Assessment in

Secondary Social
Studies

Michael P. Vale
DEFINITION
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
OTHER ALTERNATIVE
ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
 ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
Often argued as synonymous to authentic
assessment or part of authentic
assessment and vice versa is used to
determine what students can and cannot
do, in contrast to what they do or do not
know. In other words, an alternative
assessment measures applied proficiency
more than it measures knowledge.
 RATIONALE
• To capture complex outcomes
– Alternative assessment goes beyond the
assessment of knowledge and facts to the
more complex goals of assessing and
developing life-long skills of creative thinking,
problem solving, summarizing, synthesizing,
and reflecting.
 RATIONALE
• To address realistic tasks
– Students are involved in tasks, performances,
demonstrations, and interviews reflecting
everyday situations within realistic and
meaningful contexts
 RATIONALE
• To include good instructional tools
– Alternative assessment focuses on the
students’ strengths, therefore enabling the
teacher to get a more accurate view of
students’ achievement, of what they can do,
and of what they are trying to do
 RATIONALE
• To meet the students’ different learning
styles
– Alternative assessment offers a broad
spectrum of assessment possibilities to
address the different learning styles. Some
students might choose to demonstrate
understanding by writing about something
while others might prefer to perform, to display
visually, or to create a timeline.
 RATIONALE
• To collaborate and interact with
students
– Even though schools usually focus on
students working alone, the real world allows
and encourages people to talk, ask questions,
get help and receive feedback. Denying
students the right to cooperate and collaborate
diminishes the authenticity of the
achievement.
DEFINITION
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
OTHER ALTERNATIVE
ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES
 PORTFOLIO

A purposeful collection of student work that

exhibits the students efforts, progress and
achievements in one or more areas.
 TYPES OF PORTFOLIO
• DOCUMENTATION PORTFOLIO
– A collection overtime showing growth and
improvement reflecting students learning or
outcome overtime.
– Documentation portfolio includes almost
everything from drafts to finished products
from best and weakest students works.
 TYPES OF PORTFOLIO
• PROCESS PORTFOLIO
– A portfolio which shows all facets and phases
of learning.
– Contains extensive amount of reflective
journals to show how students integrate
learning for advanced mastery.
 TYPES OF PORTFOLIO
• SHOWCASE PORTFOLIO
– A portfolio which shows the best outputs of the
students.
– Contain only completed works commonly
agreed upon by the teacher and student to be
displayed. These may include photographs,
videotapes and electronic records of students
works.
 STAGES IN IMPLEMENTING
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
• STAGE 1- Identify teaching goals
– The teacher clearly creates goals to be
achieved with the portfolio assessment.
• STAGE 2- Introducing the Idea of
Portfolio Assessment
– The teacher clearly introduces the concept of
portfolio assessment in the class, why there is
a need to produce one and what are the
expectations of the teacher from the students
portfolio
 STAGES IN IMPLEMENTING
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
• STAGE 3- Specification of Portfolio
Contents
– The teacher explains the Portfolio entries
which can take many form – written, audio,
video recorded, items, artifacts e.g. drawing,
model, etc.
– Essential Parts of Portfolio:
– Cover Letter, Table of Contents and Dated Entries
 STAGES IN IMPLEMENTING
PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT
• STAGE 3- Giving clear and detailed
guidelines for portfolio presentation and
assessment.
 ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
ACTIVITIES
1. Cheer
Compose a cheer for someone in history
who has struggled through something in
your latest unit.
2. Fashion Sketch
Draw an example of what a person would
wear from the era being studied.
 ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
ACTIVITIES
3. Toy
Create a drawing (or a prototype) of a toy
that might have been used from the
children of that specific time period.
4. Documentary
Recreate an important historical event and
document it. Or document a milestone
(local history)
 ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
ACTIVITIES
5. Family Tree
Research the family tree of a famous
historical person.
6. Time Line
Students create a class timeline as they
study different eras. Post the master time
line up in the classroom and add as new
eras are learned.
 ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT
ACTIVITIES
7. Speech
Memorize and recite an important historical
speech.
8. Museum Exhibit
Students each seek/create a museum “artifact”
and set them up in the classroom as a museum,
where they will stand next to their artifact to
explain and answer questions from
visitors. Invite other classes or parents to come
do a walkthrough of your museum.
MARAMING SALAMAT PO!
“WHEN YOU ARE
TIRED WITH WHAT
YOU’RE DOING,
ALWAYS GO BACK
TO YOUR REASON
WHY.”
BREAK THE
ODDS,
CONQUER YOUR
FEARS,
BE THE NEXT LET
TOPNOTCHER!

-MICHAEL P. VALE
Licensed Professional
Teacher (LPT)
September 2016 LET,
4th National Placer