1. Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
Part I. The Foundation
Section One—Aligning the Pieces
Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
Chart 1—Standards for Foreign Language Learning
Chart 2—From Traditional Instruction to Performance-Based Instruction
Characteristics of Performance-Based Assignments and Assessments
Chart 3—Traditional versus Performance Assessment Methods
Chart 4—Traditional Assessments to Performance-Based Assessments
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2. Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
Any discussion of curriculum reform or change must consider the totality of the program,
not just isolated parts. That is, new standards require new assessments and instructional
techniques. To be effective, the three components must be aligned. To facilitate this
alignment, the authors have chosen to use the ACTFL Oral Proficiency Scale as the
underlying framework that enables programs to be articulated K-16.
Standards Instruction Assessment
Five National Standards From Traditional From Traditional
for Foreign Language Instruction Assessment
Learning to to
Performance-Based/ Performance-Based
Proficiency-Oriented Assessment
Instruction
(Chart 1, p. 3) (Chart 2, p. 4) (Charts 3 & 4, pp. 6 & 7)
The Superglue: the ACTFL Scale
(Section Two p. 9)
To fully understand and implement the Standards, new instructional techniques and new
district-wide assessments will require considerable resolve and dedication. Districts
should develop a timeline for implementation that includes:
• opportunities for staff development,
• the adoption of standard-based textbooks and ancillary materials,
• curriculum writing opportunities that include writing courses of study and district-
wide assessments,
• program pilots, if needed, and implementation,
• program evaluation, and
• revisions as needed.
For most districts this will be a multi-year endeavor. It is important to involve as many
foreign language teachers as possible in the process. Teachers who participate actively in
the change process will more likely implement the resulting program as intended. For
more ideas on implementing these changes please see p. 46.
How Many Standards and Which One(s)?
One critical decision that districts must make is which of the Standards to adopt.
Nationally there are eleven World Language Standards in five areas (p. 3). At the present
time, the PA Department of Education is promoting three Standards but these have not
been mandated. The PSMLA Standards delineate four of the National Standards at four
ACTFL proficiency levels (p.16). However many Standards a district adopts, that is
how many should be tested district-wide.
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3. Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
Communication
• Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and
exchange opinions. (Interpersonal)
• Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics. (Interpretive)
• Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of
topics. (Presentational)
Cultures
• Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of
the cultures studied.
• Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the
cultures studied.
Connections
• Standard 3.1: Students reinforce and further their knowledge of other disciplines through the foreign language.
• Standard 3.2: Students acquire information and recognize the distinctive viewpoints that are only available through
the foreign language and its cultures.
Comparisons
• Standard 4.1: Students demonstrate understanding of the nature of language through comparisons of the language
studied and their own.
• Standard 4.2: Students demonstrate understanding of the concept of culture through comparisons of the cultures
studied and their own.
Communities
• Standard 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.
• Standard 5.2: Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment
and enrichment.
Chart 2, on the following page, highlights the changes from traditional grammar-based lessons to functional,
performance-based/proficiency-oriented instruction that is needed if students are to attain these standards.
________________________
Standards for Foreign Language Learning: Preparing for the 21st Century. National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project. (A collaborative
effort of ACTFL, AATF, AATG, AATSP) Yonkers, NY. 1996.
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4. Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
Traditional Instruction Performance-Based / Proficiency-Oriented Instruction
In these classes students sit passively in rows, In classes where students genuinely achieve the ability to converse
textbook and notebook open and pen in hand. The in the language, regularly-planned meaningful interaction in the
teacher lectures in English, citing rules that are foreign language with the teacher and with each other is the rule.
intended to make the students perform errorlessly in Students hear the teacher speak in the foreign language about
later practice sessions involving sentence translation, interesting and useful topics, have opportunities to talk to each
textbook exercises, tape-recorded drills, or fill-in-the– other to try out their new language, are challenged to express their
blank worksheets. The students seldom talk during meanings in speech and writing in any way they can, and are
class except when called upon by the teacher to applauded for their efforts to communicate (DiPietro, 1987). With
respond to a question, usually with a word, sometimes the goal of cross-cultural sensitivity and awareness, students are
even with a single letter (e.g. Teacher; take off the guided by the teacher to read foreign language texts, listen to
”ar” and add…? Student: “o”). authentic segments of recorded speech, hypothesize about the
If correct answers are not forthcoming, students are language they are learning, and act out new vocabulary or everyday
often made to feel that they have not paid attention, situations. In some classes, students may participate in story-telling
disappointed the teacher, or have intellectual activities (Morgan & Rinvolucri, 1983), carry out real-life
deficiencies. The classroom is a musty museum of situations (Crookall & Oxford, 1990), or explore other academic
rules, words and sentences with the teacher as the tour disciplines (Brinton, Snow & Wesche, 1989), all in the foreign
guide and the students as disinterested tourists. language. The hallmark of these classes is the belief that to learn a
foreign language requires “talking in the language, not just talking
about it.”
