Assessment in learning a core belief that alignment of goals with

learning and assessment is essential to

CHAPTER 1: 21st century policy and practice They emphasize the
assessment importance of balanced assessment
Inevitably the 21" century is here, systems that incorporate the 21 century
demanding a lot of changes, development, goals.
and re-engineering of systems in different
fields for this generation to thrive. In the This section focuses on the
field of education, most of the changes characteristics of 21" century assessment
have focused on teaching and learning. and the different types of assessment. You
Preparing and equipping the teachers to are expected to integrate the concepts that
cater to the needs of the 21" century will be discussed and apply them in using
learners are part of the adjustments being appropriate assessment tools and
done in t the education system. Curricula techniques in making instructional
are updated to address the needs of the decisions; and finally, relate assessment to
community in relation to the demands of learning outcomes.
the 21" century. This aspect of teaching
and learning has been given its share of 1. Characteristics of the 21st Century
focus, the various components/factors Assessment
analyzed and updated to ensure that 1.1 Responsive
students' learning will be at par with the Visible performance-based work
demands of the 21" century: Although a (as a result of assessment) generates data
lot of changes has been made on the that inform curriculum and instruction.
different facets of education, there are Teachers can adjust instructions, school
some members of the educational leaders can consider additional educational
community calling for a corresponding opportunities for students and policy
development or change in educational makers can modify programs and
assessment. Viewing educational resources to cater to the present needs of
assessment as agent of educational change the school community. Processes for
is of great importance. This belief, coupled responding to assessments are thoughtfully
with the traditional focus on teaching and developed, incorporating best practices in
learning will produce a strong and feedback and formative assessment.
emerging imperative to alter our long-held Feedback is to be targeted to the goal and
conceptions of these three parts: teaching, outcome. Rather than just a single test
learning, and assessment (Greenstein, grade, students are informed of progress
2012). toward the attainment of goal. Self-
reflection, peer feedback, and
Twenty-first century skills must opportunities for revision will be a natural
build on the core literacy and numeracy outcome.
that all students must master. Students
need to think critically and creatively,
communicate and collaborate effectively, 1.2 Flexible
and work globally to be productive, Lesson design, curriculum, and
accountable citizens and leaders. These assessment require flexibility, suppleness,
skills to be honed must be assessed, not and adaptability. Assessments and
just simply to get numerical results but responses may not be fitted to expected
more so, to take the results of assessment answers. Assessment need to be adaptable
as guide to take further action. to students' settings. Rather than the
identical approach that works in traditional
Educators need to focus on: assessment. 21" century approaches are
what to teach; how to teach it; and how more versatile. These approaches best fit
to assess it (Greenstein, 2012; Schmoker, for the demands of the learning
2011). environment at present since as students'
The Assessment and Teaching of decisions, actions and applications vary,
21" Century Skills project (atc21s.org) has
the assessments and the system need to be
flexible, too.
1.6 Communicated
1.3 Integrated Communication of assessment
Assessments are to be data is clear and transparent for all
incorporated into day-to-day practice stakeholder. Results are routinely posted
rather than as add-ons at the end of to a database along with standards-based
instructions or during a single specified commentary, both of which must be
week of the school calendar. available and comprehensible at all levels.
Assessments are enriched by Students receive routine feedback on their
metacognition. Assessment is about progress, and parents are kept informed
stimulating thinking, building on prior through access to visible progress reports
learning, constructing meaning, and and assessment data.
thinking about one's thinking. It offers The educational community
opportunities for students to consider their recognizes achievement of students
choices, identify alternative strategies, beyond the standardized test scores.
transfer earlier learning, and represent Large-scale measures, including all the
knowledge through different means. results of traditional and authentic
assessments, include and report on 21"
century skills.
1.4 Informative 1.7 Technically Sound
The desired 21 century goals and Adjustments and accommodations
objectives are clearly stated and explicitly are made in the assessment process to
taught. Students display their range of meet the student needs and fairness.
emerging knowledge and skills. Exemplars Students demonstrate what they know and
routinely guide students toward how they can apply that knowledge in
achievement of targets. ways that are relevant and appropriate for
Learning objectives, instructional them.
strategies, assessment methods, and To be valid, the assessments must
reporting processes are clearly aligned. measure the stated objectives and 21"
Complex learning takes time. Students century skills with legitimacy and
have opportunities to build on prior integrity.
learning in a logical sequence. As students To be reliable, the assessment
develop and build skills, i.e. learning and must be precise and technically sound so
innovation skills, information, that user are consistent in their
communication and technology skills, and administration and interpretation of data.
life and career skills; the work gets They produce accurate information for
progressively more rigorous. decision-making in all relevant
Demonstration of 21" century circumstances.
skills are evident and support learning.
Students show the steps they go through
and display their thought processes for 1.8 Systemic
peer and teacher review. Twenty-first century assessment is
part of a comprehensive and well-aligned
assessment system that is balanced and
1.5 Multiple Methods inclusive of all students, constituents, an
An assessment continuum that stakeholders and designed to support
includes a spectrum of strategies is the improvement at all levels.
norm. Students demonstrate knowledge These eight characteristics of 21"
and skills through relevant tasks, projects, century assessment, are essential guide for
and performances. Authentic and the preparation of assessment activities by
performance-based assessment is educators. It is necessary to refer to the
emphasized. There is recognition of and characteristics to ensure that the learners
appreciation for the processes and are being assessed towards the skills and
products of learning. demand of the 21" century.
