AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
AUTHENTIC ASSESSEMENT: AN ALTERNATIVE MEASUREMENT OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Except where reference is made to the work of others, the work described in this project is my own or was done in collaboration with my Advisor. This project does not include proprietary or classified information.
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Lakeisha C. Robinson
Certificate of Approval:
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Donald R. Livingston, Ed.D Sharon Livingston, Ph.D.
Co-Project Advisor Co-Project Advisor
Education Department Education Department
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT: AN ALTERNATIVE MEASUREMENT OF STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
A project submitted
by
Lakeisha C. Robinson
to
LaGrange College
in partial fulfillment of
the requirement for the
degree of
SPECIALIST IN EDUCATION
in
Curriculum and Instruction
LaGrange, Georgia
July 19, 2011
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
Abstract
Traditional assessment methods are one of the instruments used in the classroom to measure student achievement. However; these methods do not allow students to truly show understanding of standards. In addition to traditional testing, authentic assessments are used to demonstrate and show evidence of learning. This study was conducted in a middle school math classroom and showed how the use of an authentic assessment impacted the achievement of students and the organization of the school. Data were collected using pre- and post -test, surveys and interviews. The analysis of the study showed that authentic assessments provide opportunities to demonstrate understanding and is a valuable assessment in the classroom.
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Table of Contents
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………...iii
Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………....iv
List of Tables………...... ………………………………………………………………....v
Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………………1
Statement of the Problem………………………………………………………….1
Significance of the Problem……………………………………………………….2 Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks…………………………………………4
Focus Questions……………………………………………………………….….6
Overview of Methodology………………………………………………………..7
Human as Researcher……………………………………………………………..8
Chapter 2: Review of the Literature……………………………………………………....9
Use of Authentic Assessment………….………………………………………...10
Feelings and Attitudes of Students………………………………………………14
The Change Process……….……………………………………………………..17
Chapter 3: Methodology…………………………………………………………………22
Research Design………………………………………………………………….22
Setting…..………………………………………………………………………..23
Subjects and Participants……...………………………………………………....23
Procedure and Data Collection Methods………………………………………...24
Validity, Reliability, Dependability and Bias...………………………………….26
Equity…………………………………………………………………………….28
Analysis of Data………………………………………………………………….28
Chapter 4: Results...……...………………………………………………………………31
Chapter 5: Analysis and Discussion of Results……………………………….…...…….43
Analysis….…………………………………………………………..……….…..43
Discussion……………………………………………………………..………....49
Implications……………………………………………………………………....51
Impact on School Improvement………..……………………………………...…52
Recommendations for Future Research……………………………………….…53
References……………..………………………………………………………………....54
Appendixes…………………………………………………………..…………………..58
List of Tables
Tables
3.1 Data Shell………………………………………………………………...24
4.1 Dependent Pre/Post of Control Group…………………………………...36
4.2 Dependent Pre/Post of Treatment Group……………………………...…37
4.3 Independent Pre/Pre ………………….………………………………….38
4.4 Independent Post/Post…………………………………………………....39
4.5 Chi-Square Student survey………………………………………………40
4.6 Chi-Square Faculty Survey………………………………………………42
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT 2
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Statement of the Problem
A typical eighth grade math classroom consists of a heterogeneous group of students and each student has his or her own way of obtaining knowledge and learning information. However, generations ago many teachers delivered instruction in the form of lectures and assessed their students using traditional methods such as paper pencil tests. With the change of time and the curriculum, schools have advocated for authentic assessments. Authentic assessments engage students in real world tasks and scenario-based problem solving (Moon, Brighton, Callahan & Tomlinson, 2002). Authentic assessments include projects, choice boards, performance tasks, and other forms of differentiated assessment. Students are given choices on how to demonstrate their comprehension of concepts and apply what they have learned in ways that deviated from the traditional methods previously used. Authentic assessments open the minds of the learners and allow for control and accountability of their creativity. Students are engaged and teachers are helping to meet the learning style of each child.
