Using Performance-Based Assessment in Social Studies

Performance-based assessment
- A form of classroom assessment utilized by teachers through serving and making
judgments regarding the learners’ demonstration of knowledge and skills by means of
creating a product, making presentations, and constructing a response (McMillan, 2007)
- An alternative assessment that is carried out in the context of authentic task
- The type of performance depends on the required competencies to be performed
- The emphasis is on the students’ ability to perform task by practicing their own authentic
work with their knowledge and skills

Performance task may include;

1. Skills demonstration
2. Group presentation
3. Oral work
4. Multimedia presentations
5. Research projects

PERFORMANCE TASK is the HEART of performance-based assessment

Why?
- Can be used to engage students in meaningful learning

Things to remember in planning and implementing performance task

 Teach the requisite knowledge
- Teachers allow students to create a product or perform a task by discussing first to
knowledge they have to possess
- Teachers must understand that in order for the learners to reach the top, they must learn
how to use the stairs
  Create and communicate the scoring rubric
- It gives the learners a glimpse of what aspects of the performance or production should
be given more emphasis
- Promotes in them the creativity at what they do
- Promotes fairness on the side of the teachers, particularly in the evaluation of the product
or performance

 Be a facilitator
- It requires more effort and time
- During this time, teachers must be very careful in assisting the learners for them to target
and exemplify the desired goals and outcomes

Cajigal and Mantuano (2014) identified various strengths and weaknesses of performance-based
assessments:

STRENGTHS
1. Performance assessments clearly identifies and clarifies targets

o Performance tasks that are authentic

o Performances offers a direct way to assess what the students know and can do
within the variety of realistic contexts

2. Performance assessment allows students to exhibit their own skills, talents, and
expertise

o Learners have the freedom to choose

o Gives them flexibility
o This encourages learners
o Assesses the ability “to do” of the students
 3. Performance assessment advocates the constructivist principle of learning

o Allows the learners to use their schema and create their own knowledge at their
own pace
o Gives the learners opportunity to showcase their creativity
o More engaged in active learning and give more opportunities to demonstrate
o Use their previous knowledge to build new knowledge structures
o Actively involved in exploration and inquiry through different tasks

4. Performance assessment uses a variety of approaches to students’ evaluation

o Has a huge array of choices

o Offers students a variety of ways of expressing their learning
o Increases the validity of student’s evaluation

5. Performance assessments allows the teachers to explore the main goal and processes
of teaching and learning

o Enables teachers to see the alignment of what is asked with what is performed
o Give the teachers the opportunity to evaluate
o Teachers may reflect and revisit learning targets, curriculum and instructional
practices, and standards as they utilize performance-based assessment

LIMITATIONS
1. Development of high-quality performance assessment in tedious process

o Teachers need to make sure that the learning targets can be harnessed in a single
performance or product
 o Teachers must give enough time for learners to practice or create a task and time
for the performance itself
o Teachers must again create a reliable scoring rubric to avoid personal biases

2. Performance assessment requires a considerable amount of time to administer

o Takes days to accomplish all performances, depending on the number of

individuals or groups
o Teachers have to make sure that there is a huge amount of time allotted from the
start of practice to the implementation proper

3. Performance assessment takes a great deal of time to score

o A complex performance or product requires much time to score

o Crafting of a high-quality scoring rubric is recommended to short and the scoring
time

4. Performance task scores may have lower reliability

o Allows learners to demonstrate their learnings in various ways

o Affect the scoring capabilities of teachers, especially in observing and evaluating
performances of different types

5. Performance task completion may be discouraging to last able students

o The selective nature of performance tasks may diminish student motivation if they
cannot accomplish task

TYPES OF PERFORMANCE TASK IN SOCIAL STUDIES

 The optimum goal of performance tasks is to target all learning outcomes aligned with a
goals, objectives, and assessment
 Performance tasks must promote active participation and lifelong learning
 Should also possess the ability to be integrated in various disciplines and in real life
 Performance tasks must be challenging on the level of learners that they should see the
tasks are worth practicing and striving for
 Performance tasks can be in the form a problem solving, inquiry tasks, determining a
position, demonstration tasks, exhibits, or presentation tasks

SOME PERFORMANCE TASKS THAT CAN BE USED IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Output Outcome Example
Students will create a sound
reaction paper on political
Constructed publishable
dynasties. Students will
Position paper reaction paper on socio-
identify and analyze the pros
political issues
and cons of political
dynasties.
Students will conduct a
small-scale survey regarding
Collaboratively completed the environmental and social
survey research on social problems in a barangay. The
Simple survey research
problems in the local information that will be
community gathered will be analyzed and
presented through an oral
presentation
Role play/drama Presented performance that Students will role-play the
mirrors the community’s roles and concerns of the
needs and once which can be community members like
easily achieved by working population growth, expansion
together of economic activities,
pollution, and social
 dysfunctions.
Students will assess the needs
of the community based on
Planned programs for local
observations. The results of
interest and engage in
Community action plan the survey will be presented
community-based work for
in the class can be given to
positive causes
the authorities for proper
action
Students will prepare their
own product. In front of the
Student-ventured economic
panelists, the students will
activities that require them to
Business/project proposal present their products. If
use the concept of supply and
approved, the students shall
demand
market their products on
social media
Each student will create an
Student-planned and artwork that symbolizes their
Exhibit organized exhibit on cultural ethnic affiliation. All products
identity shall be displayed for public
viewing (Esmeralda, 2018)

Steps in creating performance-based assessment

Designing a performance-based assessment requires a tedious process.

1. Defining the purpose of assessment

o As teachers always keep in mind that in choosing assessment strategies, you must
always rely on the learning targets

2. Identifying the appropriate task

o After identifying the purpose of assessment teachers can now proceed to
identifying and/or creating aligned performance
 3. Using rubrics as an assessment tool
o It is now clear that performance assessment is not a walk in the part. It requires
time, effort, and sometimes money
o Clear statements of the level of knowledge you expect the students to achieve for
them to receive a given grade
o The dimensions of the quality of work you expect the students to achieve
o Commentaries describing your expectations of knowledge and quality that
distinguishes each grade

References:
https://education.ky.gov/curriculum/standards/kyacadstand/Documents/
Performance_Assessments_in_Social_Studies_Module.pptx
https://www.illinoiscivics.org/news/using-performance-assessments-in-social-studies/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b42PK-WVhqY

Prepared by:
Jaflin Jhates C. Boholano
BEED 2-1