  Abilities of students considering the
cultural background, interests and
2. Instructional Decision in Assessment skills of students in planning the
The major objective of teaching activities.
educational assessment is to have a  Materials appropriate to use with the
holistic appraisal of a learner, his/her students
environment and accomplishments.  Learning activities that will engage
The educational assessment both the teacher and students as the
process starts in analyzing the criterion lesson is being taught
together with the teaching-learning  Learning targets that the teacher
environment. It is done to determine the wants to achieve as a result of
effect of the environment to the teaching- teaching
learning situation after which, the kind of  Organization and arrangement of
evidence that are appropriate to use for students in class in consideration of
assessment of the individuals are set. This the lessons and activities
helps to determine the strengths,
weaknesses, needs and personality Sources of Information:
characteristics, skills and abilities of the
learner (Bloom, 1970).  Informal observation of students
It is clear that educational during class Conversation with
assessment encompasses the total students' previous teachers
educational setting and not limited to the  Scholastic aptitude test results
teacher-student engagement. It is not  Students past grades and standardized
merely based on a single aspect such as test results
taking a test, and checking it. In totality,  Knowledge of student's personal
the processes of measurement and family circumstances
evaluation are subsumed in the educational
assessment process. Phase: During teaching
Decision to be Made:
2.1 Decision-making at Different Phases  Students learning on what and how
of Teaching-Learning Process the lesson is presented
Assessment is constantly taking  Improvement needed to make the
place in educational settings. Decisions are lesson work better
made about content/subject matter and  What feedback to give each student
specific targets, nature of students and about how well the student is learning
faculty, morale and satisfaction of both the  Readiness of the students to move to
teachers and the students, as well as the the next activity as planned in the
extent of which student performances meet learning sequence
the standard and/or deliver the outcomes
expected from them by the teacher Sources of Information:
Assessments can be used as basis
for decision-making at different phases of  Observation of students during
the teaching-learning process. The table learning activities
below depicts the different phases of the  Students ' response to questions the
teaching- learning process, how and what teacher asked them
decisions are made by the teachers.  Observation of students interaction
 Diagnosis of the types of errors the
Phase: Before starting teaching students made or erroneous thinking
Decision to be Made: the students are using
 Look for alternative ways to teach the
 Content to cover during following materials
day, week, month, grading period,  Identify if there are students who are
and so on. not participating and acting
appropriate
 information for decision-making is not
Phase: After a teaching segment limited to a single choice. A combination
Decision to be Made: of two or more if necessary may be used to
make decision making process as sound as
 How well students achieve the short possible.
and long term instructional targets
 Strengths and weaknesses to be given
as feedback to parents or guardians of Based on what was presented, it
students can be inferred that there is a very close
 Grade to be given to each student for relationship between assessment and
the lesson or unit, grading period or instruction. The data on observation and
end of the course evidences and other sources of information
 Effectiveness of teaching the lesson serve as basis for the teacher to decide
to the students what action he/she needs to do to help the
 Effectiveness of the curriculum and learner achieve the desired learning
materials used for the lesson outcome. Note that data used may be from
 informal assessments such as observation
Sources of Information: from interaction of teacher and learner and
also through formal one, such as giving of
 Classroom tests, projects, actual case/problem for calculation, as
observations what was mentioned in the above example.
 Interviews with students
 Standardized test results
 Observations of each student's 2.2 Assessment in Classroom
classroom participation Instruction
 Review each student's homework Linn and Gronlund (2000)
results described the relevance of assessment in
 Review each student's standardized instructional decision by classifying the
achievement and scholastic aptitude varied assessment procedures according
test results to use in classroom instruction. The
 Review information about a student's following are the categories and purposes
personal family circumstances of each category:
 Informal observation of how well the
student has attained the intended Assessment in Classroom Instruction
learning targets 1. Placement Assessment - Measures
 Summaries of the class' performance entry behavior
on the Important instructional targets 2. Formative Assessment - Monitors
 Summaries of the class' performance learning progress
on selected questions on standardized 3. Diagnostic Assessment - Identifies
tests causes of learning problems
 Summaries of how well the students 4. Summative Assessment - Measures
liked the activities and lesson end-of-course achievement
materiais
 Summaries of the class' achievement
on classroom tests that match the Linn (1999) said that informed
curriculum decision-making in education is very
important because of the benefits it can
bring about. Topmost of these benefits is
The list of decisions and possible the enhancement of students learning and
sources of information that could be used development. In addition, there is the
as Input decision-making process is not boost on morale and feeling of greatness in
exhaustive. More can be included, based knowing one's competence in the area of
on teaching-learn observations and academic skill and self-worth in knowing
experiences during Field Study and one's capability to function effectively in
Observation courses. Suggested source of society. Lastly, the affective side of
development is equally important, such as Guidance and Counseling - It utilizes
personal dimensions, including being able test data to assist students in making their
to adjust to people and coping with various personal choices for future career and
situations that will lead to a better life help them know their strengths and
adjustment. weaknesses by means of standardized
2.3 Types of Educational Decision tests. On the other hand, teachers may use
On a greater scale, the use of the results of socio-metric tests to identify
assessment in decision-making is not just who among the students are popular or
within the bounds of the classroom. It unpopular. Those who are unpopular may
extends to the whole education be given help for them to gain friends and
community. Results of assessment may become more sociable.
trigger updates in the existing curriculum Program or Curriculum - It is made not
and other policies governing the school at the level of the teachers but on higher
system. Or it may be the other way level such as division, regional or national
around, so as to plan for changes or level. Based on the result of assessment
development in school assessments and in and evaluation, educational decisions may
what particular aspect of the school system be reached; to continue, discontinue,
these changes are necessary. revise or replace a curriculum or program
Kubiszyn and Borich (2002) being implemented.
classified the different educational Administrative Policy - It involves
decisions into eight (8) categories. These determining the Implications to resources
types of decisions are described briefly including financial consideration in order
below. to improve the student learning as a result
of an assessment. It may entail acquisition
of instructional materials, books, etc. to
Types of Educational Decision raise the level of students' performance in
academic, or non-academic or both.
Instructional - This decision is normally
made by individual classroom teacher, as These aforementioned educational
necessary to meet the targets or objectives decisions are the primary reasons why
set during classroom engagement. assessment in the educational setting is
Decisions are reached according to the implemented continuously. Prior to
results of test administered to a class. implementing the assessment, its objective
Grading - It is usually based on teacher- and target must be clearly defined so as
made tests. Grades are assigned to the not to cause wastage in terms of resources
students using assessment as one of the and ensures that the results will be utilized
factors. and evaluated that will consequently yield
Diagnostic - It is made to determine a to recommendations that are beneficial to
student's strengths and weaknesses and the the school community in groeral.
reason or reasons.
