Issues in Traditional and Alternative
Assessment
Instructor: Dr. Sandy
Levin
Fall 2002
Assessment
Schedule /
Assessments /
Project
Analysis
I teach middle
school physical education and health at
Champaign Unit #4,
where I teach, is making strong attempts at raising the scores of
standardized tests across the district at all grade levels. There is a particular desire to
elevate test scores of socio-economically depressed students to the same
levels as other students in the district. At the middle school level, we use
ISAT and Stanford tests as our primary standardized tests across the
district. I plan on
attempting to raise the test taking skills of my students across all
domains of standardized testing through the use of assessments in my
health classes. For the
purpose of this project, I concentrated on the 8th grade health
classes and attempted to improve their comfort levels and success rates on
these assessments, with the hope that these successes would continue on
their next ISAT and Stanford tests. The overall goal of
this endeavor was to find some answers to the questions I wrote on my KWL
chart.
|
What I Know
|
What
I Want to Learn |
What
I Have Learned |
|
There
is a very broad range of reading levels and IQ’s among my
students. |
How
can I use assessment methods to improve student performance on assessments
requiring high- level thinking? |
If carefully
planned, an educator can indeed be successful in improving student
performance on assessments requiring higher-level thinking. However as with other tests, there
seems to be a wide range of success levels among our student
body. |
|
Many
of my students have a very low self-esteem and are intimidated with the
thought of taking tests. |
How
can I use assessment exercises to raise confidence and self-esteem in my
students? |
By using the ISBE
DECIDE method of assessment, I found that a majority of my students were
more confident in their test taking abilities. |
|
Students
with a history of lack of success are more likely to not try on future
assessments. |
How
can I use assessments to get students to see the value of doing their
best? |
By using newer
assessments with real life situations they were likely to encounter, the
students seemed to relate better to the problem solving techniques. These assessments also led to more
productive class discussions. |
|
Some
of the higher achieving students become bored with the testing process and
rush through the tests without giving much thought to
questions. |
Can
I learn a system for developing assessments that compel students to pay
attention to details while utilizing high order thought
processes? |
Students
demonstrated a much more thorough amount of knowledge regarding details of
new test items than they did using the old tests.
|
|
When
assessing student awareness of current issues and decisions based on sound
judgment, some students will simply answer questions with answers they
think the teacher wants to hear. |
Can
I develop assessment strategies that will create desire in my students to
make their best efforts on all tests while utilizing sound
judgment? |
The majority of
students demonstrated their knowledge of the necessity of doing their best
on the newer assessments…especially when they related to hypothetical
situations to potential situations involving their siblings or family
members. |
|
Students
enjoy solving problems that they can relate to in the “real world” that
they live in. |
Can
I develop an assessment strategy system for my students, which enables
them to use higher order thought processes to solve “real world”
problems? |
I have developed a
reasonably successful assessment strategy. However, my “system” will need
constant “tweaking” in order to make it as efficient and productive as
possible. Sadly, I also
learned during the development of this project that I may not be able to
use many of the assessments next year as they are today do to a new “plan”
devised for next year’s
curriculum. |
|
|
|
|
Content |
·
Nutrition and Diet Unit ·
First
Aid Unit |
|
Skills |
·
Nutrition and Diet Unit -
Apply
principles of nutrition, exercise, positive self-concept development as it
relates to personal and social wellness. -
Justify
selections of food products by reading labels for nutritional
value. -
Investigate environmental health, safety, and
consumer issues as they affect society. ·
First
Aid Unit -
Recognize the structure of the human body and its
functions as each relates to physical development, wellness, and
disease. -
Apply
principles of prevention and treatment of illness as it relates to
personal and social wellness. -
Recognize components of a safe
environment. -
Justify
the selection of and safely use first aid
equipment. -
Recognize a potentially dangerous
environment. -
Demonstrate a variety of First Aid and lifesaving
skills necessary for daily living. |
|
Assessments |
·
Nutrition and Diet Unit -
2
informal assessments in the form of worksheets used to evaluate students’
understanding of the terms nutrition and diet. -
1
performance based assessment used to assess a nutrition and diet poster
project. -
1
multiple choice test to assess students’ knowledge of the relationship
of a balanced diet and
nutrition with good health. ·
First
Aid Unit -
1
multiple- choice test to assess students’ knowledge of proper First Aid
techniques.
