Editor,s Note: veteran ranguage ed.ucator paul sandrock has written a new book for AcrFL entitled rhe Keys to
Assessing Language Performance: A teacher's manual for measuring student plogress' This manual provides
language teachers with a step-by-step approach for desiqning performance assessmenfs, developing effective rubrics'
and using them to evaluate and track student progress in a standards-based program- we feature some excerpts here
to give you a glimpse o/ this valuable resource for language educators' The book is available to order online at the
ACTFLBookstore dt wl'vw.actfl.org for only $22-95 (member price), special bulk quantit-v pricing is avail'ible'
Fi ln. : f f iantei i :
Constructing a Road MaPfor Teaching andLearning
"Does this count?" "ls this goin;i to be on
the test?" Students constantly ask these
questions. Why? They want to know how
their teachcr rs going to cvaluate them
Thev want to know the real goals of ttre
days lesson and the course. These are
ccrtainly rcasonable reqrrests, but how
c:rn a te lc l r t r i lnswcr thc: ' ' quc>t ions i r r a
rvay that will shape studcnt leaming and
focus teachrng on what rcally matters?
Tlus book is desiencd to gr-tlde the usi:t
through tlroughtfui stePs necessary to
clevelop pcrforntance assessments anr I
eflective rubrics so teacltcrs can answcl
thr:sc str.rrl,:nt cluestions
40
Students are not alone in asking such
questions- Since the 1990s wrth the
begrnning of the national discussion
of standarcls, the American public has
rntertwined standards with a scrutiny of
assessment. to determine i[itudenis are
measuring up. i[ students are achieving
those standards.tThe notion of account-
ability has become rntegrated with tire
iclenti{lcation of what students shor'rld
know ,,rtr , l bc eblc to t lo- Assessmcttt is
at the ]reart of the pubhc conversal ron to
improve student achtcvement-
Languagc teachers, howel'er, exPress
frustration with' assessments tfrat crnpha-
size or.rly lowlevei rccall of vocabulary"
maniprrlatiort of granrmatical structures
by filling in blanks, and other substltit
tions for real communtcatron When
they look at wa)'s to meastrre student
use o[language, the main cnterion often
becomes grammatical accuracy' which
relegates language use to ,i focus on torrn'
The transition to performance assess-
ment focuses both students and teachers
on communication The messagc that is ,,
beirrg communicatcd becomes t lre cri t i
cal cornponent rather than gralrrrn2lt lcal
acculac)', keeping tir mind that pt'rfect
acclrracy is a lifelong go;il
Wh1' do \\re assesli our studentsl Eclr-rca
tors wanl to use assesstlrent to i l i fotrn
irrstruct ion at ld to prolrclc lccclback thaL
wil l l relp students in'rprove . Tladit ior.r-
alh', educators havc ttscd assessrlent to
find out *'hat stttclcnts have ancl l'iave
THL LANGUAGE Eoucnton ' inuun )011
t . ,
not learned, presenled as letter grades or
numerical scores to later calculate quarter
or semester gredes. Tcachers con:lant Iy
struggle to balance using assessment to
capture and describe the past (i.e., what
students have learned) and using assess-
ment to shape the future ( i .e.. sett ing goals
for improvement),
A coherent an,1 transparent system of
assessmcnl and evalurt ion is requtred to
locus both leachers and students on ap-
propriate program goals and outcomes.
Through step-by-step guldance and ex-
amples, thls book will demonstrate how to
design pcrformance asscssments thal cap-
ture language samples in rvhich students
are motivated to use language to accom-
pl ish real purposes Next th is guide wi l l
detail a process to design rubrics that focus
on those aspects which truiy help improve
student language proficlency. Teachers and
students alike can benefit from this road
map for teaching and learning.
Why Develop Performance
Assessments?Assessment is a tool, To develop effective
assessmenis, teachers need to ask:
. Why am I assesstng my students?
. What information do I hope to learn
through this assessment?
. What do I plan to do with the
inlormation gained through this
assessment?
Ansrvering these queslions will seL the
teacher on a course ol matching the need
for and use of the information r'vith the
right assessm,::nt mechanistn. Different as-
sessment str:lirlgies are neecled for differcnt
purposes.
If the answers to these three questions
identify the goai of assessme nt as measur
ing student r,se of languaqc in real-life
'sltuations, then the assessment mechanisrn
nnrsr Lome rs c lose as posr ib lc to thar
authentic use. Performance assessments ask
students to use language [or rcal 'ptrrposes:
sharing new information, exchanging
opinions, presenting ideas to a specific
audience, preparing a letter of apphcation
or introduction, understanding the point of
r.iew of a speaker or author and comparing
it to one's o1vn, or skimming a rvebsite to
f ind needed in[ormat ion. A wel l -de' igned
performance assessment task lvill gener-
ate these genuine acts oI communtcat jon-
The teacher then can focus on what really
counts by providing feedback to students
based on this evidence of their authentic
use of language. \ ludenrs wi l l know much
more than how rveli they did on a test:
They will know how well they can perform
w'hen actual communication is needed.