Selection - It involves accepting or
rejecting the examinee based on the 3. Outcome-Based Assessment
results of assessment, for admission or Knowing what is expected from
qualification to a program or school the learners by their teachers at the end of
activity. The decisions are made not by a particular lesson helps them to meet
classroom teachers but by specialists such those targets successfully. In relation to
as guidance counselors, administrators or this, teachers who have set clear targets for
the selection committee. their lessons, will be guided accordingly as
Placement - It is made after a student has they deliver their lesson through
been admitted to school. It involves the instructional learning activities to meet the
process of identifying students who needs desired outcomes. Thus, all assessment
remediation or may be recommended for and evaluation activities must be founded
enrichment program of the school. on the identified student intended
learning outcomes (ILO). These ILOs
should be identified and clarified with 5. Current global trends and
students so that it will be an effective developments so that graduates can
teaching-learning process teachers compete globally
commence the learning activities through 6. General 21 century skills focusing on
delivery of the lessons. as the the following:

 Oral and written communication

3.1 Student Learning Outcome  Quantitative reasoning ability
Student Learning Outcome is the together with scientific methodology
totality of accumulated knowledge, skills,  Use of technology
and attitudes that students develop during  Analyzing, synthesizing and
a course of study. And this serve as the developing creative solutions.
basis for assessing the extent of learning in  Information literacy
an Outcome Based Education (OBE).
Outcome Based Assessment must be
continuously done during the entire
teaching learning both by the teachers and
students to ensure that the activities are
aligned with the expected outcomes set for
3.3 Characteristics of Good Learning
the students by the teacher. Providing
Outcome
feedback including the results of
It is important to define outcomes
assessment is important to identify the
as clearly and explicitly as possible. Good
next steps (to be done by the teacher and
learning outcomes give emphasis to the
student) toward the realization of the
application and integration of the
intended learning outcome.
knowledge and skills acquired in a
particular unit of instruction (e.g. activity,
3.2 Sources of Student Expected course program, etc.) emerge from a
Learning Outcome process of reflection on the essential
As aforementioned, outcomes or contents of the activity, program, etc.
targets for every lesson is expected to be 1. Very specific, and use verbs
defined and clarified by the teacher at the (that makes expectations clear). By being
start of the course/learning activities. This very specific, it informs students of the
is necessary so as both the students and standards by which they will be assessed
teachers will be guided as to what steps ensures that student and instructor goals
should be taken during the course of the in the course are aligned.
teaching-learning activities. There are 2. Focused on the learner: rather
several factors that need to be considered than explaining what the instructor will do
in defining the outcomes, to ensure that in the course, good learning outcomes
these are aligned with the set directions of describe knowledge or skills that the
the program and evaluation setting in students employ, and help the learner
general. factors that need to be considered understand why that knowledge and those
in crafting the student expected learning skills useful and valuable to their personal,
outcomes. professional, and academic future.
1. Mission statement of the school. 3. Are realistic: all passing
2. Mandated policies on education students should be able to demonstrate the
agencies. competencies and standards knowledge or skill described by the
issued by govern learning outcome at the conclusion of the
3. Competencies expected by different course, In this way, learning outcomes
professions, business and industry, establish standards for the course.
4. Development plan and goals as well 4. Focus on the application and
as the current thrusts of both the nay integration of acquired knowledge and
Se and local governments. skills good learning outcomes reflect and
indicate the ways in which the describe
knowledge and skills may be used by the - Law and Eckes (1995) state that
learner now and in the future. traditional
5. Good learning outcomes - assessments are single-occasion
prepare students for assessment and help
tests which measure what
them engaged in and empowered by the
assessment and evaluation process. learners can do at a particular
6. Offer a timeline for completion time.
of the desired learning. - Indirect and inauthentic measures
of students learning outcomes.
- This kind of assessment is
CHAPTER 2: TYPES OF
standardized and for that reason,
ASSESSMENT
they are one-shot speed-based, and
ASSESSMENT norm-referenced (Bailey, 1998).
- Focus on learner's ability of
- Assessment is an essential and
memorization and recall, which
powerful tool in the teaching and
are lower level of cognition skills
learning process.
(Smaldino, 2000).
- process of obtaining data with
 Authentic Assessment
which we could measure student
- Focuses on the analytical and
competence and learning
creative thinking skills, students to
outcomes.
work cooperatively and that
- The process begins with the
reflect student learning, student
identification of the specific target
achievement, and student attitudes
goals before collecting and
of relevant activities
interpreting the information.
- measures performances or
- Classifying and synthesizing of
products which have realistic
the gathered data are possible
meaning that can be attributed to
through the use of the different
the success in school.
assessment techniques.
- Activities, questions and problems
- Assessment shall be used
with "real world" satisfy the
primarily as quality assurance to
criterion that it needs to be an
track student progress to the
authentic intellectual work within
attainment of standards, promote
the given situation or contextual
self-reflection and personal
realism of the tasks.
accountability for one's learnings
- In the present k to 12 curriculum,
and provide a basis for the
the Students are expected to
profiling of student program
produce products or performances
(DepEd No. 73, s. 2012)
through authentic tasks. This
Types of Assessment should reflect what teachers want
their students to do with their
 Traditional Assessment learning and demonstrate the use
- Paper-and-pencil tests or quizzes in real life situation
- which mainly describe and - Wiggins (1989) argues that
measure student learning teachers should "test those
outcomes. Most of the time, capacities and habits we think are
teachers still engage themselves in essential and test them in context.
the utilization of traditional Make them replicate within
assessment. reason, the challenges at the heart
of each discipline"
The commonly reported dimensions are 2. Authentic assessments capture
grouped into three broad categories constructive nature of learning.
(Frey,2012) - Learners should create knowledge
and meaning based from
 Assessment Context
schemata.
- Realistic
- Students must also be asked to
- Performance -based
demonstrate that they have
- Complex (in cognitive aspects)
accuracy constructed meaning
 Student’s Role
about what they have been taught.
- Justify/ defend answers or product
- To engage in the construction of
- Formative
meaning. Authentic tasks not only
- Collaborative
serve as assessments but also as
 Scoring
vehicles for such learning.
- known/construct by students
3. Authentic assessments integrate
- Various indicators / portfolios teaching, learning, and
- Mastery of skills / performance assessment.
