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Are Alternative Assessments, such as Rubrics, an Effective Form of Assessment?

An Examination of Alternative Assessment across Content Areas and Grade Levels
Erin E. Adelsberger
University of Maryland, University College

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Abstract
The following paper examines the use and perception of alternative
assessment across content areas and academic levels. Not only are nearly 40% of the
teachers at the elementary level not using traditional, commercially available
assessments, but students are showing positive trends in performance. In addition at
the middle and college level, students are providing positive feedback about the use of
alternative assessments such as rubrics, but they are also showing improved academic
performance when rubrics are used.

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Introduction
As an educator, do you ever wonder if you are effectively assessing your
students learning? Do you wonder if the assessments that we use to measure
performance are appropriate? When assessing student learning, it is important that the
assessment appropriately measures how much the students have learned and if they
have accurately applied their learning. This topic is particularly interesting when applied
to projects and assignments integrating technology. Often these types of projects
involve student writing and open ended assignments that do not lend themselves to
traditional objective, formal assessment. Projects that are open-ended and involve
student constructed responses are subject to the bias of the teacher or person grading
the assignment. For this reason, rubrics are often used as a form of alternative
assessment to measure student performance based on a continuum of evidence.
Alternative assessments, such as rubrics, are an effective form of
assessment across all content areas and all scholastic levels.
Discussion
Black and Wiliams (1998) identified three key features of classroom
assessment that directly correlate and align with increased student achievement. These
features included providing accurate information, providing high-quality feedback to
students, and also involving students in the assessment process. One way for teachers
to improve the efficacy of assessments is to examine and inventory the assessments
that are used in the classroom. One example of examining the use of assessment in the

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classroom can be found in a quantitative research study conducted by Berrand and

Rettig (2011).
Berrand and Rettig (2011) conducted an investigation as to teacher
perceptions of and training in assessments for reading. Reading is the primary
foundation for all other content areas. Referred to as a gateway skill, it is essential that
students are properly assessed in reading so that appropriate interventions can be used
in order to increase student proficiency. In the study conducted by Berrand and Rettig
(2011), 115 teachers and Interrelated/Special Education teachers were targeted to
participate in this study. Of the 115 targeted teachers, only 31 fulfilled the obligations
of the study to be included in the actual sample used to produce the results and
statistics. The participants were sent a survey consisting of 15 questions via
Zoomerang, an online tool used to conduct surveys (Berrand and Rettig, 2011).
Of the questions asked, the pertinent to this specific topic was the survey
questions based on research question number one. Research question number one
asked, What is teachers degree of importance about using current reading assessment
materials? From the survey question, Do you use a commercially available formal
and/or informal reading assessment instrument? Participants were given the option of
listing the commercially available formal and/or informal reading assessment
instruments with this question. 62% of the participants said, Yes and 38% said, No.
Some of the commercially available formal and/or informal reading assessment
instruments participants used include: Core Basal Series-Houghton Mifflin, DIBLES,
Silvaroli, Read Naturally, Scholastics 3 Minute Reading Assessment, MAPS, IRI, Running

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Records, IRAs, PLC Assessment Guidelines, Core Reading Series, Dolch Word List,
EasyCBM, Quick Phonics Screener (QPS), and Woodcock Johnson III (WJ-III) (Berrand
and Rettig, 2011).
Interestingly, this study is limited by the fact that teachers were asked to list the
commercially available formal and informal assessments that they used, but in the
event that they did not use those assessments they were not required to give
information about the other types of assessments that were used. Considering that
31% (the largest subgroup) of the respondents reported having 19+ years of teaching
experience (Berrand and Rettig, 2011) , it can be concluded by the reader that many of
these highly seasoned and experienced teachers have found other forms of assessment
that are valid for assessing reading. If nearly 40% of teachers in a sample size of 31,
meaning approximately 12 teachers, are not using commercially available assessments,
then what types of assessments are they using? This leads to the conclusion that there
is a fairly significant number of teachers that are seeking out and using other forms and
types of assessment. Considering that a fairly large percentage of teachers are using
other forms of assessment for a foundational skill such as reading, it is likely that
teachers are turning toward other forms of assessment across all content areas.
In addition to the above study that presents teacher perception and usage of
assessment, Kirikkaya and Vurkaya conducted a study in 2011 focused not on teacher
perception, but student perception of alternative assessment. The study yielded results
showing a positive impact on both students academic achievement scores, as well as
their attitudes toward science. The study conducted during the 2008-2009 school year

