Chapter 1 of O'Malley & Valdez

O’Malley/Vadez on Chapter 1: Moving Toward Authentic Assessment

This chapter describes the types of testing that have evolved over the past decade. Authentic assessments align with classroom goals, curricula, and instruction. These types of tests are a move away from multiple-choice tests that have been criticized to lack content validity. In other words what the students knows are not exactly represented in the multiple-choice type assessments. The chapter goes on to talk about English Language Learning (ELL) students and the purpose for given tests. Standardized test are also discussed. Both types of tests, however, do not cover the full range of assessment needs for these students.
Authentic Assessment has to do with many forms of assessment that reflect student learning, achievement, motivation, and attitudes on relevant classroom activities. Performance assessments, portfolios, and student self-evaluation are examples of authentic assessment. I was especially interested in the portfolio type of assessment and wondered how a Yup’ik third grade level portfolio might look like. I could see the benefits of having a portfolio. In the process, I’m sure the students would see their own progress and how much they’ve learned. These portfolios would be useful in parent/teacher/student conferences. The chapter mentions that authentic assessment means changes in instruction as well as teaching philosophy. I would be most interested in finding ways that make portfolios easy to manage and organize around my teaching schedule.