Each year as the school year approached spring, the determining factor of whether eighth grade students were promoted to high school was dependent upon a passing score on the Criterion Referenced Competency Test (CRCT) in April. The high stakes testing has become the focal point for evaluating student learning, with nearly all of the evaluative efforts dominated by the use of traditional objective assessment (Moon et al., 2002). The CRCT consists of four domains and are weighed accordingly: Algebra 50%, Numbers and Operations 22%, Data Analysis and Probability 17% and Geometry 12%. With the pressure of making Annual Yearly Progress (AYP), many teachers are resorting to the once traditional teaching methods and teaching to the test. Even though standardized test are traditional in the multiple choice format, it does not mean that educators need to use the same method to achieve student mastery. Teachers and administrators indicate that the pressure associated with standardized testing forces them to compromise their ideals about good teaching and affects their performance, behavior, and/or attitudes towards school (Moon et al., 2002). This traditional way of assessing has not allowed students to fully demonstrate learning. Authentic assessments provide evidence of what students are able to do within the content and show the level of achievement. When students are given an authentic assessment, rubrics serve as a guide in preparing exemplary work. When rubrics are provided, it lets students know what is expected of them. As with traditional assessments, there can be an element of surprise because the goal is not only to get the right answer. By using performance assessments and rubrics as goal setters, students are able to enable themselves to increase their learning and achievement.
The purpose of this study is to answer the following research question: Do the use
of authentic assessments increase student achievement?
Significance of the Problem
The creation of state standards to guide student learning has clarified goals, and in cases where standards are well designed, has usefully upgraded expectations for knowledge and skills (Darling-Hammond, 2010). In the fall of 2007, Georgia implemented the new Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) for the eighth grade. Students were doing more algebra than they had ever done previously in middle school. The state implemented standards into the middle school curriculum that were once standards introduced in high school. Students and teachers were slowly learning and gathering the new information daily. Everything seemed to be going in the right direction until the results of the CRCT of Spring 2008 for the county arrived. Nearly fifty percent of the eighth grades students failed. These students included regular, students with disabilities (SWD) and gifted students. As the frustration of trying to figure out what happened, the state released their results. It is nearly the same; all stakeholders involved were left perplexed. What caused the results to reflect such an enormous rate of failures? Through the research conducted at the school in this study, there was an area of weakness in Algebra.
Educators are now faced with finding ways to differentiate their lessons and finding new ways of assessing their students. Traditional tests tend to reveal only whether the student can recognize, recall or “plug in” what was learned out of context (DeCastro-Ambrosetti & Cho, 2005). The GPS provides an authentic assessment for each unit in the math curriculum. The authentic assessment is a performance task or performance assessment that culminates everything that was taught in the unit. Students sometimes struggle with this type of assessment. The struggle is because of the depth of Algebra and because of the method in which the assessment must be performed. With performance assessments, students are not being assessment traditionally. It requires critical thinking in order to derive at a solution. Performance measures have the potential for increased validity because the performance tasks are themselves demonstrations of important learning goals rather than indirect indicators of achievement (Moon et al, 2002). By using any type of an authentic assessment, students will go beyond finding the one right answer but will require the student to create a product that demonstrates their knowledge or skills.
The GPS for the eighth grade curriculum consists of seven units. For each unit, the state provides performance tasks that allow the students to show their understanding of their learning. Some tasks are very difficult and can be modified to fit the needs of the students. The length of the performance task depends on the unit aligned to it. Some units are very lengthy while some of them are not. Since many students struggle with the Algebra domain, this study will focus on unit seven of the curriculum: System of Equations. At the completion of the unit, students should be able to write an appropriate system of linear equations and inequalities, solve systems graphically and algebraically, and interpret solutions. Since the implementation of the GPS, this unit has proven to be the most difficult in the eighth grade. Within this study, a group of students were given a performance task on unit seven to determine if there was an increase in student achievement in comparison to students who did not do a performance task.
Theoretical and Conceptual Frameworks
Using authentic assessment to increase student achievement is a type of social constructivism. Social constructivism, developed by Lev Vygotsky, is a highly effective method of teaching from which all students can benefit. Vygotsky believed in social interaction and that it was an integral part of learning (Powell & Kalina, 2009)
One of Vygotsky’s main theories is cooperative learning. According to Vygotsky, cooperative learning is an integral part of creating a deeper understanding. With the concept of cooperative learning, using authentic assessments gives the students an opportunity to take ownership of their learning. When students master completion of projects or activities in a group, the internalization of knowledge occurs for each individual at a different rate according to their own experience (Powell et al., 2009).