Assessment plays a critical role in lan-
guage education: to help students learn
to use their new ianguage, to help teach-
ers focus their instruction to maximize its
effec[iveness, and to provide the public
with the evidence it needs to enthusiasti-
cally support language programs. Clearly,
assessment is at the heart of the discussion
around improving student ability to use the
language. With such high stakes, assess-
ment must shorvcase the performanccs
that are at the heart of proficient use of the
language. Performance assessment clarifies
the goals and provides critical feedback to
students as lhey seek to mark their prog-
ress and improve their performance.
From Chapler z:Basing'Assessmenton Standards
Key Lessons Learned for Designing
Pe rfor m a n ce Asse ssment Tasks. Fot us the tasks .,, ithin the contcxt
ol a unit of instructron
. lclentify learning outcomes by
st arting u'ith sLr,nclards
. Target rhe Ianguage level
[ :NZt
l$SlEI From Chapter 3:'|slt=$HI= Step'by-5tep:
Designing PerformanceAssessment Tasks
Seven Steps forDesigning PerformanceAssessment Iasks
z
Create a rich and engaging
thematlc focus
ldentify w'hat students need to do
to demonst rale their learning
Evaluate tasks agr inst the targeted
level of proficiency
Sort performance tasks as
formative or summative
Fine-tune and integrate the
summative performance tasks
Incorporate other standards to
enrich the unit of instructiort and
performance lasks
Pllot u,ith students and use the
results to ad'yust the assessment
tasks
Sort the potentiai performance tasks into
those that are formative and those that are
truly summative. In formative assessment,
teachers use learning checks, guided activi-
ties, and applications of skill and knowl-
edge to measure student progress toward
rhe learning goals. Teachers initially provide
more intervention and support, anci then
gradually reduce the level of assislance so
students move toward a more independent
performance. In summative assessment, . ,teachers elicit evidcnce of what students
shorrld be able to ilo on their o\\'n as a
resulL of the unit oi instruction. Summative
asse ssment ln the context of the process .
descr ibed and practiced in this publicati.on
needs to capture the learning goals for the
unit. Although the summalive assessment
ol difterent modes of communication often
occurs near the end of the unit, thcse as-
sessments may occur at an1, point r,r''here
that goal has been r cached in the unit,
THE LANGUAGE Eoucnron r iANUART 2011
Tue Krys ro Assesstue LeNcular Prnronnat'tct
S a m p I e F o r m at iv e Assessrnenrs
Ticket to leave: To make sure that each
student has learned a key element for the
day, the teacher designs a "ticket" to leave,
a word or phrase which each student either
says to the teacher or writes down and
hands to lhe [eacher on exiting class. The
ticket could be a summarizing question
on vocabulary, such as to tell two ways
to say goodbye or r.vrite a descriprion of
one animal. The ticket could be proof of
internalizing a grammatical concept, such
as "Tel1 me to do something"(e.g., give me
a piece of paper), or "Write down one thing
you did yesterdaY"
Quick oral checks: As formal ive assess-
ment, a task can be ad;usted to the expand-
ing abilides of the students. Teachers move
from yes-no questions (e.g.' "Does a good
friend trelp a friencl with homervork?"),
ro forced-choice questions (e g., "When
a friend is being bullied, should a good
friend step in to fight back' go get help,
or escort the friend to where there is an
adult?"), and finally lo open-ended ques-
tions (e.g., "How can a friend be helpful
without doing the work for the friend?")'
Ask students ei ther or quesl ions. thus
modeling the right answer and structure
and allowing the student ro identify the
correct response and repeat it. Another
approach is to have students finish a
sentence, where the beginning stem gwes
a clear indication of rvhat is expected,
whether it is a single word or a phrase,
(e.g., "Tomorrow you are going to bring to
class your , ;,.
or "When the weather is
really cold, b"efore going outside I am going
to put on . . . "). Numerous ansrvers can be
elici"ted from students in this r'vay
S a m p le Su m m ativ e As s e ssrnents
Interpersonal: Based on t l le current unit '
a pair of students has a specific amount of
time to try io accomplish a conversational
Lask. Tasks might include finding oul how
much they lrave in commorl on the topic'
comrng lo agreernent on a reiated issue, or
48
identifpng as much as they know together
about a topic. The amount of time should
be sufficient to gather the language sample,
but not so long as to exhaust studenls'
language repertoire. In the IPA project, stu-
dents produced solid Novice-level language
in a two-minute conversation, intermedi-
atelel'el language in four- to five- minu[e
conversations, and Pre-Advancedlevei
language in eight- to IO-minute conversa-
tions. Students might be able to continue
the conversation beyond these limits, but
the language level produced did not change
when the time limit extended longer than
these suggested times.