4 Basic Characteristics - In authentic assessment model, the
same authentic task used to
1. The task should be representative of measure the students' ability to
performance in the field. apply the knowledge or skills is
used as vehicle for student
2. Attention should be paid to teaching and learning.
learning the criteria for assessment. - Problem solving and decision-
making skills are best exemplified
3. Self-assessment should play a great
by this purpose. Students are
role.
learning the process of developing
4. When possible, students should present a solution to a problem by simply
their work publicly and defend it. applying the meaningful concepts.
4. Authentic assessments provide
In general, below are some of the best
multiple paths to demonstration
uses of authentic assessment (Mueller,
- Authentic tasks tend to give the
2010):
students more freedom on how
1. Authentic assessments are direct they will demonstrate what they
measures. have learned.
- The main purpose of authentic - By carefully identifying the
assessment is to be able to use the criteria of good performance on
acquired knowledge and skills in the authentic task ahead of time,
the real world. Forms of the teacher can still make
assessment task must be applied in comparable judgments of student
authentic situations. performance even though student
- This could be done also by performance might be expressed
teachers by asking the students to quite differently from student to
use what they have learned in student.
some meaningful way
- Conducting a science experiment
Attribute Traditional Performanc
– hypothesis testing, developing
assessment e
feasibility study, calculating Assessment
savings
Assessment Selecting a Performing assessment-based evidence to
activity response Task adjust ongoing learning and
Nature of Contrived Activity instruction.
Activity Activity emulates - can be defined more specifically
real life
as, "All those activities undertaken
Cognitive Knowledge/ Application
Level Comprehensio / Analysis/ by teachers, and by their students
n Synthesis in assessing themselves, which
Developme Teacher- Student- provide information to be used as
nt of structured structured feedback to modify the teaching
Solution and learning activities in which
Objectivity Easily Difficult to they are engaged" (Black &
of Scoring achieved achieve William, 1998).
Evidence of Indirect Direct
- The results of formative
Mastery Evidence Evidence
assessment leads to identifying its
goal in improving and motivating
Formative Evaluation and Summative the students to enhance
Evaluation achievement. The gathered
information and interpreted
- Assessment for Learning pertains
evidence is utilized by the teacher
to the use of formative evaluation
to give feedback about the
to determine and improve
progress of students as learning
students' learning outcomes. On
takes place.
the other hand, Assessment of
- It fosters learning with
Learning use summative
understanding which benefits both
evaluation which provides
teachers and students by providing
evidence of students' level of
the teachers with information on
achievement in relation to
student learning needs. By
curricular learning outcomes.
enabling appropriate adaptation of
Teaching and learning plans are based on course material and teaching
the results of formative assessment which strategies, formative assessment
provides feedback on the effectiveness of promotes a reflective teaching
teaching and learning process as seen from process that results in better
the students learning. Summative teaching and better evaluations
assessment on the other hand, is used to from students (Richlin, 1998).
determine how much students have High-quality feedback to students
learned at the end of term, unit or can model the learning process,
academic year. Summative assessment is although it could also foster
one basis for determining the final grade "learned dependence" in which
as demonstrated from the achievement of learning goals are subsumed under
the students. performance goals (Yorke, 2003).
Formative assessment FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT
OCCURS AT THREE (3) POINTS OF
- refers to the frequent, interactive
INSTRUCTION:
assessment of student progress to
identify learning needs and shape (1) during instruction;
teaching (OECD, 2005). It is a
(2) between lessons; and
planned process in which the
teacher or students use (3) between units.
 Most formative assessments occur during adaptable structured
instruction (William & Leahy, 2007). Techniques Informal Formal
Impact on Strong, Weak and
SUMMATIVE EVALUATION learning positive, fleeting
long-lasting
- conducted at the end of each
section or unit to find out student
achievement. Summary of NORM AND CRITERION
evidences indicate extent of REFERENCED ASSESSMENT
learning achievements which can
NORM-REFERENCED ASSESSMENT
classify or for certification or
giving of honors / awards. - Gives us information on what the
- Are typically traditional paper- student can perform by comparing
and-pencil measures such as unit to another student. It describes
tests, long tests, exams, essays, or student performance in the class
projects that form a portion of a by comparing to others. Teachers
student’s final grade. These serve can actually rank the achievement
as evaluative function at the end if their students; as a result, there
of the unit or term. is a limited percentage of
competition of those who are high
Characteristi Formative Summative
scorers.
cs
Purpose To provide To document
ongoing student CRITERION-REFERENCED
feedback and learning at the
ASSESSMENT
adjustment end if an
to instructional - It describes the performance of the
instruction. segment.
students without reference to the
When During After
Conducted instruction instruction performance of others which uses
and after preset criteria or predefined and
instruction absolute standard or outcomes.
Student Encouraged Discouraged - it describes student's mastery of
Involvement the course content, thus, there is
Student Intrinsic, Extrinsic, no competition for a limited
Motivation mastery- performance- percentage for a high score
oriented oriented
Teacher Role To provide To measure Both methods are very useful in assessing
immediate, student learning outcomes. The first tells how an
specific achievement
individual performance compares with
feedback and and give
instructional grades. that of others, the record tells the specific
correctives. performance in terms of what an
Learning Deep Knowledge individual can do without reference to
Emphasized understandin and performance of others.
g, Comprehensi
application on Norm- Criterion-
and referenced Referenced
reasoning. Principal Survey Mastery
Level of Highly General and Use Testing testing
Specificity specific and group Major Measure Describes
individual oriented Emphasis individual tasks
Structure Flexible, Rigid, highly differences in students can
 achievement perform - In contextualized assessment, the focus
Interpretati Compares Compares is on the students’ construction of
on of performance performance functioning knowledge and the students’
Results to that of to a clearly performance in application of knowledge
specified
in the real work context of the discipline
achievement
domain. area. Assessment task reflect the goals of
Content of Typically Typically learning. It uses performance-based tasks
Courage covers a focuses on which are authentic in nature
broad area limited set
of of learning - It describes assessment practices which
achievement tasks. measure skills and knowledge in dealing
Nature of Table of Detailed with specific situations or perform specific
Test Plan specification domain tasks which the students have identified as
s is specificatio important and meaningful to them.
commonly ns are Application of the skills and knowledge
used favored.
