Lesson 14. Alternative types of assessment (Using portfolios Assessment) What Is Alternative Assessment?

Examples of Alternative Assessment
Examples of different kinds of alternative assessments include:
Portfolios
These may be physical (e.g., a binder) or electronic (e.g., a personal website or software). In both formats, portfolio assessment involves the collection, organization and ongoing reflection, analysis, and synthesis of student progress. Portfolio artifacts may include hand-written notes, drawings, photos, voice recordings, artwork, projects, and teacher feedback. They may also include even more structured components, such as the student's self-described learning goals and qualitative rubrics co-designed with classmates and/or the teacher. Portfolios are a great way to see the big picture and share student progress with parents and administrators.
Student-Produced Demonstrations
These are particularly useful in science classes. Students may prepare and present a small group, whole group, or teacher-only demonstration of learning through the use of props, equipment, and other relevant materials.
Oral Presentations
Some students prefer to simply explain their understanding of academic concepts verbally. This may be documented with voice and/or video recordings. It's also possible to use software to electronically transcribe the verbal content for later analysis and recordkeeping purposes.
What Is Alternative Assessment?
Are you craving more organic and genuine ways of observing and documenting student achievement and progress? Many educators are, particularly in our modern world of overwhelmingly restrictive and prescriptive standardized testing requirements. Fortunately, education sciences support several alternatives to traditional assessment by leveraging creativity, student involvement, and strategic curriculum development.
Alternative assessment is any classroom assessment practice that focuses on continuous individual student progress. Perhaps the best way to define alternative assessment is to say that it's the counter to traditional forms of standardized assessment. Let's take a closer look at what alternative assessmentis and isn't.
Characteristics
Alternative assessment is also known as formative assessment and portfolio assessment. The characteristics of alternative assessment may include:

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  Usually teacher-generated, as opposed to being passed down from an administration, government, or third-party organization.
  
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  Takes into account the individual background and needs of every unique learner.
  
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  Considers the big picture of individual student progress over an extended period of time.
  
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  Flexible, responsive, and continually developing according to curricular objectives.
  
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  Takes into consideration different learning styles and preferences.
  
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  Allows language learners to demonstrate content knowledge and skills mastery without language barrier difficulties.
  
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  Highly effective for use with students who are entitled to accommodations and/or modifications.
  
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  Normally documented with qualitative data, such as performance descriptors, comparisons with previous work, and skills demonstration.