Process-Oriented Performance-Based Assessment

This chapter is concerned with process-oriented performance based assessment. Assessment is not
an end in itself but a vehicle for educational improvement. Its effective practice, then, begins with and
enacts a vision of the kinds of learning we most value for students and strive to help them achieve.
Assessment is most effective when it reflects an understanding of learning as multidimensional,
integrated, and reveal in performance over time. Learning is a complex process. It entails not only
what students know but what they know; it involves not only knowledge and abilities but values,
attitudes, and habits of mind that affect both academic success and performance beyond the
classroom. Assessment should reflect these understandings by employing a diverse array of
methods, including those that call for actual performance, using them overtime so as to reveal
change, growth, and-increasing degrees of integration. Such an approach aims for a more complete
and accurate picture of learning.

Process-Oriented Learning Competencies

Information about outcomes is of high importance; where students “end up” matters greatly. But to
improve outcomes. We need to know about student experience along the way – about the curricula,
teaching, and kind of student effort that lead to particular outcomes. Assessment can help us
understand which students learn best under what conditions; with such knowledge comes the
capacity to improve the whole of their learning. Process-oriented performance-based assessment is
concerned with the actual task performance rather than the output or product of the activity.

Learning Competencies

The learning objectives in process-oriented performance based assessment are stated indirectly
observable behaviors of the students. Competencies are defined as groups or clusters of skills and
abilities for needed for a particular task. The objectives generally focus on those behaviors which
exemplify a “best practice “for the particular task. Such behaviors range from a “beginner” or novice
level up to the level of an expert. An example of learning competencies for a process-oriented
performance based assessment is:

Task: Recite a Poem by Edgar Allan Poe, “The Raven” 

Objectives:
 The activity aims to enable the students to recite a poem entitled “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe.
Specifically:
1. Recite the poem from memory without referring to notes;
2. Use appropriate hand and body gestures in delivering the piece;
3. Maintain eye contact with the audience while reciting the poem;
4. Create the ambiance of the poem through appropriate rising and falling intonation; 
5. Pronounce the words clearly and with proper diction.

    Notice that the objective started with a general statement of what is expected of the student from
the task (recite a poem by Edgar Allan Poe) and then breaks down the general objective into easily
identified constitute the learning competencies for this particular task. As in the statement of
objectives using Bloom’s taxonomy,  the specific objectives also range from simple observable
processes to more complex observable processes e.g. creating an ambiance of the poem through
appropriate rising and falling intonation. A competency is said to be more complex when it consist of
two or more skills.

The following competencies are simple competencies

-          Speak with a well-modulated voice 
-          Draw a straight line from one point to another point 
-          Color a leaf with a green crayon 
The following competencies are more complex competencies
-          Recite a poem with feeling using appropriate voice quality, facial expression and
hand gestures 
-          Construct an equilateral triangle given three non-collinear points 
-          Draw and color a leaf with green crayon.
Task Designing

Learning tasks need to be carefully planned. Some generally accepted standards for designing at ask
include:
1. Identifying an activity that would highlight the competencies to be evaluated.
2. Identifying an activity that would entail more or less the same sets of competencies. If an activity
would result in too many possible competencies then the teacher would have difficulty assessing the
student’s competency on the task.
3. Finding a task that would be interesting and enjoyable for the students. Tasks such as writing an
essay are often boring and cumbersome for the students.

Scoring Rubrics

Rubric is a scoring scale used to assess student performance along a task-specific set of criteria.
Authentic assessments typically are criterion-referenced measures, that is, student’s aptitude on a
task is determined by matching the student’s performance against a set of criteria to determine the
degree to which the student’s performance meets the criteria for the task. To measure student
performance against a pre-determined set of criteria, a rubric, or scoring scale which contains the
essential criteria is typically created.

WHY INCLUDE LEVELS OF PERFORMANCE?

- Clearer expectations 
- More consistent and objective assessment 
- Better feedback 
- Analytic Versus Holistic Rubrics 
- Analytic rubric 
- Holistic rubric

Portfolio Assessment Methods

PORTFOLIO - is a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress
and achievements in one or more areas.
ASSESSMENT - is a systematic process for gathering information about student learning; it answers
the question, "How do we know what students are learning, and how well they are learning it?"

PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT – is also called Alternative Assessment.

1. Requires a presentation of a collection of student work essentially constituting dossier or a
portfolio.
2. Ranges from portfolios that demonstrates the student’s best work to an “expanded student record”
that holds a full  representation of the student’s work, from math equations to essays on literature.
3. Is one of the several authentic and non-traditional assessment techniques in education.

PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT emphasizes the active demonstration of knowledge through evidence

of student’s work and veers away from traditional testing in the sense of pencil-paper cognitive tests.
Thus, portfolio assessment can be used for evaluating not only the learning outcomes but more
importantly, in gauging the quality of the learning process that took place.

THE COLLECTION MUST INCLUDE:

1. student participation in selecting contents
2. the criteria for selection
3. the criteria for judging merit
4. evidence of student self-reflection

    In fact, the overall purpose of creating portfolio is to enable the students to demonstrate to others
learning and progress. The greatest value of portfolios is that, in building them, students become
active participants in learning process and its assessment. In sharp contrast, students do not have
any control or influence in traditional testing i.e. the teacher decides on the items to be included in the
test.
    Such assessment procedure, in the end, truly encourages the active involvement of each student
in the learning process as well as promotes greater interaction among the learners and the teachers.

Features and Principles of Portfolio Assessment

1. A Portfolio is a form of Assessment that students do together with their teachers.

    The teachers guide the students’ in the planning, execution and evaluation of the contents of the
portfolio. Together, they formulate the overall objectives for constructing the portfolio. As such,
students and teachers interact in every step of the process in developing a portfolio.

2. A portfolio represents a selection of what the students believe are best included from

among the possible collection of things related to the concept being studied.

    It is the teachers’ responsibility to assist the students in actually choosing from among a possible
set of choices to be included in the portfolio. However, the final selection should be done by the
students themselves since the portfolio represents what the students believe are important
considerations.

3. A portfolio provides samples of the student’s work which show growth over time.

    By reflecting on their own learning (self-assessment), students begin to identify the strengths and
weaknesses in their work. These weaknesses then become improvement goals.

4. The criteria for selecting and assessing the portfolio contents must be clear to the teacher
and the students at the outset of the process.

    If the criteria are not clear at the beginning, then there is a tendency to include among unessential
components in the portfolio and to include those which happen to be available at the time the portfolio
is prepared. At each step of the process, the students need to refer to the agreed set of criteria for the
construction and development of the portfolio.

Purposes of Assessment Portfolio

1. Portfolio  assessment  matches assessment  to  teaching. 

    The final outputs to be assessed are products of classroom discussions and classroom work and
are not simple diversions from the tedium of classroom activities. Unlike test items which mainly
measure cognitive skills, portfolio assessments can asses other components of the students’ formed
abilities based on classroom discussions.

2. Portfolio assessment has clear goals. In fact, they are decided on at the beginning of
instruction and are clear to teacher and students alike.

    In cognitive testing, the objectives are set at the beginning but the actual items mayor may not
reflect achievement of such objectives. In portfolio assessment, however, the students control the
items to be included and therefore are assured that the goals are achieved.

3. Portfolio assessment gives a profile of learner abilities in terms of depth, breadth, and
growth.

    In terms of depth, portfolio assessment enables the students to demonstrate quality work done
without pressure and constraints of time present in traditional testing through the help of resources
such as reference materials and the help of other students. In terms of breadth, portfolio assessment
can show a wide range of skills to be demonstrated in the final output. Finally, in terms of growth,
portfolio assessment shows efforts to improve and develop and clearly demonstrates students’
progress overtime.
4. Portfolio assessment is a tool for assessing a variety of skills not normally test able in a
single setting for traditional testing.

    The portfolio can show written, oral  and graphic outputs of students in a variety of ways which
demonstrate skills developed by the students.

5. Portfolio assessment develops awareness of own learning by the students.

    Students have to reflect on their own progress and the quality of their work in relation to known
goals. This is achieved at each stage of the process since the students continually refer to the set of
goals and objectives set at the beginning.