must be in the context of the real world as
Item Items are Includes all
selection selected that times possible
procedures provide needed According to Biggs (2011),
maximum adequately
decontextualized assessment includes
discriminati to describe
on among performance written exams and term papers, which are
individuals . No attempt suitable for assessing declarative
(to attain a is made to knowledge, and do not necessarily have a
reliable alter item direct connection to a real-life context. It
ranking.) difficulty or focuses on declarative knowledge and/or
Easy items to eliminate procedural knowledge in artificial
are typically easy items
eliminated to increase situations detached from real work
from the test. the spread context.
of scores
While both contextualized and
Performance Level of Level of
Standards performance performance decontextualized learning and assessment
is determined is each has its role in evaluating learning
by relative commonly outcomes, in practice, decontextualized
position in determined assessment has been overemphasized
some known by absolute compared to the place declarative
group. (ranks standards knowledge has in the curriculum. Both
fifth in a (demonstrat
must be assessed appropriately. A common
group of 20) es mastery
by defining mistake is to assess only the lead-in
90 percent declaration knowledge, not the functioning
of technical knowledge that emerges from it (Biggs
terms.) and Tang, 2011).

Analytic and Holistic Assessment

Analytic assessment
TYPES OF ASSESSMENT
- refers to a specific approach in the
Contextualized and Decontextualized assessment of learning outcomes. In this
Assessment procedure, students are given feedback on
how well they are doing on each important
aspect of specific task expected from them. the demonstration of students'
Assessment then is made specific based on understanding by creating an answer,
the importance of the performance, With carrying out performance, or producing a
this, assessment shouldn’t be undertaken product which involves independent
in part but must address the whole judgment, critical thinking and decision-
performance. making are best assessed with
performance test.
Holistic assessment
This type of authentic assessment provides
- refers to a global approach in the
evidence of what the students know and
assessment of a student-learning outcome.
can do in the context of real life. This
Sadler (2009) pointed out that in holistic
chapter gives an introduction to
assessment, the teacher or the assessor
performance assessment. It
has to develop complex mental responses
to a student’s work and in evaluating the discusses the nature, principles, types,
student’s work, the assessor provides a advantages,and limitations of
grade and supports it with a valid performance-based assessment.
justification for assigning the grade.
 Most of the time, the teacher relied on
- could be in the form of reflection papers paper-and-pencil test which measures
and journals, peer assessment, self- knowledge and understanding, not the
assessment, group presentation and ability of the learners to actually carry
portfolio. The application of the various out the performance. With the
assessment methods need to be tailored in implementation of the Outcome-
a way that it will enhance a student’s Based Education (OBE) across the
personal strength. Subsequently, the country, greater emphasis shall be
correct application of holistic assessment given in assessing student outcomes
in the various areas of study is expected to through real life (authentic) which
improve the student’s learning outcome. requires students to work and carry on
(Akubuilo, 2012). tasks to perform and do something
Assessment in which students carry
- One positive implication that may result
out activities or produce product in
from holistic assessment is that the
demonstrating their metacognitive
students are competent to handle
knowledge, understanding and skills
assessment tasks accurately (Sadler, 2009).
is called performance-based
Most students provide the requirements of
assessment.
most assessment tasks. Through holistic
assessment, the students are able to MEANING AND CHARACTERISTICS
develop decisive and investigative skills
 Performance-Based Assessment
that permit them to handle assessment
tasks effectively. Moreover, the students - is one in which the teacher observes and
are capable of knowing how to construct makes a judgement about the student’s
concrete responses to a questions. demonstration of a skill or competency in
creating a product constructing a response,
CHAPTER 3: NATURE OF
or making a presentation (McMillan,
PERFORMANCE-
2007).
BASED ASSESSMENT
- is an alternative form of assessment that
Traditional testing cannot measure a moves away from traditional paper-and-
number of skills directly. Skills requiring pencil tests (Ferman,2005). It involves
students producing a project,whether it is transfer their learning to real life
an oral, written, individual or group situations?
performance. The students are engaged in
According Linn (1995) stated that
creating a final project that
performance assessments provide a basis
exhibitsunderstanding of concepts they
of teachers to evaluate both the
have learned.
effectiveness of the process or procedure
- process the creative aspect of the used (e.g. approach to data
students in bringing out what they know collection,manipulation of instruments)
and what they can do through different and the product resulting from
performance tasks such as exhibits, performance of a task (e.g. completed
projects and work samples. Hands-on report of results,completed art work).
experiences allow them to be more critical Unlike simple tests of factual knowledge,
motivated and involved when they are there is unlikely to be a single right or best
allowed to perform on their own. Students answer. Rather, there may be multiple
can acquire and apply knowledge, skills performances and problem solutions that
and work habits through the different may be judged to be excellent. Problem
performance tasks which are meaningful formulation, the organization of ideas, the
and engaging to the students. integration of multiple types of evidence,
and originality are all important aspects of
Types of activities that best exemplified
performance that may not be adequately
performance-based asssessment include:
assessed by paper-and-pencil tests.
- writing a research report
Performance products are outputs
- solving and conducting experiments and produced by the students that provide
investigations concrete examples of their knowledge and
understanding of the subject matter. These
- return demonstration performances allow them to demonstrate
-speech the application of what they have learned
with their schemata as well. Students may
-skit also engage in some tasks which are useful
-role playing not only within the four walls of the
school such as doing field work,
-constructing and implementing seminar demonstrating rules and guidelines, and
plan or creating video presentation. engaging into extension services. Process-
oriented assessments provide insights on
the students’ critical thinking, logic and
It is stipulated in the DepEd Order No. 7, reasoning skills. These will lead them to
s. 2012 that the highest level of assessment independent learning and set goals for
focuses on the performances (product) future use.
which the students are expected to produce
Some performance assessment
through authentic performance tasks.
proponents contend that genuine
The assessment at this level should answer performance assessments must possess at
the question," What product(s) or least three features (Popham, 2011):
performance(s) do we want students to
1. Multiple evaluation criteria- The
produce as evidence of their learning or
student’s performance must be judged
understanding?" or "How do we want
using more than one evaluation criterion.
them to provide evidence that they can
2. Pre-specified quality standards- Each that need to be sharpened and developed
of the evaluative criteria on which a by the learners.