Interpretive: Students might be asked to
summarize the lnformation found from
three different websites to foim a more
complete response to a question or to pro-
vide a summary of a topic. For exampie,
Pre-Advanced students are given websites
for newspapers from l0 different counlries
(in the target language). The task is to iden-
tify a national story of importance in the
students' hometown newspaper' search for
that same story in three different foreign
newspapers' lvebsltes, and then to compare
the level of importance given, the longevity
of the sLory ln the foreign press versus lhe
local press (i.e., how many days the story
continues to have prominence), and the
similari t ies or dif lercnces in the way thc
story is presented (i.e., any differences in
political slant or cultural attitudes).
Presentational: Students cirganize in-
formation and wnte a postcard or letter
to a potential host family or a studoirt to
be hostercl, using the target language lbr a
meamrilful purpose. The teacher t:rr-gets
the tasks to fit the language level, sludent
developinentai level, rnd the current unit
of instr-uction. Example: Intermedlatc
studenrs r,vrite a letter to a potential foreign
student that their family u'i1l be hosting,
explaining differences in responsi.liilities
and house rules that could be anticipated,
kno*,irig the cultural differences. Novice-
leve1 students on an imaginary trip abroad
M
lvrite a posrcard back to their language
teacher about what they did on the trip,
using memorized language, but in new and
creative apPlications.
From ChaPter 4:Designing Rubrics toAssess Performance
Step-by-9tepProcess for DesigningRubrics
i l. tdentify what makes a qualitY
] p.rfot*uttc"
I 2. Evaluate the quaiities against rhe
I chatacteristics of the targeted
I level ofProficiencY
i 3. Descrlbe the Performance that
i *".tt your expectations with
i the specificitY and claritY that
i will focus Your instruction and
i ,tnd.nt learning
i 4 Descrlbe the performance that
i exceeds your expectalions and
the performance tlLat does not
meel Your exPectal ions
i l. Pilot with students and revise
i bated on student work and' leedbackl
i 6. Det.tmine how You will
i ao**unicate the assessment
i ,"sr-,lr, (including using rubrics
in grades and incorPoratingj feedback into your instructlon)
THE L.\NGUAGE EOUCATOt . ,ANU RY 2011
Step One: ldentifyWhat Makesa Quality PerformanceIn prol'rding feedback, the criterla must be
appropriate to rhe task. What really matters
for effect ive communicai ion I By examin-
ing the purpose behind what students are
asked to do in the'assessment tasks, the
teacher can better identify the
appropriate criteria. The teacher must
consrder the mode of commttnicat ion: in-
terpersonai, interpretive, or presentational.
The criteria need to be generated by r,vhat
makes for effective communication in the
speci f ic mode of communicat ion.
Rather than treat ing alJ speaking as the
same skill, or trying to use the same
measures and evaiuation cntena for a1i
speaking tasks, consider how speaklng for
an interpersonal purpose (e.g., agreeing on
when to meet) has very different require-
ments or expectations from speaking for
a presentational purpose (e.g,, telling
classmates about a recent trip). For an
interpersonal purpose, critical elements in
the evaluation include how well students
maintain and sustain the conversation, ask
[or c lar i f icat ion. and negot iate meaning.
The criteria for evaluating a presentational
task would include language accuracy,
organizat ion of the presentat ion. appro-
priateness for the targeted audience, and
the impact on that audience. The instru-
ment used for evalua[ion needs to fit the
Tur Ktvs ro AssESstNG LeNcunee Prnronmnucr
communicative purpose. Rubrics need to
be"developed based on the requirements of
the communicative task.
\,Vhen identifyng r.vhat makes a qualrty
performrnce for students, consider the
perfomances that you have experienced in
tte past. Use real samples o[ student work
'to ldentify rvhat makes a quality perfor-
mance. Focus on the characteristics of use
of language and try not to be influenced by
factors such as neatncss or use of color rn
presentational lasks, humor in interpersonal
tasks, and over-reliance on specific details
in interpretive tasks, These factors are not
essential to the langr"rage performance and
may distract from what really counts.
These descriptors are designed to hetp you buitd your rubric for a specific performance assessment task. These are sampte categories and de-
scriptors across several "tevets" from Novice to Prq-Advanced students. The mode of communication is impodant to consider as that communi-
cative purpose changes the expectations concerning accuracy and completeness.
