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THE INTEGRATED PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Twenty Years and Counting

November 29, 2023

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LEARNING TARGET SUCCESS CRITERIA

We are learning about IPAs – Integrated Performance Assessments – by studying the ACTFL IPA book.

I know I’m successful when

  • 1. I understand the history of the IPA.

  • 2. I understand the big ideas behind IPA use.

  • 3. My team and I can develop better IPAs.

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PART 1: �A BRIEF HISTORY

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ACTFL PROFICIENCY GUIDELINES + OPI (1982)�ACTFL PERFORMANCE GUIDELINES FOR K-12 LEARNERS (1998)�ACTFL PERFORMANCE DESCRIPTORS FOR LANGUAGE LEARNERS (2012)

The provisional guidelines and OPI heralded a shift in instructional focus from “what” was taught to “what outcomes” learners could accomplish.

These descriptors define performance outcomes in terms of

  • language function
  • contexts/content
  • text types
  • language control
  • vocabulary use
  • communication strategies
  • cultural awareness

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NATIONAL STANDARDS FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE LEARNING IN THE 21ST CENTURY (1996,1999,2006)� - THE FIVE CS

Re-conceptualized several traditional aspects of language study

1. broadening the definition of the content…

2. the depiction of communication in terms of three modes…

3. an anthropological view of culture…

  • Cultural anthropology studies human societies and elements of cultural life. Linguistic anthropology is a concentration of cultural anthropology that focuses on language in society.

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A NEW PARADIGM FOR PLANNING AND TEACHING (2010 STUDY)

focuses on what they (students) should know and be able to do with the language and how they should be activity engaged in learning and constructing meaning in real-world contexts beyond the classroom setting

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SOMETIME BETWEEN 2010-2014

ASD provides Monday early outs and encourages creation of content collaboration teams.

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THE ACTFL IPA 2015 SECOND PRINTING �IMPLEMENTING INTEGRATED PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT�

“What has heretofore been missing for instructors, however, was a valid way of measuring student progress toward standards within a proficiency-based instructional context.”

“Assessment is something we should do with students rather than to them.”

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SOMETIME AROUND 2018

ASD World Language teams land in IPAs.

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�WHAT A GREAT IDEA !

page 19, right column, paragraph 1

“Instructors can form communities of practice with their colleagues in which they learn about the IPA together and then collaborate in the development and implementation of IPAs.”

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PART 2: �THE INTEGRATED PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

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INTEGRATED PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

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WHY WAS THE IPA DESIGNED?

page 22, column 1, paragraph 1

  1. to develop an assessment prototype that would measure learner’s progress in meeting the Standards for Foreign Language Learning in the 21st century.
  2. to conduct research on the effectiveness of the assessment in measuring learner’s progress toward the Standards.
  3. to use the assessment to prompt curricular and instructional reform.

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BIG IDEA DISCUSSION PROTOCOL

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BIG IDEA 1: EDUCATIVE TESTS (WIGGINS, 1998)��

Those that improve the performance of both learner and teacher.

They must feature authentic tasks, or those that mirror the tasks and challenges encountered by individuals in the real world.

  • Read the characteristics of authentic tasks on the green handout.
  • How are our teams doing with authentic tasks on IPAs?
  • What are our strengths? Where are our weaknesses?

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BIG IDEA 2: SEAMLESSNESS

page 19 #5

“The IPA framework supports a seamless connection between instruction and assessment.”

page 6 last sentence

“Finally, it represents a visionary approach for integrating teaching, learning, and assessment in a seamless and inclusive manner so that these elements work in concert together to foster classroom learning. “

  • What does this mean?
  • What does this look like on our teams?

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BIG IDEA 3 : STANDARDS-BASED INSTRUCTION

page viii last paragraph

“I use the IPA to inform my curriculum design on a day-to-day basis because it helps me implement standards-based instruction.”

  • What does this mean?
  • What does this look like on our teams?

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BIG IDEA 4: THE WASHBACK EFFECT

page 22, right column, first paragraph

“The results of the initial IPA project illustrated that the IPA had a “washback effect” on instruction – that is, it prompted teachers to modify their classroom practices to enhance their students’ performance.”

