View Content #26428

Lynette Williams has taught Spanish in Eugene, Oregon for over 20 years. Currently, Lynette serves as a Teacher on Special Assignment for World Languages and Immersion Programing for Eugene School District 4J. She, and 4J teachers, are collaborating with CASLS on the implementation of new curriculum, focusing on proficiency instruction and Integrated Performance Assessments.

After years of teaching and hundreds of hours spent correcting students’ summative assessments, I knew little about what my students could actually ‘do’ with the language. So much time correcting work that assessed students’ mastery of the language, particularly grammar and vocabulary, ended up in the trash can. Students didn’t know what to do with the feedback they received. The focus was on what they didn’t know. Something had to change.

Integrated Performance Assessments (IPAs) foster learner centeredness in that they allow students to demonstrate what they can actually do with the language. Implemented successfully, students can demonstrate proficiency in all three modes, Interpretive, Interpersonal, and Presentational, spokes radiating from the hub of Interculturality.  But how to do this effectively in a class of 35 or more students? The three steps that follow offer some guidance.

Incremental Introduction

Initially, it may prove daunting to assess all three modes. Teachers may find it less stressful to assess two modes in each unit until they are comfortable conducting IPAs. This strategy is successful if you rotate through all three modes several times during the course. For example, Unit One (Interpretive and Interpersonal), Unit Two (Interpretive and Presentational), Unit Three (Interpersonal and Presentational), and so on. Interculturality must be embedded in all tasks in all modes. Become comfortable assessing in two modes and then graduate to three.

Intentional Planning

IPAs require teachers to identify the content and modes to assess, to design an IPA rubric, and to share this information with students at the beginning of the unit. Backwards planning can lead to success. If students have a clear roadmap showing them what they will be able ‘to do’ with the language by the end of the unit and how they will be assessed, they will be engaged in daily instruction and self-motivated learners.

Before administering each IPA teachers should repeat the plan and the IPA Rubric with students. So, for example, when doing Interpersonal Speaking and Presentational Writing tasks, the teacher would inform students of the order in which they will speak, either individually with you or in pairs, and that everyone else will work independently on a Presentational Writing task. A clear IPA Rubric, coupled with grading as you go, makes assessing both modes easier for you and understandable for students.  Gone is student confusion parsing out what rubric indicators truly mean. 

Student Participation and Support

If designed well, the IPA rubric offers meaningful feedback, providing students with a roadmap of how they move to the next proficiency level rather than solely focusing on errors and grades. Armed with information about what and and how they will be assessed, they become active rather than passive learners. They are more willing to engage in self and peer evaluations. Ideally, students will come to appreciate how IPAs show what they can do with language in real life. They get excited that they have practical, useful skills to use when they encounter the target culture.

Isn’t that better than a trashcan full of tests?