedious task and I can't seem to get started. Joan has given us some ideas on how to go about beginning this. but the hardest part is beginning this on-going teacher observations journal. Hmmm. So far in my research I will be using oral interviews, writing samples, and teacher observations. For the oral interviews I will break that into pre/post tests and oral interviews. I just need to clearly state my goals for the pre/post test and make that more clear for me and my research. I have already listed my interview questions, so that's easy. I still need to get the ball rolling on my observations.
As I read the two readings, these were on my mind; my research and my methods for gathering data. Hmmm!
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