Read the washback effect section on the handout.

  • What does this mean?
  • What does this look like on our teams?
  • What modifications to your classroom practices have occurred as a result of using the IPA?

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BIG IDEA 5: BACKWARDS DESIGN�

Current research calls for assessment practices whose primary purpose is to inform teaching and learning.

Read page 4, column 2, paragraph 1

  • What does this mean?
  • What does this look like on our teams?

Essential standards

Formative assessments

Learning activities

Pyramids

Learning ladders

Learning sequences

Teacher feedback

Student self-reflection

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BIG IDEA 6 : FEEDBACK

Page 18, column 2, paragraph 2

“Feedback is an integral part of IPA assessment, since the main purpose or function of the assessment is to improve language performance across the modes of communication.”

What does this mean?

What does this look like on our teams?

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THE SECOND EDITION (2013 +) WAS A CATALYST FOR NEW RESEARCH.�WHAT DID THEY FIND OUT?

Choose a group of 4.

Read one of the sections below.

    • The first decade of IPA research (pages 22-23)
    • Learner perceptions of the IPA (page 24)
    • Teacher perceptions of the IPA (page 25)
    • Assessment of the Three Modes of Communication (pages 25-26)

Share important details with your group.

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INITIAL SUCCESSES AND CHALLENGES:�THE FIRST DECADE OF IPA RESEARCH

SUCCESSES

  • Washback effect: modify classroom practice to enhance learners’ performance
    • be aware of the need to emphasize all three modes
    • Use authentic documents
    • Add more interpersonal speaking tasks
    • Use rubrics
  • Learners enjoyed interpersonal emphasis
  • ML learners were able to draw upon developed skills

CHALLENGES

  • Hard to find authentic resources
  • Difficulty in preparing students for interpersonal tasks
  • Early interpretive mode data was low possibly due to a lack of exposure to authentic resources
  • High school programs too grammar-based, lacking meaningful communication

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KEY LESSONS FROM 20 YEARS OF IPA RESEARCH

The IPA

    • is a highly effective standards-based performance assessment.
    • is professional development reform tool.
    • can help students become aware of their own growing abilities.

Continued professional development is needed since

    • Some learners still struggle with certain tasks
    • Some instructors still struggle with task preparation.
    • It’s hard to balance formatives and summatives across three modes!

In all cases, making the shift toward the IPA has involved ongoing support for and reflection on implementation of the IPA. Such professional development not only supports the work of designing and implementing IPAs, but also promotes use of a full range of practices for effective world language instruction.

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THE INTEGRATED PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

Twenty Years and Counting

February 28, 2024

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LEARNING TARGET SUCCESS CRITERIA

We are learning more about IPAs – Integrated Performance Assessments – by studying the ACTFL IPA book.

I know I’m successful when

  • 1. My team and I can improve our IPAs based on research from the book.
  • 2. My team and I can make an IPA related goal for summer collaboration.

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DISCUSSION 1: �BACKWARD DESIGN

Page 30, right column, first paragraph

“Backward design provides a framework for the planning and implementation of instruction that is linked to the standards and the authentic performance tasks of the IPA .”

What does this mean?

    • pages 31-32: three stages of IPA design

What does this look like on our teams?

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DISCUSSION 2: �IPA INTERPRETIVE TASK BEST PRACTICE

Study Appendix D-3 (pages 152-154) and Figure 2.2 (handout).

1. Should we simplify parts of the interpretive source?

    • What is an authentic document?

2. Should we simplify parts of the interpretive task?

    • Read and discuss page 12 paragraphs 1- 2 on your handout.

3. Should we eliminate parts of the interpretive task?

    • Read and discuss page 11 last paragraph left column on your handout.

Complete interpretive tasks are designed to connect literal (bottom up) and interpretive (top down) comprehension skills as done in reading/language arts

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IPA INTERPRETIVE TASK BEST PRACTICE

Handout page 12, right column, paragraph 1

“In the feedback phase after the interpretive tasks have been done, students should be given an opportunity to analyze how accurate their contextual guessing was.”