-
2
informal assessments in the form of worksheets to assess students’
knowledge of first response to victims and triage. (cooperative
groups) -
1
true-false / multiple- choice assessment to use in conjunction with a
First Aid Quiz video (pre-test). **Change the Nutrition and Diet MC test to a
performance based assessment judging food products by their dietary
information listed on the packaging. **Change the First Aid MC test to a triage and
First Aid performance assessment.
|
|
Field
Trips |
None |
|
IEP |
Students with IEPs will
have the following adaptations: -
All
materials read aloud to them if necessary -
Study
partners -
Notes
copied for them -
Extra
time on assessments -
Reduced
assignments as needed |
|
State
Standards |
State
Goal 22: Understand
principles of health promotion and the prevention and treatment of illness
and injury. 22.A.3c
Explain routine safety precautions in practical situations (e.g., in motor
vehicles, on bicycles, in and near water, as a
pedestrian). 22.A.3d
Identify various careers involved in health promotion, health care, and
injury prevention. 22.B.3a
Identify potential environmental conditions that may affect the health of
the local community (e.g., pollution, land fill, lead based
paint). 22.C.3b
Develop potential solutions to address environmental problems that affect
the local community’s health. State
Goal 23: Understand human
body systems and the factors that influence growth and
development. 23.A.3
Explain how body systems interact with each other (e.g., blood
transporting nutrients from the digestive system and oxygen from the
respiratory system). 23.B.3
Explain the effects of health-related actions upon body systems (e.g., fad
diets, orthodontics, avoiding smoking, alcohol use, and other drug
use). 23.C.3
Describe the relationships among physical, mental, and social health
factors during adolescence (e.g., the effects of stress on physical and
mental performance, effects of nutrition on
growth). |
|
|
|
|
Content |
·
Violence Prevention Unit ·
Drug /
Alcohol / Tobacco Unit |
|
Skills |
·
Violence Prevention Unit -
Recognize factors related to self
–acceptance. -
Demonstrate skills needed to deal with stressful
situations. -
Recognize and evaluate stressful situations in
his/her own life. -
Demonstrate avoidance techniques in stressful and
peer pressure situations. ·
Drug /
Alcohol / Tobacco Unit -
Recognize the proper use of drugs and the
potential for drug abuse. -
Identify problems associated with the prolonged
abuse of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. -
Identify factors leading to the development of
potentially dangerous habits. -
Evaluate advertisements as powerful influences in
persuading people to develop smoking, drinking, and drug
habits. -
Identify how the government seeks to inform the
public on the dangers of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs.
|
|
Assessments |
·
Violence Prevention Unit -
2
informal assessments in the form of worksheets competed while working in
cooperative groups. -
1
informal role playing assessment while working in cooperative
groups. -
1
multiple choice/true-false assessment. ·
Drug /
Alcohol / Tobacco Unit -
1
multiple choice/true-false assessment. -
1 essay
assessment on dangers of drug, alcohol, or tobacco
use. -
1
performance based assessment used to assess a drug, alcohol, or tobacco dangers poster
advertisement. ** Change the violence
prevention multiple choice/true-false test to
an essay on the advantages of self
control. ** Change the
Drug/Alcohol/Tobaccco multiple choice/true-false
test to an assessment following the same format as the
ISBE
DECIDE format |
|
Field
Trips |
None |
|
IEP |
Students with IEPs
will have the following adaptations: -
All
materials read aloud to them if necessary -
Study
partners -
Notes
copied for them -
Extra
time on assessments -
Reduced
assignments as needed |
|
State
Standards |
State
Goal 24: Promote and enhance
health and well being through the use of effective communication and
decision-making skills. 24.A.3a
Describe possible causes and consequences of conflict and violence among
youth in schools and communities. 24.A.3b
Demonstrate methods for addressing interpersonal differences without harm
(e.g., avoidance, compromise, cooperation). 24.A.3c
Explain how positive communication helps to build and maintain
relationships at school, at home and in the
workplace. 24.B.3
Apply a decision-making process to and individual health
concern. 24.C.3
Apply refusal and negotiation skills to potentially harmful
situations. State
Goal 23: Understand human
body systems and factors that influence growth and
development. 23.B.3
Explain the effects of health-related actions upon body systems (e.g., fad
diets, orthodontics, avoiding smoking, alcohol use, and other drug
use). |
|
|
|
|
Content |
·
Sex
Education ·
Date
Rape / Sexual Abuse Prevention ·
Death /
Dying / Suicide |
|
Skills |