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Alternative and Authentic Assessments in the Elementary Classroom:
One teacher's story

Jeanette Borich, jborich@ankeny.k12.ia, AnkenyCommunity School District

As an elementary Spanish and French teacher of more than 12 years, I have utilized the skills and strategies I learned about from several NFLRC institutes in innumerable ways. The Performance Assessment Institute in particular helped guide me in formulating creative ways to assess students despite the demanding schedule I work with in delivering instruction for our Ankeny FLEX Program. One significant result of my learning was a master's thesis about documentation of student learning from a thematic cultural unit about Yucatan, Mexico through dialogue journals. These journals were written by the students following their Spanish class lessons. I responded to the journals on an on-going basis. Although my master's work is now complete, I continue to use this alternative assessment tool as a way to monitor my instruction, document student learning of making Connections and learning about Culture, and provide an avenue of communication with parents about their child's Spanish classes.

More recently I have developed other performance assessment tasks for grades 3-5. Rubrics that I developed to accompany these tasks guide students in planning, practicing, and presenting for a demonstration of their learning of Spanish. When assigning these tasks, I give students the option of working with a partner to present a conversation based on classroom learning and activities. They may also work independently to create a comic strip version of a similar conversation which will be read to the class. Providing students task options empowers students and allows them to creatively determine how they will demonstrate their learning.

One additional flexible way of assessing student learning is through a home assessment task. This type of assessment provides students guided opportunities to share their learning at home through end of the year newsletters, for example. Feedback from parents and guardians about this option indicates that families enjoy learning more about their child's learning in this way. In a FLEX program that provides minimal instructional time, this option works well because it provides information about learning that might not otherwise be shared at home.

Jeanette's Central States Conference PowerPoint presentation:
Curriculum Mapping: Improving Curriculum Communication HTML

Jeanette's Central States Conference PowerPoint presentation:
Curriculum Mapping: Improving Curriculum Communication PowerPoint

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