student’s performance is to be judged is
2.2 Completing an inquiry. An inquiry
clearly explicated in advance of judging
tasks is one in which the students are
the quality of the student’s performance.
asked to collect data in order to develop
3. Judgmental Appraisal- Unlike the their understanding about a topic or issue.
scoring of selected-response tests in which
2.3 Determining a position. This task
electronic computers and scanning
requires students to make decision or
machines can, once programmed, carry on
clarify a position.
without the need of humankind, genuine
performance assessments depend on 2.4 Demonstration Task. This task shows
human judgements to determine how how the students use knowledge and skills
acceptable a student’s performance really to complete well-defined complex tasks.
is. Students explain or describe how
something works or how to do something
All educational institution expects students
when they perform these tasks.
to demonstrate different skills in various
learning areas and most often subjected to 2.5 Developing Exhibits. Exhibits are
classroom performance assessment. Some visual presentations or displays that need
characteristics of this assessment which little or no explanation from the creators.
can be observed in the actual classroom
setting may include student performance, 2.6 Presentation Task. This is a work or
creation, construction and production of task performed in front of an audience.
product which can assess deep 2.7 Capstone Performances. These are
understanding and reasoning skills. The tasks that occur at the end of a program of
performance involves engaging ideas of study and enable students to show
importance and substance which students knowledge and skills in the context that
can explain, justify, and defend. Lastly, the matches the world of practicing
performance should be grounded in the professionals.
real-world contexts which calls for
authenticity of the performance. 3. STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

2. Types of Performance Tasks As we explore the nature of performance

based assessment and examine the
The main objective of the performance different types of assessment tasks, several
task is to capture all the learning targets authorities discussed the advantages of
which shall be aligned to the teaching and performance assessment over other
learning objectives, activities and assessments.
assessment.These could be in form of
problem-solving, demonstration,tasks and 3.1 Performance assessment clearly
other authentic experiences that would identifies and clarifies learning targets.
influence the thinking processes, skills and Authentic performance tasks such as real
products required from performance tasks. world challenges and situations can
Below are some performance-based closely match with the various complex
assessment tasks (Musial, 2009): learning targets. This offers a direct way to
assess what the students know and can do
2.1 Solving a problem. Critical thinking within the variety of realistic contexts.
and problem solving are important skills
3.2 Performance assessment allows 1. Development of high quality
students to exhibit their own skills, performance assessment is a tedious
talents, and expertise. Tasks show process. Performance assessment needs
integration of the student's skills, careful planning and implementation. It is
knowledge and abilities, provide challenge very time consuming to construct good
and opportunities to exhibit their best tasks. Teachers have to make sure that the
creation. This also assesses the ability "to performance tasks expected from the
do" of the students. students are authentic and match the
outcome to be assessed and not with other
3.3 Performance assessment advocates
qualities that are not part of the outcomes
constructivist principle of learning.
to be assessed. Quality scoring rubrics are
Students are more engaged in active
difficult to create as well.
learning and give more opportunities to
demonstrate their learning in different 2. Performance assessment requires a
ways in complex tasks.Students use their considerable amount of time to
previous knowledge to build a new administer. Paper- and-pencil takes 15 to
knowledge structures and be actively 20 minutes per tasks to complete
involved in exploration and inquiry depending on the number of items. Most
through different tasks. authentic tasks take a number of days to
complete. Most of the time, performance
3.4 Performance assessment uses a
assessment is administered to small groups
variety of approaches to student
of students unlike traditional testing which
evaluation. This offers students a variety
is simultaneously administered to an entire
of way of expressing their learning and
class.
increases the validity of student's
evaluation. Teachers may share criteria of 3. Performance assessment takes a great
assessment before the actual evaluation so deal of time to score. The more complex
that students can use this criteria as well. the process and performance, the more
time you can expect to spend on scoring.
3.5 Performance assessment allows the
To reduce the scoring time, crafting a high
teachers to explore the main goal and
quality rubrics is recommended.
processes of teaching and learning
process. Teachers may reflect and revisit 4. Performance task score may have
learning targets, curriculum and lower reliability. This resulted to
instructional practices, and standards as inconsistency of scoring by teachers who
they utilize performance-based interpret observation quite differently.
assessment. They may use a variety of With complex tasks, multiple correct
teaching strategies and techniques, and answers, and fast-paced performances,
explore how students will use the scoring depends on teachers' own scoring
instructional material and resources given competence.
to them. Though performance assessments
5. Performance task completion may be
offer several advantages over traditional
discouraging to less able students. Some
objective assessment procedures, they
tasks that require students to sustain their
have some distinct limitations as well.
interest for a longer time may discourage
disadvantaged students. They may have
partial knowledge of the learning target
but may fail to complete the task because
it does not allow them to utilize this partial
knowledge effectively and efficiently.
 Strengths Weaknesses targeted, you will need to think of some
tasks which must be performed
Integrates Reliability may be authentically. Clearly, comprehensive
assessment with difficult to planning and designing of performance-
instruction. establish. based assessment should be taken into
Learning occurs consideration.
Measurement error
during assessment.
due to subjective Designing performance assessment entails
Provides nature of the critical processes which start from the
opportunities for scoring may be tasks that the teacher wants to assess. A
well-designed performance assessment
formative significant.
helps the student to see the connections
assessment. between the knowledge, skills, and
Inconsistent student
abilities they have learned from the
Tends to be more performance across
classroom, including the experiences
authentic than other time may result in which help them to construct their own
types of inaccurate meaning of knowledge.
assessment. conclusions.
Steps in Developing a Meaningful
More engaging; Few samples of Performance Assessment both Process
active involvement student and Product
of students. achievement. 1: DEFINING THE PURPOSE OF
ASSESSMENT
Provides additional Requires - Defining the purpose and target of
way for students to considerable assessment provides information on what
show what they teacher time to students need to be performed in a task
know and can do. prepare and student given. By identifying the purpose, teachers
time to complete. are able to easily identify the weaknesses
Emphasis on and strengths of the students' performance.
reasoning skills. Difficult to plan for Purpose must be specified at the beginning
amount of time of the process so that the proper kinds of
Force teachers to performance criteria and scoring
needed.
establish specific procedures can be established.
criteria to identify Limited ability to 1.1 FOUR TYPES OF LEARNING
successful generalize to a TARGETS USED IN PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENT
performance. larger domain of
In defining the purpose of
knowledge. assessment, learning targets must be
Encourages student
self-assessment. carefully identified and taken in
consideration. Performance assessments
Emphasis on primarily use four types of learn targets
application of which are deep understanding, reasoning,
skills, and products (McMillan, 2007).
knowledge.