Scaffolding was also utilized by Vygotsky. Scaffolding is an assisted learning process that supports the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), or achieving to the next level of understanding, of each student from the assistance of teachers, peers, or other adults. During authentic assessments, students can use other students as peer helpers in collaborative tasks. Students can be paired using their learning styles or strengths in the areas of the concepts that are being taught. The students will use each other to help understand the task given and provide feedback to the teacher through work samples. Through performance tasks, students will be presented with multiple teaching strategies and will be given the opportunity to demonstrate what has been learned.
The Conceptual Framework of LaGrange College Education Department (2010) consists of three tenets: Enthusiastic Engagement in Learning, Exemplary Professional Teaching Practices and Caring and Supportive Classrooms and Learning Communities.
This study focused on tenet 2: Exemplary Professional Teaching Practices, under Cluster 2.3, Assessment Skills. The cluster states that the candidates understand and use formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure continuous intellectual, social, and physical development of students, how students learn, develop and how to provide diverse learning opportunities. The candidate will involve students in self-assessments that help them become aware of their strengths and needs and that encourage them to set personal goals for learning. The candidate will also monitor and adjust strategies in response to student feedback (LaGrange College Education Department, 2010). With the use of authentic assessments, all students will benefit from taking ownership of their and demonstrating their learning.
The Conceptual Framework is aligned with the six domains of the Georgia Framework for Teaching, five elements of NCATE 2000 Standard 1 for Initial Programs, ten INTASC principle for beginning teachers and five NBPTS core propositions for experienced teachers. This study will focus on domain four and five of Georgia Framework for Teaching: Assessment and Planning and Instruction, element 1D of NCATE: Student Learning for Teacher Candidates, principle four of INTASC: the teacher understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies to encourage students’ development of critical thinking, problem-solving, and performance skills, and principle eight: the teacher understands and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous intellectual, social and physical development of the learner, and proposition three of NBPTS: Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning (LaGrange College Education Department, 2010).
Focus Questions
For many years, students were assessed using traditional methods such as paper and pencil tests. As time evolved, so did the learning styles of students and instruction in the classroom. Educators are looking for new ways to assess and differentiate the learning environment and raise the achievement of middle school math students. Through the research question: Do authentic assessments increase student achievement, this study will explore the following focus questions:
1. Will the use of an authentic assessment increase student achievement when measured in a traditional method?
2. How were the feelings and attitudes of students impacted by the use of the authentic assessment?
3. How effective was the use of authentic assessments to convince school leaders to implement as a summative assessment?
Overview of Methodology
In this this study, there was a comparison of two heterogeneous groups of students, using an authentic assessment, to a heterogeneous group of students that did not use an authentic assessment. The authentic assessment was a performance task that the subjects completed with a partner. The data collected were used to demonstrate whether the performance task increased student achievement and how it impacted the organizational structure of the school. This study took place at a middle school in the southeastern part of a county in Georgia. The subjects for this study included eighth grade students in the fourth and fifth period math classes. The principal, member of the School Improvement Leadership Team (SILT), and the math teachers served as the participants. The data collection methods used in this study were pre- and post- test, surveys and interviews.
The research design for this study was modeled after an action research design. This design focuses on planning, acting, observing and reflecting of implementing a type of authentic assessment as an alternate way of measuring achievement. The quantitative data, pre-test and post-test, were analyzed using t-test and the surveys were analyzed using a Chi Square. The qualitative data, interviews, were coded for themes.
Human as Researcher
I have taught eighth grade in a middle school for four years. For the 2010-2011 school year, I taught five math classes which include three co-taught classes and two regular math classes. I thought that I could help raise student achievement with the use of authentic assessments because I felt that my strengths were demonstrated in the area of mathematics with a focus on the Algebra domain. I felt that the students that I taught transcend the traditional methods of assessing. Using authentic assessment, students may be able to grasp concepts better than when they attempt to guess at one answer or correctly guess the answer of a multiple choice question. I believed that once students truly understood a concept and could apply it in a real world scenario then they could master any type of assessment whether it was authentic or traditional. There were a few assumptions that I feared which included teachers expressing that students should be assessed the same way the standardized assessments are given.