Introduction
Over the last three decades, actually, there has been a major shift in this area around the world (Roscoe, 2013). The concept of assessment in Indonesia through the policy and practice is interesting to discuss. It is demonstrated by the policy in which since 2013 the government through the Ministry of Education and Culture has decided to change the previous curriculum by implementing the new one namely 2013 Curriculum. One of the prominent characteristics of this curriculum is the use of authentic assessment which Shams and Tavakoli (2014) claim as a part of the post method era. This assessment is a mandated assessment to implement by the teacher as stated in the Regulation of Ministry of Education and Culture Number 66 (2013) on Assessment Standard, Number 81A (2013) on Curriculum Implementation, and Number 104 (2014) on assessment of learning outcomes. The use of authentic assessment then will contribute to the improvement of English instruction. Traditional forms of assessment such as standardized English test are considered inappropriate for English Language Learner (ELL) students. Virtually all schools administer standardized test once a year, leaving teachers without regular information throughout the school year on what students have learned. “Even formal language testing for oral proficiency is typically conducted only once annually” (O’Malley & Pierce, 1996). Without additional assessment tailored to the need of language students, the teacher is unable to plan instruction effectively or make an accurate decision about student’s needs and progress.
The implementation of authentic assessment is a part of 2013 curriculum and still considered as a new knowledge in Indonesian education with the lack of explanation and information. Although some studies had similarities with the present study in terms of the types and problems of authentic assessment to be reinvestigated in different context, this study tries to fill the gap by investigating the process of implementation and assessing competences. In addition, because authentic assessment should be planned and administered properly to promote the advantages, the teachers may found it difficult to do. This becomes a classic problem in which the teachers know the theory or concept but they are not able to implement it as required.
The purposes of the study were to explore the way an English teacher implement authentic assessments and the challenges encountered in implementing authentic assessment.
The Regulation of Ministry of Education No.81A (2013) about the implementation of Curriculum 2013, authentic assessment is an assessment which significantly focuses on measuring student’s learning process dealing with their attitude, knowledge, and skill. It has to be able to diagnose whether the student has or has not possessed the knowledge, attitude and skills and how student actualizes their competences. Mueller (2005) which explain in his web that authentic assessment is a form of assessment in which students are asked to perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of knowledge and skills that they learn in school. Student performance on tasks usually determines how successful the student has met specific standard. Accordingly, authentic assessment is frequently mentioned as assessment toward students’ development in the learning process. It has to be able to diagnose whether student has or has not possessed knowledge, attitude and skills and how student actualize their competences. Here are the general principles of authentic assessment based on Ministry of Education and Culture no. 66 (2013): The assessment process should be an integral part of the learning process, not a separate part of the learning process. Assessment should reflect real-world problems, not the school's problem. Assessment should use a variety of score measure, methods and criteria in accordance with the characteristics and essence of the learning experience. Authentic Assessment must be holistic assessment that covers all aspects of learning objectives (cognitive, affective, and sensory-motor).
There are several studies conducted related to the implementation of Authentic Assessment in other subject. The results of the studies are described as follow. Based on the results of the implementation of K ‘13 mentored by Soenoewati (2015) titled “English Core Competencies, Basic Competencies, and Assessment for Junior High School in Curriculum 2013.” in 15 public and private junior high schools in Semarang, nearly 87% of teachers still do not understand about the content, formulation, the order of KIs/KDs and assessment in K ‘13. Some teachers misinterpret KD formulations so that they choose wrong teaching materials. By teaching the wrong materials, they will assess wrongly. The reasons are that the KIs/KDs written in confusing words or phrases, the KDs which are illogical, overlapping, jumping, and too narrow, make the teachers meet difficulties in preparing, implementing, and evaluating learning. As a result, teachers teach only what they understand. This would be detrimental to students. The improvement of the content, formulation, and the order of KIs/KDs and the simplification of the assessment, especially attitude assessment will ease teachers to execute their main duties.
Hidayati, Bentri, & Rahmi (2017) run a research entitled “ Analyzing the Issues in the Implementation of Authentic Assessment in the 2013 Curriculum”. The results show that in terms of the affective aspect, the teachers had not yet been optimal in conducting self- and peer assessment for the students, thus the further improvement is seriously recommended. In light of the cognitive aspect, the teachers had done a very good assessment. They had made a variety of assessment types, especially in the essay and oral tests. However, the assessment of psychomotor aspect was not also optimally done need some improvement. From these results, it is hoped that the teachers can further enhance the assessment procedures of the three criteria for better learning outcomes. Based on those studies, it could be concluded that the implementation of authentic assessment impacts the teaching and learning process in public/private junior/senior high school/university.
In order to carry out a good authentic assessment based on the implementation of 2013 curriculum, teachers must understand clearly the objectives to be achieved. In curriculum 2013, authentic assessment is implemented to measure students’ attitudes, knowledge, and skills. Based on Education Minister Issue No. 66 2013, authentic assessment is an assessment which is conducted comprehensively in order to assess learning input, learning process, and learning output. There are six principles of assessment explained in Education Minister Issue No. 66 (2013). First, assessment should be objective that it is based on standard and not affected by the subjectivity of the assessors. Second, assessment should be continuous and integrated with learning process. Third, assessment should be economical that it should be efficient and effective in planning, implementing, and reporting. Fourth, assessment should apparent which means the assessment procedure, criteria, and foundation for decision making should be accessible. Fifth, assessment should be accountable. Sixth, assessment should be educative which means it educates and motivates students and teachers.