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based on a sample of 132 students (66 female, and 66 male). Sample schools were
selected for the study based on banding/stratifying of school performance based on SBS
2007 scores. Six schools were selected with two coming from each band: low, medium,
and high success levels. At the school level, 7 th grade students were selected to
participate in the study based on random sampling (Kirikkaya and Vurkaya, 2011).
The assessments that the students were given included features that are
common to alternative assessments for measuring student learning. These features
include: enabling students to do something new, to develop their higher thinking skill
on the basis of comprehension, to solve problems, to take responsibility and to
undertake tasks, to have a real world interaction and to make more coherent decisions,
i.e. to make a better evaluation (Kirikkaya and Vurkaya, 2011). Based on these
features, three types of alternative assessments were evaluated in the study conducted
by Kirikkaya and Vurkaya (2011). The alternative assessments examined included
assessments based on structural communication grid (SCG), diagnostic tree (DT), and
predict-observation-explanation (POE) (Kirikkaya and Vurkaya, 2011).
Structural communication grid is an assessment technique aiming at revealing
students cognitive structures and is composed of small boxes. In this assessment
technique that is different from the multiple choice test technique, students are
expected to define the boxes that convey the most suitable responses and to number
the boxes in a correct order A structural grid consists of rows and columns and one
can place pictures, figures, scripts etc. in the bricks depending on the level of students
(Kirikkaya and Vurkaya, 2011).

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Diagnostic Grid assessments are similar to true false assessments, but differ in
that students choose between statements going from basic to more detailed. This
provides information about student detection of fallacies, on-computer preparation, and
the opportunity to notice and correct misconceptions (Kirikkaya and Vurkaya, 2011).
Lastly, the predict-observation-explanation (POE) method of assessment was
also examined. The POE method consists of three phases and it is implemented by
taking the opinions of each student and developing reasons (Kirikkaya and Vurkaya,
2011). This method is used to examine students understanding of concepts.
These three types of assessment were applied in the study using a quasiexperimental method. This differs from a true-experimental method because students
were grouped based on levels in order to ensure that they had the same skill range and
frames of reference for prior knowledge. Looking at the overall results of the study, it
appears that the use of alternative assessments had a positive impact on both student
attitudes and achievement. Of the students placed in experimental groups, the mean
scores obtained from the science attitude post-test are significantly higher than the
mean scores obtained from the science attitude pre-test. Therefore, it could be argued
that the alternative assessment activities carried out on experimental group students
took effect and elicited a positive change in their attitudes towards science (Kirikkaya
and Vurkaya, 2011). In addition, when the achievement pre-test and post-test scores
of the experimental and control groups were examined; significant differences were
observed between the pre-test and post-test total scores of both the experimental
group in each school and the total experimental group (Kirikkaya and Vurkaya, 2011).

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Considering that the studies conducted by Berrand and Rettig and Kirikkaya and
Vurkaya, one can conclude that alternative assessments are on the radar and are
received/perceived positively by both teachers and students. One type of alternative
assessment that is becoming increasingly more popular in classrooms is the use of a
rubric. Rubrics can be applied to assessing student proficiency on performance based
tasks such as projects and problem solving tasks. According to Yoshina and Haranda
(2007), rubrics are moving beyond their traditional use to assess student writing and
being expanded to monitoring and assessing authentic student leaning tasks. The use
of rubrics encourages students to shift their thinking of assessment from What have I
learned? to How well have I learned it?(Yoshina and Haranda, 2007).
In addition to improving student thinking and providing a continuum for
assessing student performance, rubrics can incorporate students with multiple
intelligences (Supon, 1999). In the present age where more and more students are
identified as varied and diverse learning needs, assessments must also take into
account that every student does not learn and work in the same mode. According to
Gardner (1998), there eight intelligences or ways to solve problems. These intelligences
include linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical, bodily-kinesthetic,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic dominances (Gardner, 1998). Students can
display strength in one or more areas of intelligence. Rubrics can be used to incorporate
many different tasks and competencies that speak to these different ways of learning
and ways of demonstrating learning for the same project. Instead of simply measuring

