Directions to the Grade 8 student: You are in charge of setting up a room for an awards banquet at school. A total of 122 people will attend. The school has tables that seat either 8 people or 10 people. No empty seats are allowed. How many of each size table will you need to make sure that everyone has a seat? Show all your work and explain in words how you arrived at your answer.

1.           To what extent was this student successful or unsuccessful on this Math Performance Assessment? Please explain in some detail why the student was successful or unsuccessful.

 

The student did not explain in words how he/she arrived at an answer, nor did the student specify how many of each table was needed. This student did not successfully provide evidence that the problem was understood or solved. The student also did not complete the first problem of dividing 122 by 8 correctly. The answer of six is both incorrect and incomplete. This student appears to have misunderstood the directions as well as not understanding the formula needed to arrive at the answer. There are mathematical errors throughout the problem solving.

       

2.         Can you always tell from a performance assessment what went wrong if the student is not successful? Explain your answer in some detail.

      

I dont believe that you can always tell where the performance is flawed. In a case such as this, I would wonder if the student understood what the target was in the first place. It is obvious that he/she has basic mathematical skill issues. But I question whether the student just decided not to waste time with it suggesting motivational issues, or whether the student just didnt understand the process.  Stiggins (2005) states that :

drawing conclusions about reasoning proficiency on the basis of the quality of student products can be risky. If performance is weak, did the student fail to perform because of a lack of basic knowledge, failure to reason productively, or lack of motivation? As previously stated, without followup assessment by other means, we just dont know. (p. 74)

 

3.      Consider the other types of assessment Stiggins refers to in your text. Would it be of value to use any other types of assessments in a situation such as the one presented in this case study? Identify other types of assessments you might use and explain why in some detail.

      

I referenced Table 3.1 on page 69 to help me decide if there were a better way to assess this knowledge. I believe that using Personal Communication would help to clarify what this student knows and is able to do. A Selected Response test could also measure for the correct answers. We can use selected response exercises to determine if students can reason well. (Stiggins, p. 73) P

 

4.         How would you change the performance task to ensure that the assessment was valid and reliable?  (Validity and reliability are discussed in your text on page 14 and again on page 20).

 

Using a performance assessment that included a manipulative type of response could help provide differentiation for a student who may have difficulty showing knowledge through written response. I might also include some selected response in the assessment. This assessment is an opportunity to use a real-life example of math skills. I would certainly include a rubric for the student. A student, like myself, that has math word problem anxiety would not show a reliable product. Providing alternate methods for assessment for students such as myself would help. Collecting various samples of student work over the course of time would help to show whether the student continually could not do the math problem, or if it was a single variant.