Authentic Reading Assessment: Practices and Possibilities [Paperback]

Sheila W. Valencia (Editor), Elfrieda H. Hiebert (Editor), Peter P. Afflerbach (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0872077659 | ISBN-13: 978-0872077652

Traditional assessment techniques and standardized tests no longer reflect what's going on in classrooms where reading and writing for real purposes are the norm. "Authentic Reading Assessment" presents nine case studies that demonstrate how the challenge of reforming assessment can be met at the school, district, and state/provincial levels. The studies--written by educators actually involved in efforts to create assessments that match instruction and yield an authentic picture of students' literacy development--are framed by comprehensive introductory and concluding chapters that give the context of and challenges facing the assessment reform movement.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

As teachers move toward more holistic approaches to literacy instruction, they are finding that traditional forms of assessment no longer give an accurate picture of what is happening in their classrooms. The need to develop assessments that mirror authentic classroom activities and contribute to learning is fueling a widespread and dedicated movement for reform.

"Authentic Reading Assessment: Practices and Possibilities" includes nine case studies describing new assessment efforts, written by educators active in their development. From classrooms in Australia to a school district in Canada to statewide projects in the United States, these efforts are producing innovative techniques and exciting results with implications for all levels and audiences. But these projects are very much works in progress, approaches that are changing and expanding as their developers learn more about how authentic assessment can work in the classroom, district, and beyond. In the commentaries that follow each case study, literacy professionals add to the exchange of ideas that will broaden understanding of assessment issues and focus the reform effort. Comprehensive introductory and concluding chapters examine the background of and future challenges facing authentic assessment.

Assessment has long been a problematic issue for educators at all levels; successful reform will depend in large part on the sharing of information and ideas about new approaches. The volume's editors "hope this book will encourage you to enter into the exchange."

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From Chapter 1

For teachers, the term "authentic assessment" does not represent a new concept. Assessment strategies such as informal reading inventories, classroom tests, teacher observations, and evaluation of students' written work have a history longer than that of standardized measures. Teachers have always viewed their ongoing interactions with children as occasions for assessing students' learning processes, abilities, and accomplishments. Sometimes these occasions are documented in written notes-about students' participation in a writing conference, their interactions during literature circle discussions, or their scores on a comprehension quiz, for example. At other times, teachers' notes are mental--they observe responses of particular students and file this information away in memory. Taxpayers, legislators, parents, district administrators, and even students rarely have been privy to the results of these sorts of assessment that happen daily in thousands of classrooms. To these groups, students' accomplishments are represented by scores on standardized tests. Because of the emphasis on accountability and achievement, test scores have gained more and more credence as the sole indicators of students' accomplishments.

Recently, however, numerous reports have documented negative consequences of overreliance on traditional norm-referenced tests (Andelin & Staff, 1992; Cannell, 1988; Darling-Hammond & Wise, 1985; Linn, Graue, & Sanders, 1990; Smith, 1991). First, there is growing awareness that these types of tests do not capture the higher level literacy abilities needed for participation in the communities and workplaces of the 21st century. Standardized tests have not evolved with our research-based understanding of the reading process, and they are poorly aligned with classroom instruction that reflects this research and promotes the development of higher level thinking and complex literacies. Second, standardized tests have an inappropriate influence on curriculum, instruction, and learning. Teachers look to the content or actual items of tests as concrete indications of what they should teach ((Koretz, 1991; Shepard, 1990), and some textbook series have included tests that simulate standardized tests (Pearson & Valencia, 1987; Stallman & Pearson, 1990; Valencia & Pearson, 1987). The net result has been a narrowing of curricula and fragmentation of teaching and learning (Linn, 1985). Third, the overreliance on standardized tests has caused many teachers and students to feel they are passive recipients and targets of assessment rather than active participants and partners in the process. They may receive the results of assessment when these are no longer timely or relevant; results frequently are not meaningful for teachers seeking information on the effectiveness of their instruction or for students seeking feedback on their progress. Finally, dependency on standardized tests has led many policymakers and teachers to discount assessment carried out in the classroom and to rely on a single indicator of accomplishment rather then multiple indicators. The more complex, situated classroom assessments have not been granted the credibility of norm-referenced measures.

As questions about the value of traditional standardized tests have surfaced, attention has turned increasingly to other vehicles for assessment, such as collections of student work, projects, and students' written responses to texts they encounter naturally in class. Policymakers, measurement specialists, and educators alike have taken seriously the need for better assessment and, as a result, we now find ourselves in the midst of a movement to develop what has become known as authentic assessment. Simply stated, authentic assessment efforts try to address the concerns that have been raised about standardized testing. New efforts focus on the assessment of higher level literacy abilities using authentic, or "real life," literacy tasks and actual classroom artifacts and projects as part of the total picture of students' accomplishments. They emphasize the active engagement of teachers and students in the assessment process while acknowledging the different needs of policymakers, the community, and school personnel.

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: International Reading Association (December 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872077659
• ISBN-13: 978-0872077652
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,626,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)