6. Portfolio assessment caters to individuals in a heterogeneous class.

    Such flexibility is attributed to the fact that portfolio assessment is open-ended so that students can
demonstrate their abilities on their own level and caters to differential learning styles and expression
of varying strengths.

7. Portfolio assessment develops social skills. Students interact with other students in the
development of their own portfolios.

    Sometimes, they are assessed on work done in groups or in pairs sot hat they necessarily have to
interact and collaborate to complete the tasks.

8. Portfolio assessment develops independent and active learners.

    Students must select and justify portfolio choices; monitor progress and set learning goals.
Traditional testing cannot achieve this educational objective no matter how skilfully the tests are
constructed.

9. Portfolio assessment can improve motivation for learning and thus achievement.

    When students are empowered to prove their own achievement and worth they become highly
motivated to pursue the learning tasks. It is when they lose this feeling of empowerment that they feel
inadequate and become less motivated as in traditional classroom testing.

10. Portfolio assessment provides opportunity for student-teacher dialogue.

    It enables the teacher to get to know every student. Moreover, portfolio assessment promotes joint
goal-setting and negotiation of grades which can never happen in traditional testing.

Essential Elements of Portfolio

Every portfolio must contain the following essential elements:

1. Cover Letter “About the author” and “What my portfolio shows about my progress as a learner”
(written at the end, but put at the beginning). The cover letter summarizes the evidences of a
student’s learning and progress.
2. Table of Contents with numbered pages.
3. Entries- both core (items students have to include) and optional (items of student’s choice). The
core elements will be required for each student and will provide a common base from which to make
decisions on assessment. The optional items will allow the folder to represent the uniqueness of each
student. Students can choose to include “best” pieces of work, but also a piece of work which gave
trouble or one that was less successful, and give reasons why.
4. Dates on all entries, to facilitate proof of growth over time.
5. Drafts of aural/oral and written products and revised versions; i.e., first drafts and
corrected/revised versions.
6. Reflections can appear at different stages in the learning process (for formative and/or summative
purposes.) and at the lower levels can be written in the mother tongue or by students who find it
difficult to express themselves in English.
     For each item – a brief rationale for choosing the item should be included. This can relate to
students’ performance, to their feelings regarding their progress and/or themselves as learners.
Students can choose to reflect upon some or all of the following:
·         What did I learn from it?
·         What did I do well?
·         Why (based on the agreed teacher-student assessment criteria) did I choose this item?
·         What do I want to improve in the item?
·         How do I feel about my performance?
·         What were the problem areas?

Stages of Implementing Portfolio Assessment

Stage 1: Identifying teaching goals to assess through portfolio

The usual first step of organizing portfolio assessment is to establish the teaching goals.
Stage 2: Introducing the Idea of Portfolio Assessment  
Portfolio assessment is a new thing for many students who are used traditional testing. For this
reason, it is important for the teacher to introduce the concept to the class.
Stage 3: Specification of Portfolio Content 
    Specify what and how much have to be included in the portfolio –both core and options. Specify for
each entry how it will be assessed. The students should be acquainted with the scoring guides/rating
scales that will be used before performing task.
Stage 4: Giving clear and detailed guidelines for presentation
    There is a tendency for students to present as many evidence of learning as they can when left on
their own. The teacher must therefore set clear guidelines and detailed information on how the
portfolios will be presented. Explain the need for clear and attractive presentation, dated drafts,
attached reflections or comment cards
Stage 5: Informing Key officials and other stakeholder.
Stage 6: Development of the Portfolio 
    It is necessary to stress the importance of reflection and self-assessment while preparing the
portfolio itself since these are essentially new skills for the students.
Guide for Self-reflections and Self-assessment: 
• What did I learn from that activity?
• Which is my best piece?
• How can I improve this? This can be done by class brainstorming (what are some possible reasons
for including an item in your portfolio?) or in pairs- “portfolio partners”- who help each other work from
a peer can also be included in the portfolio).