    • This requires a feedback phase between Task 1 and Task 2.

Page 9, right column, paragraph 3

“Learners complete the interpretive task using a comprehension guide that supports them in obtaining information. The information acquired in the interpretive task is necessary for learners to be able to complete the interpersonal task.”

    • This requires us to write well-connected IPAs.

What does this look like on our teams?

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IPA INTERPRETIVE TASK BEST PRACTICE

Page 39, left column, last paragraph

“In sum, preparing learners to comprehend and interpret an authentic text in the IPA requires using a number of instructional strategies that will give them confidence in dealing with the target language in its authentic form.”

  • Review the bulleted items (page 39, right column).

  • What does this look like on our teams?

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INVESTIGATION: NEW INTERPRETIVE GUIDES

Page 9, column 2, paragraph 3

“New in this third edition is the inclusion of three different comprehension guides – one for interpretive reading, interpretive listening, and interpretive viewing.”

Let’s look!

  • Interpretive Viewing pages 146-148
  • Interpretive Listening pages 149-151
  • Interpretive Reading pages 152-154

What does this look like on our teams?

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DISCUSSION 3: �IPA INTERPERSONAL TASK BEST PRACTICE

Page 34, left column, paragraph 3

“During an interpersonal task, two learners exchange information with each other, expressing feelings, emotions, and opinions about the theme or task. Each of the two speakers comes to the task with information that the other person may not have, thereby creating an information gap, or a real need to provide and obtain information through the active negotiation of meaning.”

  • Review the bulleted items (page 43, right column).
  • What does this look like on our teams?

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DISCUSSION 4: �IPA PRESENTATIONAL TASK BEST PRACTICE

Page 43, right column, last paragraph

“In the presentational task learners communicate a message to an audience of listeners or readers. …presentational communication is referred to as one-way communication. …These products are often the culminating phase of the IPA and build upon the interpretive and interpersonal tasks.

Page 44, left column, first paragraph

“The rubrics used to evaluate presentational communication include the criterion of impact, which refers to the degree to which the message maintains the attention of the reader or listener.

  • Review the bulleted items (page 44).
  • What does this look like on our teams?

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DISCUSSION 5:�IPA RUBRICS

What do you notice about the interpretive rubric (page 158) as opposed to the interpersonal rubrics (page 161) and presentational rubric (page 174)?

  • Page 14, column 2, paragraph 2 “This edition of the IPA manual… embraces current research indicating that interpretive skills do not develop in a linear manner as speaking and writing do, but rather involve the use of top-down and bottom-up processing in concert. For this reason, the IPA interpretive rubric does not reflect the proficiency-based orientation of the rubrics for the interpersonal and presentational modes. Instead it enacts the view that the interpretive mode can be assessed along a continuum of performance… and that this continuum is the same regardless of the linguistic level or age of the learner.”
  • What does this look like on our teams?

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IPA RUBRICS = FEEDBACK

Read the purpose of rubrics on your handout (page 1).

    • How can these rubrics solve many of our teams’ concerns?

Reread #2.

    • Page 18, right column 2, paragraph 2

“Feedback is an integral part of IPA assessment, since the main purpose or function of the assessment is to improve language performance across the modes of communication.”

    • Page 4, right column, paragraph 2

“The IPA is predicated on an Understanding by Design approach in which learners understand the criteria and standards for the tasks they are striving to master before they are asked to perform. This model features a cyclical approach to second language learning and development, in which learners perform, practice and receive feedback before, during and after the IPA.”

What does “feedback to learners” look like on our teams?

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POSSIBLE GOALS FOR TEAMS

  • Use the backwards design 3 –stage template to build/modify units.
  • Use the bulleted lists to improve mode work in each unit.
  • Better connect the three tasks on IPAs
  • Use the new guides to write better Interpretive IPAs
  • Use IPA rubrics to provide better feedback along the way and on IPAs

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REFLECTION AND GOALS�SURVEY