Novice
Says"Huh?"or usesg.stures and facialexpressions toslrow confusion
Repeats what wasnot unde15L' lo0;,qk< <ntraLtrr 1o
repeal or 5 fw
down
Pr^\ , i . lp< norroirrpd
mo:r i lnd rFnal l<
-^! - ! ! - - +-^
orLU duu) d Ldg
questron to snowunderstanding
Asks simplequestions to cl ' r i lyrreaning
Provides al lerna-t ives, ex,,mples, topoini oLrt what isnot unr lr.rrstood,asks for a definitionor explanation
Paraphrases tovi: . i [ ' what waSu noerStooo
Adds ownInterpretatr!)n toverify what vrasunderstooJ
I nter pe rson al- M ai ntai n i ng an d Su stci ni n g the Conversation
Uses transit ionphrases to sigrialchanges in theconversation'5direct ion; workswith partner Ioexplore topics indepth
Mainly in a reactivemode, sticks toorrect anSwer5;able to init iateconversation witha few originalquestrons; gener-al ly uses yes/noquestrons
tlsps circunlocr-, I Asf <'ol low "p
i ion to sroy ,n I quc: t ;ons and
lhe tonrersa{ on; I inse ts reloindersmaintains conver- to maintain thesat ion,&i th "give ] conversat ion and
and lake"v . tur n I stav on top:ctaking; uses informational questions(who, what, where,when)
to nelp partnerrespond)
heios parrner bv I P o' idet o*r)upp
' inq wotds or I I6soon:e) [o
f inishing sentences ] prompt partner
^r rh^r r-hi< I lmnrJpl rA\non\c\
| ' " " ' ' ' r " ' '
Responds whenprompted orasked, usually tohigh-frequencycues; ini t iat ion isl imlted to memo-rized words orph rases
I nte rp e rso n a I -Aski n g for Cl o rifi cati o n
TUE LaHr,irnet Eoucaron ' lnuulnv 20'11 49
ffi
Tnr Krvs ro AsstsstNe Lnne unat P*ronmnt'tcr
From ChaPter 5:Engaging, Motivatirig,and Involving Students
To help students understand what is
expected, involve them in the design of
the assessment task's rubriqp. Start from
[he same beginning point as for the design
of the task: What are the characteristics
of this language performance in the real
world? The task reflects what people do in
purposeful communication and so, too, the
rubric should reflect the qualities that mat-
ter in the real context.. For example, whal
matters most in conversations is express-
ing one's point and engaging the other
person in the topic. Accuracy and complete
sentences help, but are not of primary
concern in the speakers mind. When ac-
curacy f lal ters and hinders communication'
strategies for dealing with the resulting
miscommunication are essential. Remem-
ber the native speakers who said that they
focused on the message and not on how it
was being conveyed. Mirroring these same
criteria from real-world conversations, the
teacher's rubric should provide feedback
on engaging and maintaining interest in
the conversation and strategies to deal with
communication breakdown.
From Chapter 6:lmpacting Instructionand Program ArticulationThrough PerformanceAssessments
Using PerformanceAssessments toEnhance Programs
Identlfy how students will
demonstrate progress toward
essential targets across levels,
schools, and the district-wide
proglam
Use performance assessments to
focus curriculum design
Use performance assessment
feedback to focus design of
instructional units and dailY
lessons
Develop district- or department-
wide performance assessments
through an ongoing Process of
review and refinement
When a PK-I2 or a postsecondary pro-
gram's curriculum is based on performance
assessments, the spiral nature of the cur-
riculum can be made clear. The program
curriculum should show the introduction
of some spbcific language element (e.g.,
vocabulary grammar, function); then the
practice of that element and the gain of
some manipulative ability; then the grow-
ing independent use of that element; and
finally1the "mastery" or fluent and less-
conspious use of that element- The next
step is to envtsion. develop. and imple'
ment performance tasks to check student
progress alcing rhis continuum ol learning,
staiting with formative learning checks and
moving to end-of-unit assessments. This
curriculum spirai is vastly differen[ from a
curriculum based on Srammar items and
discrete item vocabulary Such a curricu-
lum leads to discrete achievement tesiing,
substituting knowledge about the language
for knowledge to use the ianguage.
When student progress is measured
through performance assessment and
effective feedback, students know what
they can do in the new language they are
acquiring and what they need to do to
impror,'e their proficiency and increase
their confi.dence in using the three modes
of communication. This is the road map to
guide language teaching and learning
PauL Sandrock is assistont diredor of the Content
and Learning Team ot the Wisconsin Department of
Public Instruction. He wos ACTFL president in 2006-