Deep Understanding: The essence of
performance assessment includes the
development of students' deep
CHAPTER 4: DESIGNING understanding. The idea is to involve
MEANINGFUL PERFORMANCE- students meaningfully in hands-on
BASED ASSESSMENT activities for extended periods of time so
that their understanding is rich and more
As we learned the nature of performance- extensive than what can be attained by
based assessment, its characteristics, types, more conventional instruction and
advantages and limitations, the next step is traditional paper-and-pencil assessments.
to design it aligned to the learning goals. This focuses on the use of knowledge and
Focusing on the knowledge and skills skills.
Reasoning: Reasoning is essential with and constructing a table of specification
performance assessment as the students are other examples of this target.
demonstrate skills and construct products. The learning objectives start with
Typically, students are given a problem to a general competency which is the main
solve or are asked to make a decision or target of the task, and it follows with
other outcome, such as a letter to the editor specific competencies which are
or school newsletter, based on information observable on the target behavior or
that is provided. competencies. This can be observed also
Skills: In addition to logical and reasoning in defining the purpose of assessment for
skills, students are required to product-oriented performance-based
demonstrate communication, presentation, assessment.
and psychomotor skills. These targets are Nitko (2011) suggested focusing
ideally suited to performance assessment. assessment on the product students
Psychomotor Skills: Psychomotor skills produce if most or all of the evidence
describe clearly the physical action about their achievement of the learning
required for a given task. These may be targets is found in the product itself, and
developmentally appropriate skills or little or none of the evidence you need to
skills that are needed for specific tasks: evaluate students is found in the
fine motor skills, gross motor actions, procedures they use or the ways in which
more complex athletic skills, some visual they perform.
skills, and verbal/auditory skills for young Assessment of products must be
children. These skills also identify the done if the students will produce a variety
level at which the skill is to be performed. of better ways to produce high quality
Generally, deep understanding and products, sometimes, method or sequence
reasoning involve in-depth, complex does not make much difference as long as
thinking about what is known and the product is the focus of the assessment.
application of knowledge and skills in Product-oriented competencies
novel and more sophisticated ways. Skills require students to demonstrate multiple
include student proficiency in reasoning, levels of metacognitive skills which require
communication, and psychomotor tasks. the use of complex procedural skills for
Products: Are completed works, such as creating authentic product. The discussion
term papers, projects, and other on the steps of designing performance-
assignments in which students use their based assessment shall be focused on the
knowledge and skills. process and product assessments.

2. IDENTIFYING PERFORMANCE
1.2 PROCESS AND PRODUCT- TASKS
ORIENTED PERFORMANCE-BASED Having a clear understanding of
ASSESSMENTS the purpose of assessment, the next step is
In defining the purpose of to identify performance tasks which
assessment, the teacher should identify measure the learning target you are about
whether the students will have to to assess. Some targets imply that the tasks
demonstrate a process or a product. If the should be structured; others require
learning outcomes deal on the procedures unstructured tasks. Below are some
which you could specify, then it focuses questions that should be answered in
on process assessment. In assessing the designing tasks:
process, it is essential also that assessment  What ranges of tasks do the learning
should be done while the students are targets imply?
performing the procedures or steps.  Which parts of the tasks should be
Learning targets which require structured, and to what degree?
students to demonstrate process include  Does each task require students to
the procedures of proper handling/ perform all the important elements
manipulating of microscope, or steps to be implied by the learning targets?
done when in an earthquake of drill.
Mathematical operations, reciting a poem,
 Do the tasks allow me to assess the given an attention as well, as a rule, the
achievement dimensions I need to fewer the number of tasks, the fewer
assess? targets can be assessed in a given
 What must I tell students about the performance.
task and its scoring to communicate
to them what they need to perform? 2.1 Suggestions for Constructing
 Will students with different ethnic Performance Tasks
and social backgrounds interpret my The development of high-quality
task appropriately? performance assessments that effectively
measure complex learning outcomes
Performance needs to be identified requires attention to task development and
so that students may know what tasks and to the ways in which performances are
criteria to be performed. In this case, a rated. Linn (1995) suggested ways to
task description must be prepared to improve the development of tasks:
provide the listing of specification of the 1. Focus on learning outcomes that
tasks and will elicit the desired require complex cognitive skills and
performance of the students. Task student performances.
description should include the following: 2. Select or develop tasks that represent
1. Content and skill targets to be assessed both the content and the skills that are
2. Description of the student activities central to important learning outcomes.
3. Group or individual 3. Minimize the difference of task
4. Help allowed performance on skills that are irrelevant to
5. Resource needed the intended purpose of the assessment
6. Teacher role task
7. Administrative process 4. Provide the necessary scaffolding for
8. Scoring procedures students to be able to understand the task
and what is expected.
Tasks on the other hand should be 5. Construct task directions so that the
meaningful and must let the student be student's task is clearly indicated. Vague
personally is involved in doing and directions can lead to such a diverse array
creating the tasks. This could be done by of performances that it becomes
selecting a task which has personal impossible to rate them in a fair or reliable
meaning for most of the students. Choose fashion.
a task in which students have the ability to 6. Clearly communicate performance
demonstrate knowledge and skills from expectations in terms of the criteria by
classroom activities or other similar ways. which the performances will be judged.
These tasks should be of high value, worth
teaching to, and worth learning as well. Crafting tasks for both process and
In creating performance tasks, one product-oriented performance-based needs
should specify the learning targets, the careful planning. Engagement,
criteria by entire which you will evaluate elaboration, and experience are some
performance, and the instructions for factors to consider in making authentic
completing the task. Include the time tasks which make it different to traditional
needed to complete the tasks. Be sure assessment. Tasks should also center on
students understand how long a response the concepts, principles, and issues that are
you are expecting. Some learning targets important to the context of the subject
can be assessed in a relatively short period matter. Moreover, teachers must know
of 20 to 30 minutes. But it also depends on what they want to observe before
the learning targets which necessitate a performance criteria can be identified.
longer time. Below is the checklist for writing good
Participation of groups must be performance tasks :
considered also in crafting performance Checklist for Writing Performance Tasks
tasks. Some tasks require cooperative or
collaborative learning or in group tasks. Are essential content and skills targets
With this, the number of tasks must be integrated?
