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Seeking
Authentic Changes: New Performance-based Report Cards
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Informing parents and students of a student's
progress is an ongoing task for EFL teachers. This is largely done informally and
spontaneously on an almost daily basis, either answering students' questions or parents'
requests for information on students' performance in class. However, several times a year
we have to prepare a thorough evaluation and report of our learners' performance. At our
Binational Center, we have developed useful assessment and evaluation tools and have
devised practical and informative ways to report students' results.
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For several years, our report cards included
three boxes, which were completed with teachers' comments on the students' oral, written,
and overall performance each term. Filling in this kind of information was no easy task
because comments for each student should be original and suggestive and, at the same time,
they should be an accurate reflection of the student's performance. More experienced and
inspired teachers had fewer problems with this task and devoted less time to it. However,
the types of comments that prevailed were too general or vague, either giving an overall
grade or general comment on the learner's oral or written expression, commenting on the
quality of their participation, or giving general suggestions (e.g., very good oral
participation; you are always motivated in class; you should write more; remember to do
your homework).
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We decided we needed a more accurate system to
report students' results. In fact, since assessment and instruction are two sides of the
same coin, we needed to adapt the assessment and evaluation procedures in such a way that
they faithfully reflected our teaching practices. We needed a change that would help us
reach the following improvements:
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- raise our expectations and standards for students' performance at an institutional
level;
- increase opportunities for authentic assessment in each class and throughout the course;
- strengthen feedback provided to each learner throughout the course;
- achieve a more specific reporting of students' performance by the end of each term;
- provide more evidence of the status of the student's progress to parents.
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First step: defining the outcomes expected
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When we started analyzing our needs, we realized
we needed to define the performance that we expected of students in the first place. In
this way, teachers, students, and parents could be informed of the minimum expectations
for each school year. Thus, we appointed a team to write, revise, and edit the performance
outcomes for our students' courses.
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The six-year program was divided into two main
levels: grades 1 through 3, and grades 4 through 6. In our case, with three hours of
English instruction per week and with learners who may begin studying English at almost
any age, there is a significant difference between their performance during the first
three and the last three years of English courses. Even when there are two main levels
defined, teachers know how each performance statement can be interpreted and accomplished
in each different course.
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Once we had defined these outcomes, we found
that we were able to reach several new goals. We could improve our assessment practices.
We could make use of a wider variety of authentic assessment instruments and practices
(such as classroom observation, reflective writing, performance assessment,
self-assessment checklists, and portfolio assessment) with more precision and reliability.
The conclusions we reached would be more valid portraits of the quality of students'
accomplishments. Based on the outcomes defined, a checklist could be easily prepared to
follow each child's progress in the different areas. In this sense, the most important
advantage of having outcomes is that teachers know which types of performance to assess
and therefore to observe, to keep written records of, and to inform and discuss with
students and parents.
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From outcomes to report cards
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To design the report cards, we divided the
outcomes into three main categories: oral language development, the reading and writing
process, and learning attitude. In this way, we could give more unity and coherence to the
different components of students' performance.
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Aside from the skills traditionally assessed, we
included a special section on student's learning attitude, in which we could show
perceived signs of the student's learning preferences and motivation. The areas we
emphasized include the interest and motivation that the student shows in and out of class,
how the student tolerates and accepts mistakes as an integral part of learning, how
respectfully the student interacts with the class, and how effectively the student carries
out the assigned tasks.
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Finding a scale that fits our purposes
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The scale we are using is an interesting attempt
to depart from the traditional numbers or grades that are used in most public and private
schools. The main effect created by using these evolving concepts is that the results
reported are only one snapshot in a much longer process; they reflect our assumption that
these results are dynamically changing with the student's performance, rather than
conforming to a stagnant concept. Therefore, we truly emphasize the idea that learning
involves a change, that learning is a process, that it is in constant evolution, and that
learning involves a different process for each learner, who may need more or less time to
understand and learn certain content. From the beginning, we assume that if a certain
performance is not attained, it may be because the student is not yet ready to demonstrate
that she or he has learned it. In other words, we show real confidence in the student. We
know that if we continue providing an enticing classroom atmosphere; if we promote
attractive and safe learning conditions in which the student can feel free to take risks,
to create with language, to express his or her own voice; and if the student continues
receiving reassuring and encouraging feedback from the teacher, the student will reach the
expected levels of performance at his or her own pace, in due time.
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Our audience: students and parents
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Report cards are aimed at both parents and
students. However, to involve students even more in their own learning process and to help
them accept more responsibility for their own learning, the comments and suggestions the
teacher makes are addressed to the student and not to the parents. Furthermore, eliciting
the student's response and signature encourages a real exchange of information between
students and parents, fostering more critical thinking and developing higher awareness of
the factors that improve or hinder the student's learning progress. And to generate a
stronger sense of personal commitment to the performance reported, we leave a space for
students to include one of their own classroom pictures so that each report card will have
a unique and colorful cover.
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We explained the changes in the report cards to
parents in our first meeting with them, explaining some of the concepts mentioned in this
article and even some of the performance outcomes. It took some time for them to process
this information, but their feedback has been very positive. We feel they are now more
accurately informed of the real performance of their students.
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We are still learning and changing accordingly.
We continue receiving feedback from teachers, learners, and parents on the implementation
of this report card system, and we will need to continue making minor adjustments.
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Our instruction is truly congruent with our
assessment practices. Having progressed to more authentic ways of assessing our students
has implied adopting reliable and personalized instruments to report our assessment
conclusions. By understanding the nature of the learning process in our particular
context, we have taken steps to develop performance assessments that portray our learners'
real accomplishments, to develop students' awareness of their own progress and
responsibility for their own learning, and to periodically inform students and parents of
the real performance changes that take place in our classrooms.
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Fernando
Fleurquin has been teaching EFL in Montevideo, Uruguay, for 15 years. Currently,
he is the Academic Director of the Binational Center. |
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