VALUES AND ALTERNATIVE ASSESSMENT 2

I practice this both in my teacher education classes and my ESL teaching. Nevertheless, my point here is that even if one agrees that these methods are superior, they are still value laden, and they still involve complex moral issues and moral dilemmas. In this section I explore the moral underpinnings of alternative approaches to assessment. I center the discussion around a series of moral dilemmas that inhere in the processes of instituting and maintaining portfolio assessment in the language classroom (Genesee & Upshur, 1996). Many other approaches are possible in alternative assessment, but the portfolio is probably the best known of its techniques. In addition, such a focus allows me to be more concrete in my discussion. A portfolio is an organized collection of different pieces of work by a student that is presented in lieu of a traditional examination for the purposes of assessment. Portfolios are often thematic but loosely structured; their function is to demonstrate both the range and the quality of a student’s work (Cole, Ryan, & Kick, 1995; De Fina, 1992; Genesee & Upshur, 1996). Several important features of the portfolio contrast with aspects of traditional assessment mentioned earlier. First, the portfolio is designed to show what the student can do and does know as opposed to what he or she cannot do and does not know. For this reason, an important element in the process of compiling a portfolio is that the student be able to choose which pieces of work are included and which are not. Second, portfolios are intended to give a richer picture of the student’s abilities and understanding than can be gleaned from one-word multiple-choice answers; thus, portfolios often focus on more extended, contextualized pieces of work such as written essays.