Are multiple targets included? assessment has, at minimum, three
Is the task authentic? important features:
Is the task teachable? Evaluative criteria. These are the factors
Is the task feasible? to be used in determining the quality of a
Are multiple solutions and paths possible? students' response.
Is the nature of the task clear? Descriptions of qualitative differences
Is the task challenging and stimulating? for evaluating criteria. For each
Are criteria for scoring included? evaluative criterion, a description must be
Are constraints for completing the task supplied so qualitative distinctions in
included? students' responses can be made using the
criterion.
6.DEVELOPING SCORING An indication of whether a holistic or
SCHEMES analytic scoring approach is to be used.
There are different useful ways to The rubric must indicate whether the
record the assessment of students' evaluative criteria are to be applied
performance. Variety of tools can be used collectively in a form of holistic scoring or
for assessment depending on the nature of on a criterion-by-criterion basis in the
the performance it calls for. As teacher, form of analytic scoring. (Popham, 2011)
you need to critically examine the task to Rubrics are used also to
be performed matched with the assessment communicate how teachers evaluate the
tools to be utilized. Some ways of essence of what is being assessed. Rubrics
assessing the students' performance could not only improve scoring consistency, they
be the utilization of anecdotal records, also improve validity by clarifying the
interviews, direct observations using standards of achievement the teacher will
checklist or likert scale, and the use of use in evaluating. In the development and
rubrics especially for the performance- scoring of rubrics, Nitko (2011) suggested
based assessment. some questions which the teacher should
address:
3.1 Rubrics as an Assessment Tool  What important criteria and learning
Rubrics nowadays have been targets do I need to asses?
widely used as assessment tool in various  What are the levels of development
disciplines, most especially in the field of (achievement) for each of these
education. Different authorities defined criteria and learning targets?
rubrics, viz:  Should I use a holistic or an analytic
 Set of rules specifying the criteria scoring rubric?
used to find out what the students  Do I need to use a rating scale or a
know and are able to do so. (Musial, checklist as my scoring scheme?
2009)  Should my students be involveed in
 Scoring tool that lays out specific rating their own performance?
expectations for assignment (Levy,  How can I make my scoring efficient
2005) and less time-consuming?
 A scoring guide that uses criteria to  What do I need to record as the result
differentiate between levels of student of my assessments?
proficiency. (McMillan, 2007)  What are some useful methods of
 Descriptive scoring schemes that are recording students’ responses to
developed by teachers or evaluators to performance tasks?
guide the analysis of products or
processes of students' effort 3.2 Types of Rubrics
(Brookhart, 1999). The structure of the rubrics change
 The scoring procedures for judging when measuring different learning targets,
students' responses to performance Generally, rubrics can be classified into
tests (Popham, 2011) two major types: analytic and holistic
rubrics.
A rubric that's used to score
students' responses to a performance Analytic Rubric. It requires the teacher to
list and identify the major knowledge and  Sophisticated, competent, partly
skills which are critical in the development competent, not yet competent
of process or product tasks. It identifies  Exemplary, proficient, marginal,
specific performance and detailed criteria unacceptable
prior to assessment. Teachers can assess  Advanced, intermediate high,
easily the specific concept understanding, intermediate, novice
skills or product with a separate  Distinguished, proficient,
component. Each criterion for this kind of intermediate, novice
rubric receives a separate score, thus,  Accomplished, average, developing,
providing better diagnostic information beginning
and feedback for the students as a form of
formative assessment. Dimensions
This is a set of criteria which
Holistic Rubric. It requires the teacher to serves as basis for evaluating student
make a judgment about the overall quality output or performance. The dimensions of
rubric lay out the parts and how tasks are
of each student response. Each category of
divided into its important components as
the scale contains several criteria which basis also for scoring the students.
shall be given a single score that gives an
overall rating. This provides a reasonable Description of Dimensions
summary of rating in which traits are Dimension should contain
efficiently combined, scored quickly and description of the level of performance as
with only one score, thus, limiting the standard of excellence accompanied with
examples. This allows both the teachers
precision of assessment of the results and
and the students to identify the level of
providing little specific information about expectation with what dimension must be
the performance of the students and what given an emphasis.
needs for further improvement. Usually, a rubric should contain a
mechanism for assigning score for each
output or performance. A numerical value
3.3 Rubric Development is assigned at each level of performance.
Stevens and Levi's Introduction In the given performance task measuring
to Rubrics (2005) enumerated the steps in product-oriented output.
developing rubric. Basically, rubrics are 4. RATING THE PERFORMANCE
composed of task description, scale, This is the final step in
dimensions, and description of performance-based assessment,
dimensions. determining the learning outcomes of the
students. The main objective of rating the
performance is to be objective and
Task Description
consistent. Be sure also that the scoring
Task description involves the
system is feasible as well. In most of the
performance of the students. Tasks can be
classroom situations, the teacher is both
taken from assignments, presentations, and
the observer and the rater. If there are
other classroom activities. Usually, task
some important instructional decisions to
descriptions are being set in defining
be made, additional raters must be
performance tasks.
considered in order to make scoring more
Scale
fair. Since performance-based assessment
The scale describes how well or
involves professional judgement, some
poorly any given task has been performed
common errors in rating should be
and determine to what degree the student
avoided; personal bias and halo effect.
has met a certain criterion. Generally, it is
McMillan (2007) stated that personal bias
used to describe the level of performance.
results in three kinds of error, generosity
Below are some commonly used labels
error occurs when the teacher tends to give
compiled by Huba and Freed (2000):
higher scores; severity error results when
the teachers use the low end of the scale
and underrate student performances; and
the central tendency error in which the
students are rated in the middle. On the
other hand, halo effect occurs when the
teacher's general impression of the
students affects scores given on individual
traits or performance.