Alternative Assessments

Scoring Rubrics

Performance-based Assessments

Alternative Assessments

Teachers that integrate multiple intelligences activities into classroom instruction often turn to alternative assessments. Alternative assessments are exactly what their name implies. They are alternatives to traditional paper and pencil tests. There is a time and place for paper and pencil tests but educators who implement MI Theory should seek to employ assessments that better reflect student learning. Learning tasks that emphasize different intelligences may lead to more creative assessment strategies that are often "performance-based."

Performance Tasks and
Performance-Based Assessments

Performance tasks that offer elements of student involvement and student choice work well as assessments for MI activities. Performances ask students to apply what they have learned, often using real-life applications for authentic real-world problems. Performance tasks serve as systematic methods for assessing skills and applied knowledge.

Alternative Assessments are based on second language acquisition research. The following brochure was developed by graduate students at George Mason University. It includes references to the research that supports the use of alternative assessments that are performanced-based.

Alternative Assessments for the Foreign Language Classroom

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Criteria and Scoring Rubrics

Meaningful assessments strive to measure in-depth understanding of key concepts, core knowledge, and target skills. First, teachers should establish appropriate criteria for these assessments. Students can be invited to participate in this process. Scoring rubrics that reflect these criteria are an effective way to measure performance on designated tasks.

Sample Rubric

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Performance-Based Assessments:

The following are possible performance-based tasks that are listed according to the 8 intelligences. This is by no means an exhaustive list but should serve as a starting point for creating assessment tasks that reflect what students know and what they can do with the target language.

LINGUISTIC

• Give a speech, make an oral presentation
• Write and/or tell a narrative story
• Develop and present a report on a topic

LOGICAL-MATHEMATICAL

• Graph important numerical data from the unit of study
• Create a Venn diagram to compare two concepts or representative ideas
• Compile numerical data, analyze data, and draw conclusions

BODILY-KINESTHETIC

• Dramatize a situation or scene (active role playing)
• Represent target concepts with body language and physical movement
• Show relationships through dance or mime

VISUAL-SPATIAL

• Create diagrams and charts representing target content
• Build puzzles with graphic elements to reinforce critical concepts
• Draw pictures or take photos construct a visual essay related to the unit of study

NATURALIST

• Record outdoor observations that serve as representative analogies for identified concepts or target vocabulary
• Develop a project that involves flora or fauna
• Draw observations of the natural world

MUSICAL-RHYTHMICAL

• Write a song with lyrics related to the unit of study
• Present a rhythmical representation of target vocabulary, phrases, or "chunks" of language
• Share an original rap song that reinforces important ideas in the unit

INTERPERSONAL

• Group story board to share unit concepts
• Participation in short teaching episodes
• Interviewing others to learn more about the target content

INTRAPERSONAL

• Samples from journal writing
• Self-evaluation of selected items
• Sketches (pictorial or linguistic) that relate personal experiences to target content

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