Authentic Assessment

If we get rid of the tests, what will we use to assess students’ progress? We recommend these two instruments:

DRA. The Developmental Reading Assessment is published by Pearson and costs $311. It is a collection of leveled reading passages. At its simplest, it gives a “grade level” score. At its most complex, it also reveals what strategies the child is using to get meaning from print.

The Learning Record is an expanded portfolio system which includes parent and child interviews, samples of work, miscue analysis of reading passages, and developmental scales of reading, writing and math. It gives a numerical level in each academic area.

It requires serious professional development, which—unlike anything involved with testing—is useful in the classroom.

Krashen has written a short, clear piece on Multiple Measures

Nebraska has the best assessment system in the country. Here’s a summary:

FairTest organized 142 civil rights, religious, and education groups to sign its Joint Statement on how to revise NCLB. It doesn’t call for repealing the law, and it includes some testing, but it’s pretty good. FairTest also has a good bibliography on authentic assessment.