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learning based on one mode of assessment, students can be assessed for multiple ways
of demonstrating learning (Supon, 1999).
Related to Black and Wiliams findings in 1998, the use of rubrics not only
provides accurate assessment information, but students are actively involved in the
assessment process. By involving students in the assessment process
in these ways, teachers can blur the distinction between instruction and assessment
and transform classroom assessment into a moment of learning (Anrade, et al., 2008).
Rubrics can be developed as a mutual learning project produced by both teachers and
students. Involving students in the development of the rubric, deepens understanding
of the student expectations and ultimately leads to improved student performance on
learning outcomes (Yoshina and Haranda, 2007). Student creation of rubrics using
examples of previously produced student work, helps to guide both students and
teachers to establishing levels of competency. These examples of student work can be
used as a reference for quality of student work, in addition to the students use of the
rubric to self-evaluate their work (Yoshina and Haranda, 2007).
In a 2008 study by Andrade, et al., students at the elementary level were studied
in order to see the effect of the use of rubrics on their writing performance.
Students in the control group and the experimental group, as referred to as the
treatment group, both received writing instruction in the form of a Writers Workshop.
The treatment condition differed from the comparison condition in three ways: The
students in the treatment group (1) read a model story or essay, discussed its strengths
and weaknesses, and generated a list of qualities of an effective story or essay; (2)

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received a written rubric; and (3) used the rubric to self-assess their rst drafts. The
students in the comparison group did not read a model story or essay but did generate
a list of qualities of an effective story or essay. The comparison group did not receive a
rubric. Students in the comparison group were asked to review their rst drafts and
note possibilities for improvement in the nal draft. They did not self-asses (Andrade,
et al, 2008). Overall, the students in the treatment group performed better than the
students in the control group. With the treatment that involved student use of rubrics
during the writing process, the mean student score was a low B. On the other hand, the
group of students that did not self-assess their work and use the rubric during the
writing process performed with an average of a high C (Andrade, et al, 2008).
In another case study conducted by Andrade and Du in 2005 it was concluded
that students had positive perceptions of and experience with rubrics, at the college
level. While the following study did not compare student performance with a treatment
and control group, it did look at how students were using a rubric not only as a tool
against which they are assessed, but also how they The study produced qualitative
research based on 14 students, split into focus groups that had all completed Dr.
Andrades 200-level educational psychology course. These focus groups were given
partially structured interviews guided by research questions in a group setting. In the
focus groups, students responses about rubrics were found to be consistently positive.
Though the rubrics are used for assessment purposes, students reported that they used
them to plan and focus their assignments in addition to understanding the teachers
expectations (Andrade and Du, 2005).

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Summary
Overall, this article examines the effectiveness and perceptions of alternative
assessments in the classroom across various educational levels. Studies were examined
that involved the use of alternative assessment at the elementary, middle, and college
level. In addition to taking into account student achievement in reference to these types
of assessments, teacher perceptions and use of alternative assessments were also
examined.
Conclusion
Looking at the results of the studies, it appears that both teachers and students
have a positive attitude toward and response to the use of alternative assessments.
Looking at the elementary, middle, and college level it appears that there is a direct
correlation between student attitude and performance with alternative assessments,
particularly rubrics. This was consistent across content areas and as well scholastic
levels. This would imply that valid assessment of student learning at all academic levels
should include some type of performance based activity where students construct
responses and are graded on a continuum of quality based criteria, in addition to
traditional forms of assessment. A balance in types of assessment will ensure that a fair
and valid measure of student performance is attained.

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