WEEK 2 REQUIRED READING AND DISCUSSION CHILDREN/YOUNG LEARNERS:

Alternative Assessment

Note: You can download all of the required readings for Weeks 1 through 5 as the Course
2 Ebook:https://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/shaping2paths/c2-paths-ebook.pdf
or as a compressed (zip) file, with all the readings as separate files:
https://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/shaping2paths/all_required_readings_weeks1-5.zip
The Ebook and articles from can be downloaded to a computer and viewed in Acrobat
Reader, or to a tablet or smartphone and placed in “eReader” software such as Google
Books on Android or iBooks on iPad, or the Adobe Reader app for either system.

As You Read
Take notes as you read. You may refer to your notes when you take the graded Weekly Quiz at
the end of the week.
Introduction
1. What are some types of alternative assessment the author provides? Can you add a few
more?
2. What are three main reasons to use alternative forms of assessment? What other
reasons might there be?
3. What are some of the issues that might affect alternative assessment?
4. What is cooperative learning and why is it important for managing alternative
assessments?

Cooperative assessment activities

For each type of assessment, take notes on what is described: What is the role of the teacher in
each? Of the students? What is the best level, or possible levels of proficiency for each?
Correcting individual quizzes and homework

Observing students at work

Interviews

Peer composition – brainstorming and editing

Oral presentation

Group projects

Group processing

Rubrics
Several of the projects mention evaluation forms (oral presentation and group projects) or
checklists of various kinds (observing students at work, interviews, group processing, etc.)
Several examples of these rubrics or checklists are given in the Appendix to the article. You will
also be seeing a more complex rubric for evaluation of your lesson plan at the end of this week.
Once you have begun using rubrics for assessment, you will see how valuable they are,
particularly for creative projects.

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by the University of Oregon.
Paths to Success in English Language Teaching. Copyright 2015 University of Oregon. All rights reserved.
Required Reading and Discussion - Children/Young Learners Week 2 Page 1
Required Reading

Ghaith, G. (2002). Using cooperative learning to facilitate alternative assessment. English

Teaching Forum, 40(1), 26-31. Retrieved from
http://americanenglish.state.gov/files/ae/resource_files/02-40-3-h.pdf
This article discusses the use of cooperative learning, an instructional strategy that
utilizes group work to structure classroom interaction, to facilitate alternative assessment
in the second or foreign language classroom. It highlights the importance of cooperative
learning in assessment because assessment includes both linguistic and non-linguistic
objectives, and meeting these objectives requires continuous and performance-based
assessment. The article offers seven examples of cooperative assessments and shows
how they can be used. - See more at:
http://americanenglish.state.gov/resources/english-teaching-forum-2002-volume-40-
number-3#child-190

Download this reading directly in PDF format:

https://d396qusza40orc.cloudfront.net/shaping2paths/week2/w2-ghaith-alt_assess.pdf

After you read

Forum Questions for Teachers of Children and Young Learners

Question preparation:
The reading and this week's video show a number of ways to perform alternative assessment to
evaluate students' active performance as they learn language and use it for authentic purposes.
After reading, go to the appropriate level/age Required Discussion Forum for Week 2. In the
Discussion Forums you will Evaluate the classes you have seen in the video and discuss how
alternative assessment might apply in your particular teaching situation.
The Required forums are linked from >All Discussion Forums under COMMUNITY in the left
sidebar.)

Questions for the Required forum:

If you have already used collaborative learning for assessment of small groups or teams in
your own classes, describe what type of assessment you have done and how you organized the
groups.
If you have not already used collaborative learning for assessment, which of the strategies
that Ghaith suggests would be appropriate for your students and setting?
(Be sure to indicate the level/age of your students in your posts.)

Go to the Required Discussion Forum for your age/level of student. The Required forums are
linked through >All Discussion Forums in the left sidebar under COMMUNITY. If any discussion
thread gets very long and is difficult to scroll to the bottom to post your response, feel free to
create a new thread with your comments on any of the questions above or a related idea.

Note: You may participate in any forum (see the >All Discussion Forums link in the left
sidebar), but you will be graded only on the Required Forums. You will need a minimum
of two responses (new threads or comments) in at least one Required forum for each
week. Each post/comment must be substantive, related to the topic of the week, and
unique. If you share an idea that you found somewhere else, you MUST include the
This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by the University of Oregon.
Paths to Success in English Language Teaching. Copyright 2015 University of Oregon. All rights reserved.
Required Reading and Discussion - Children/Young Learners Week 2 Page 2
 source of the idea, such as the URL. Be especially sure to include the source if you are
copying and pasting from somewhere else so that you avoid plagiarism. Plagiarism is a
violation of the Coursera Honor Code and may be grounds for removing you from the
course.

NEXT STEPS

For further study on this week's topic, see the Optional readings and resources for Week 2:
https://class.coursera.org/shaping2paths-003/wiki/week2_optional_readings_and_resources
This list is divided into Children/Young Learners and Teens/Adult Learners, including
Academic.

After you’ve posted in this week’s required discussion, feel free to start a discussion thread in
General Discussions about any of these articles, or general questions/comments you have
about alternative assessment. Look for the Coursera Help article about using the forums
effectively before you create a new thread: https://courserahelp.zendesk.com/hc/en-us

This is a program of the U.S. Department of State, administered by the University of Oregon.
Paths to Success in English Language Teaching. Copyright 2015 University of Oregon. All rights reserved.
Required Reading and Discussion - Children/Young Learners Week 2 Page 3