ALTERNATI

VE
ASSESSME
NT
WEEK 5:

WHAT IS ALTERNATIVE
ASSESSMENT
measure performance in forms other than traditional

paper-and-pencil, short answer tests.

focus on what students can do without emphasizing
their weaknesses
students are enabled to provide their own responses
rather than simply selecting from a given list of
options.
give a holistic picture of a students abilities and
highlight where further improvement is needed.

 educators need methods to assess fairly and

objectively.

may use rubrics (a scoring guide for non-

quantified assessments such as portfolios and

presentations)

Example:
a rubric may state that an acceptable essay contains

fewer than four grammatical errors

COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Asks students to perform, create or produce

something
Encourages student self-reflection
Measures outcomes of significance
Taps higher-level thinking and problem-solving skills
Uses tasks that represent meaningful instructional
activities
Invokes real-world applications

 Uses human judgment (rather than machines)

for scoring
Provides self-assessment opportunities for
students
Provides opportunities for both individual and
group work
Encourages students to continue the learning
activity beyond the scope of the assignment
Defines explicit performance criteria
Makes assessment equal in importance to
curriculum and instruction

EXAMPLES
OF
ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT

PORTFOLIOS
Most often used as replacements for end-of-course testing
exhibit the progression of a students learning over time
teacher may create a portfolio compiling student essays,

lab reports, or other assignments

The collection must include student participation in

selecting the contents, the criteria for selection, the criteria

for judging merit and evidence of student self-reflection.

ORAL PERFORMANCES OR
PRESENTATIONS
Performance-based assessments include interviews, oral

reports, role plays, describing, explaining, summarizing,

retelling, paraphrasing stories or text material, and so on.

should be conducted on an ongoing basis to monitor

comprehension and thinking skills.

ROLE PLAY
Learners take on different roles, assuming a profile of a

character or personality, and interact and participate in

diverse and complex learning settings.

students learn through their explorations and the viewpoints

of the character or personality they are articulating in the

environment

Example:
Ask students to tell a story from a characters point of view after

reading a story book.

AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENTS
create a real-world environment for students to exhibit

their skills and knowledge

The tasks are either replicas of or analogous to the kinds of

problems faced by adult citizens and consumers or

professionals in the field.

Example:
A biology teacher may have her students identify the different

pollutants in a local stream to report to the local environmental

protection agency

OTHER ALTERNATIVE
ASSESSMENTS:
Open-ended questions
Writing samples
Interviews
Journals and learning logs
Story of text retelling
Cloze tests
Self and peer assessments
Teacher observations
Checklists

REFERENCES
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/7041
http://www.aurbach.com/alt_assess.html
http://www.teach-nology.com/currenttrends/alternative_assessment/
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/curriculum/worldlanguages/resources/a

aa/altc3.pdf
http://www.ericdigests.org/1997-1/esl.html

https://teaching.unsw.edu.au/assessing-role-play-and-simulation