Types of Portfolio

1. Documentation Portfolio:  ( growth or working portfolio)

    This approach involves a collection of work over time showing growth improvement reflecting
students’ learning of identified outcomes. The documentation portfolio can include everything from
brainstorming activities to drafts to finished products. The collection becomes meaningful when
specific items are selected out to focus on particular educational experiences or goals. It can include
the bet and weakest of student work.
2. Process Portfolio - it shows a person’s performance over a period of time and particularly useful
in documenting students’ overall learning process.
3. Showcase portfolio - it shows the best of the students’ outputs and products.

Assessing and Evaluating the Portfolios

According to Paulson, Paulson and Meyer, (1991, p. 63): "Portfolios offer a way of assessing student
learning that is different than traditional methods. Portfolio assessment provides the teacher and
students an opportunity to observe students in a broader context: taking risks, developing creative
solutions, and learning to make judgments about their own performances."

    In order for thoughtful evaluation to take place, teachers must have multiple scoring strategies to
evaluate students' progress. Criteria for a finished portfolio might include several of the following:
·         Thoughtfulness (including evidence of students' monitoring of their own comprehension,
metacognitive reflection, and productive habits of mind).
·         Growth and development in relationship to key curriculum expectancies and indicators.
·         Understanding and application of key processes.
·         Completeness, correctness, and appropriateness of products and processes presented in the
portfolio.
·         Diversity of entries (e.g., use of multiple formats to demonstrate achievement of designated
performance standards).

    It is especially important for teachers and students to work together to prioritize those criteria that
will be used as a basis for assessing and evaluating student progress, both formatively (i.e.,
throughout an instructional time period) and summative (i.e., as part of a culminating project, activity,
or related assessment to determine the extent to which identified curricular expectancies, indicators,
and standards have been achieved).

    As the school year progress, students and teacher can work together to identify especially
significant or important artifacts and processes to be captured in the portfolio. Additionally, they can
work collaboratively to determine grades or scores to be assigned. Rubrics, rules, and scoring keys
can be designed for a variety of portfolio components. In addition, letter grades might also be
assigned, where appropriate. Finally, some form of oral discussion or investigation should be included
as part of the summative evaluation process. This component should involve the student, teacher,
and if possible, a panel of reviewers in a thoughtful exploration of the portfolio components, students'
decision-making and evaluation processes related to artifact selection, and other relevant issues.

Student-Teacher Conferences

The main philosophy embedded in portfolio assessment is “shared and active assessment”. To this
end, the teacher should have short individual meetings with each pupil, in which progress is
discussed and goals are set for a future meeting. Through the process, the student and the teacher
keep careful documentation of the meetings noting the significant agreements and findings in each
individual session. Through meetings of this kind, the formative evaluation process for portfolio
assessment is facilitated. Finally, student-teacher conferences can also be used for summative
evaluation purposes when the student presents his final portfolio product and where final grades are
determined together with the teacher.

    With 20 or 30 or more students in a classroom, one-on-one conversations between the teacher and
student are difficult to regularly arrange. That is unfortunate because the give and take of face-to-face
interaction can provide the teacher with valuable information about the student's thinking and
progress and provide the student with meaningful feedback. Such feedback is also more likely to be
processed by the student than comments written on paper.

Conferencing typically takes several forms:

Teacher/student -- sometimes teachers are able to informally meet with a few students, one at a
time, as the other students work on some task in class. Other times, teachers use class time to
schedule one-on-one conferences during "conference days." Some teachers are able to schedule
conferences outside of class time. Typically such conferences take only a few minutes, but they give
the teacher and the student time to recap progress, ask questions, and consider suggestions or
strategies for improvement.

Teacher/small group -- other teachers, often in composition classes, meet with a few students at a
time to discuss issues and questions that are raised, sharing common problems and reflections
across students.

Student/student -- to conserve time as well as to give students the opportunity to learn how to
provide feedback along with receiving it, teachers sometimes structure peer-to-peer conferencing.
The focus might be teacher-directed (e.g., "share with each other a sample of work you recently
selected for your portfolio") or student-directed (e.g., students use the time to get feedback on some
work for a purpose they determine).