O'Malley and Pierce Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – O’Malley & Pierce

Chapter 2 is about designing authentic assessment. In designing authentic assessments the chapter starts out by explaining the teaching and learning models. Then it goes on to explain the review of various types of assessment and their advantages. At the end of the chapter it explains the steps into designing the assessments. It also mentions the importance of rubrics and how to score authentic assessments. Of course the importance of validity and reliability is discussed in depth for the reader to understand their place in the assessment.

What I learned in reading the chapter, the importance of making sure what I am assessing matches the students knowledge from classroom instruction and local curriculum. Authentic assessment is making sure that the assessment is reflective of what the student has learned based on their experiences in the classroom. There are different types of authentic assessment: there are ORAL INTERVIEWS, STORY OR TEXT RETELLING, WRITING SAMPLES, PROJECTS/EXHIBITIONS, EXPERIMENTS/DEMONSTRATIONS, CONSTRUCTED-RESPONSE ITEMS, TEACHER OBSERVATIONS, and PORTFOLIOS. These types of assessments are either scored by a rubric or scale. In designing an assessment these steps need to be followed: Build a team (colleagues, administration, and community), determine the purposes of the authentic assessments, specify objectives, conduct staff development, collect sample assessments, try out the assessments, and review the assessments. The chapter discussed the importance of staff development and training, like a rater training before this type of assessment is adopted so that the test can be used effectively so that scoring and grading is consistent among staff/school. An effective assessment is an assessment that will help improve instruction and benefit the students.