Assessment

Reading both Kuma chapter 13 and the Assessment article, lots of the information reminded me of things we have talked about and learned in our ENG 345 class which is about assessment in TESOL. The article I felt seemed to make it clear that authentic forms of assessment are necessary. This means having oral presentations, portfolios, writing assignments, discussions, observation as a form of assessing as opposed to multiple choice tests, fill in the blank tests, etc. We have been saying the same thing in my other class. It seems that students get more out of authentic assessment and it does a better job of assessing the student.

The Kuma chapter, discusses observing and assessing observations. This in it self is an authentic form of assessment. I felt Kuma discussed the importance of observation quite well. I really liked the M & M scheme and all of the ten steps for assessing observations. I have been doing my 100 observations for TESOL in an ESL classroom, reading this chapter has helped me think about things a bit differently. I almost wishes I had read this chapter before I started my observations.