Ch 1: O'Malley & Valdez

This chapter is an introduction to authentic assessments (AA). AA is an alternative to standardized assessments. These types of assessments include performance assessments, portfolio, and self-assessments (all represent activities and real life settings). These came about from the concerns of educators especially for English Language Learners to meet their needs. The current assessments didn’t show higher order thinking skills, there were disagreement of scores based on the actual student performance in the classroom, teachers found the information difficult for instructional planning, they lacked in integrative language, and content knowledge. These are the reasons why teachers of other languages should implement authentic assessments.

In LKSD our math assessments contain performance assessments. I didn’t understand why it included these types of assessment; I thought it was something I had to teach my students to become familiar to the test. I find the wording of the test to be difficult for my students, and I often reword it to their zone of proximity. From reading this chapter, I have a slight understanding what performance assessments are used for.