Alternative Assessment An assessment in which students create an original response to answer a certain question. Students respond to a question using their own ideas, in their own words. Examples of alternative assessment are short-answer questions, essays, oral presentations, demonstrations, performance assessment, and portfolios. Other activities included in this type are teacher observation and student self-assessment. * Components of Alternative Assessment a) Assessment is based on authentic task that demonstrate students’ ability to accomplish communication goals. b) The teacher and students focus on communication, not on right and wrong answers. c) Students help the teacher to set the criteria for successful completion of communication tasks. d) Students have opportunities to assess themselves and their peers.
Performance-based Assessment Performance assessment ( Mueller, 2010) is an assessment in which students are asked to perform real world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge and skills. It is a direct measure of student performance because the tasks are designed to incorporate context, problems and solution strategies that students would use in real life. It focus on processes abd rationales. There is no single correct answer; instead students are led to craft polished, thorough and justifiable responses, performances and products. It also involved long-range projects, exhibits, and performances that are linked to the curriculum. In this kind of assessment, the teacher is an important collaborator in creating tasks, as well as in developing guidelines for scoring and interpretation. Details regarding performance-based assessment will be discussed in chapter 7.

Performance-Based Assessment Performance-based assessment is a direct and systematic observation of the actual performances of the students based from a predetermined performance criterion (Zimmaro, 2003). It is an alternative form of assessing the performance of the students that represent a set of strategies for the application of knowledge, skills, and work habits through the performance of tasks that are meaningful and engaging to students (Hibbard, 1996) and (Brualdi,1998) in her article “implementing Performance Assessment in the Classroom.” From the definitions if the two well-known authors, students are required to perform a task rather than select an answer from a given list of options. It also provides teacher information about how the students understand and apply knowledge and allow the teacher to integrate performance assessment in the instructional process to provide additional learning activities for the students in the classroom.
Paper and Pencil Test vs. Performance-Based Assessment Paper and pencil test measures learning indirectly. When measuring factual knowledge and when solving well-structured mathematical problems, it is better to use paper and pencil test. In this case, teacher asked question which indicates skills that have been learned or mastered. Usually assessed low level thinking skills, or beyond recall level. While performance-based assessment is a direct measure of learning or competence. This indicates that cognitive complex outcomes, affective and psychomotor skills have been mastered. Examples of performances that can be judged or rated directly by the evaluators are preparing a microscope slide in laboratory class, performing gymnastics or a dance in a physical education class, cooking demonstration, diving in a swimming class. In these kinds of activities, the teacher observes and rates the students based from their performances. The teacher or evaluator provides feedback immediately in how the students performed to carry out their performance task.

FRAMEWORK OF ASSESSMENT APPROACHES Selection Type | Supply Type | Product | Performance | True-false | Completion | Essay, story or poem | Oral presentation of report | Multiple-choice | Label a diagram | Writing portfolio | Musical, dance, or dramatic performance | Matching type | Short answer | Research report | Typing test | | Concept map | Portfolio exhibit, Art exhibit | Diving | | | Writing journal | Laboratory demonstration | | | | Cooperation in group works |

Performance Tasks Performance tasks provide a common means of assessment. As the title implied, the students will be asked to do something. Meaning, the students will not just answer a question such as selected-response test format, writing an essay but to present students’ work or do something. Some examples of performance tasks in different areas are: build a house using ice pop sticks, demonstrate dissection of shark, draw the map of the Philippines, write a poem in iambic form, solve math problems, write a sports story, translate English paragraph to Filipino, Demonstrate a modern dance, present a five-minute drama performance, and others. These performance tasks can be utilized for assessment.
Forms of Performance-based Assessment 1. Extend response task a. Activities for single assessment may be multiplied and varied. b. Activities may be extended over a period of time. c. Products from different students may be different in focus. 2. Restricted-response tasks d. Intended performance more narrowly defined than in extended-response-task. e. Questions may begin like a multiple-choice or short-answer stem, but then asks for explanation, or justification. f. May have introductory material like an interpretative exercise, but then asks for an explanation of the answer, not just the answer itself. 3. Portfolio is a purposeful collection if student work that exhibits the student’s efforts, progress and achievements in one or more areas. The details of portfolio assessment will be discussed in the succeeding chapter.
Components of Performance-based Assessment There are three basic components of a comprehensive performance-based assessment: developmental checklists, portfolios, and summary report (Meiseis,S.J.). 1. Developmental checklist. The teachers are going to use checklist to create profiles of their students so that they can assess the individual progress in developing skills, mastering important behaviors and acquiring knowledge. The checklist should cover mathematical thinking, language and literacy, and physical development so that it will reflect appropriate developmental practices. 2. Portfolios. These are purposeful collections of students’ work that exhibit efforts, progress, and achievement in various areas of he curriculum over a period of time. The teacher and students complied together all completed and ongoing, work in the classroom .’As they work and talk together about the students’ interest and progress, they can develop new activities for the students to focus on.