___________________
Brinten, D., Snow, M. & Wesche, M. (1989). Content-based second language instruction. New York: Newbury House/Harper Row.
Crookall, D. &Oxford, RL. (1990). Simulation, gaming, and language learning. New York: Newbury House/Harper Row.
DiPietro, R.J. (1987). Strategies interaction. Cambridge University Press.
Morgan, J. & Rinvolucri, M. (1983). Once upon a time: Using stories in the language classroom. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Source: Donato R. (1995). “From traditional instruction to performance-based instruction.” In PSMLA Guide to Assessment: The
Chapter Five Foreign Language Outcome.
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5. Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
Characteristics of
Performance-Based Assessments
It has been often said that a good assessment item is also a good instructional item. Some
of the characteristics of “good” performance assignments and assessments are that they:
• motivate students to learn a second language. Good performance assignments and
assessments engage students by appealing to their interests and capabilities.
• are cooperative rather than competitive (student’s work is measured by a scale/rubric
rather than a comparison to the work of other students). Pair and group work are
advocated, as is peer editing.
• Focus primarily on what students can do, rather than what they can’t do.
• go beyond the “ one right answer” type of questioning.
• should be used more often as student proficiency increases; reliance on traditional
assessments (true/false, multiple choice, discrete item tests) should decrease in use.
(See Chart 3 on the following page.)
• provide the scale/rubric to students before the begin the assessment, taking the
mystery out of how the work will be rated.
• provide explicit definitions of “success” by providing examples (models, anchor
papers) of previous student work that was rated at various levels. (“This is what an
Intermediate Low speaker sounds like!”)
• encourage students to integrate skills through holistic assignments.
• provide specific feedback to guide instruction (for the teacher) and learning (for the
student) toward standards.
• enable all students to attain the goal (standards); students are encouraged to redo and
revise their work in multiple iterations (process orientation) not just “right or wrong
—let’s move on”.
Thus performance-type assessments tend to be complex, requiring more than one day to
complete. The assignments may include an assessment component or there may be a
separate in-class, on-demand assessment at the completion of the assignment.
In this document, sample performance assessment tasks will:
• focus first and foremost on what the students can do (functions).
• and then look at how well students can do it (grammatical accuracy). As noted on
the ACTFL Scale, at the lower proficiency levels, there is a high tolerance for
errors as students attempt to create with language. Seeking perfection is
unrealistic!
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6. Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
Traditional Performance Assessments
Assessments
sticsCharacteri  Discrete points are  Emphasis is on the process of learning as well as
assessed. the product.
 Students are assigned  Assessment tasks involve the application and
scores based on integration of instructional content. Tasks are
number or percentage often open-ended, offer students a wide range of
correct. choice and input, and culminate in individual or
 Tests are scored group performances.
easily and quickly.  Language is assessed holistically. Scoring
 Items are often requires judgement and use of scoring criteria (for
multiple-choice, example, rubrics).
matching, or  Assessments often involve multi-step production
true/false. tasks or require multiple observations and thus
 Items test passive require extended time to complete.
knowledge. (Students  Tasks require students to demonstrate knowledge
are merely required actively through problem solving, inferencing,
to recognize the and other complex cognitive skills.
correct answer, not to  Tasks are situation based or based in the real-
produce it.) world contexts.
 Grades are given  The process encourages students to become
based on comparisons independent learners.
to other students.
Use
 To assess learning  To assess:
outcomes.  learning outcomes
 To allow  learning processes
comparisons across  instructional objectives
populations.  progress toward standards attainment
 To encourage:
 student involvement and ownership of
assessment
 collaboration between students and teachers
 As effective learning-to-learn tasks
FormatsSample
 Multiple-choice  Portfolios
response tests.  Demonstrations
 Discrete-point tests.  Presentations
 Interviews
 Essays, journals, letter writing
Adapted from: K-12 Foreign Language Education. The ERIC Review. Educational Resources Information
Center. US Department of Education. Volume 6. Issue 1. Fall 1998.
Not Enough Time for Performance Testing?
Teachers often feel there is not enough time for newer types of assessment.
Performance tests should take the place of (not be in addition to)
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7. Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
traditional tests, as students become more proficient. Please see the following
illustration.
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8. Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
Novice Low---- Novice Mid---- Novice High---- Intermediate Low ---- Intermediate Mid ----- Intermediate High
As students become more proficient, the teacher should use increasingly fewer traditional assessments and increasingly more performance-based
assessments. Decisions on testing should be made district-wide to ensure proper articulation from school to school and level to level.
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9. Aligning Standards, Instruction, and Assessment
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