Therefore the researcher examined further the study about the authentic assessment in terms of implementation and challenges of the authentic assessment at a senior high school which has been implemented the 2013 curriculum since 2013/2014 academic year.
RESEARCH METHOD
This research applied a case study which is an ideal guiding framework as it is used in many situations that focus on particular group or an individual (Creswell & Creswell, 2013; Yin, 2009) conducting particular educational practice.
Site and Participant
This study conducted at MAN 2 Model in Makassar, South Sulawesi. The participants involved in this study were two English teachers along with their classes in the school. The two participants are selected among six teachers through some consideration. Specifically, the participants have joined the training of the 2013 curriculum, they are cooperative teacher, and they have ever been to abroad for teacher exchange. Therefore, purposive sampling method as discussed by Fraenkel (Fraenkel, Wallen, & Hyun, 1993) is employed to select the respondent.
Research Instrument
As one of the characteristics of qualitative research, the researcher took a role as the instrument (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Creswell & Creswell, 2013). The researcher conducted the data collection activity by himself in order to adapt to the situation in the field, so that the data can be gathered comprehensively. However, to ease the process of data collection, particular instruments were used. In this research, the researcher used three instruments to collect and to analyze the data. The instruments were document, observation sheet with field notes, and interview.
Data Collection
Documentation
The first technique used to collect the data were documentation as discussed by Creswell (Creswell, 2007; Creswell & Creswell, 2013). Yin (2009) suggested qualitative researchers need to document the procedures or their case studies and to document as many of the steps of the procedures as possible. This technique was valuable in supporting the understanding of the focus of the research. Besides, it was conducted to obtain the supporting data from the next two data collection techniques. The documents were in the form of syllabus, lesson plans and the notes of the teacher.
Observation
In this observation, nonparticipant observation as discussed by (Creswell, 2007; Creswell & Creswell, 2013; Fraenkel et al., 1993; Yin, 2009) used in order to obtain the data completely by observing the behavior or activity of the participant of the study without involving the activity directly. Observation sheets with field notes used as the means to gather the data in the observation. Besides, to support the credibility of the data gathered from this technique, each session of the observation will be recorded. These observations conducted in the classroom according to the teachers’ lesson plan.
Interview
The last technique was interview. There was only one kind of interview conducted with the teacher. It was a semi-structured interview technique as discussed by Creswell (Creswell, 2007; Creswell & Creswell, 2013) used in order to maintain the focus and flexibility in practice (Nunan, 1992). The interview used for getting the real condition from participant’s experiences in implementing the authentic assessment. The interview contains questions points to determine a variety of authentic assessment that is often used by teachers and detail information about implementation of authentic assessment as well as the constraints of what will be found when implementing authentic assessment in English classes. This technique was helpful to verify the data gathered from the document and observation. Testing the feasibility of this teacher interview also used content validity by expert judgment or researchers’ supervisor. All of the interviews were recorded by using phone, camera, or audio tape recorder.
Data Analysis
Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) used as the process of analyzing the data and it was conducted both through and after collecting the data (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007). The data was analyzed after the data completed. The process of analysis was based on the research questions of the study supported by the data collection techniques consisting of document, observation, and interview.
The data from observation with field note and interview were not directly analyzed. However, the data that come from audio recordings (interview) were transcribed. Then they will be organized, coded, categorized, and interpreted based on the themes.
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
The Implementation of Authentic Assessment in the 2013 Curriculum
Both teachers assessed the students comprehensively in the classroom. There were activities regarding the implementation of authentic assessment. How the teacher design the assessment, moreover, determines the quality of the assessment process at which the ideal assessment result derived from. The activities of implementing authentic assessment direct the students’ learning experiences as this assessment is conducted during the instruction. Furthermore, the evaluation aims to give the students chance to do self-assessment.
Designing reliable authentic assessments is as crucial importance as implementing them in instructional activities. Teachers are demanded not only to be able to deliver the learning materials well but also to develop the assessment effectively. The interview indicated that English teachers of MAN 2 Model Makassar had conducted several steps in planning. Based on the results of observation and documentation, the researcher saw the learning tools of the teacher that used in the learning process. Before the learning process was conducted, the teacher prepared a rubric of assessment as the reference in the assessment process.
It clearly stated that curriculum 2013 assesses students’ competence by three domains: attitude competence, knowledge competence and skill competence. In the implementation, the researcher elaborated the way the teacher gather and analyze information of the student. Those were attitude, knowledge, and skill. Each aspect has its own instruments and techniques that could be used by the teacher.
From the data collected through the four meetings class observation for first teacher and two meetings for second teacher that the researcher had done, it indicated that both the English teachers actively assessed the students in the classroom during teaching and learning activity. Moreover, the researcher found both teachers could assess the students successfully. From the elaboration, it is indicated that the teachers actively assessed the students in the classroom. They observed and recorded the students performance both presentation and drama. Related to the Callison’s (1998) statement that the authentic assessment is an evaluation process that involves multiple forms of performance measurement reflecting the student’s learning, achievement, motivation, and attitudes on instructionally-relevant activities. This is what the teachers did in the classroom. They maximized the use of the students’ performance in the class in order to make students get used to speaking, listening, writing, and comprehending English.
The teachers designed the assessment of the students by creating rubric to measure students’ performances which were presentation and drama. Mueller (2005) stated that to assess the quality of student work on authentic assessment, teachers develop rubrics, or scoring scales. A scoring scale used to assess student performance along a task-specific set of criteria. Authentic Assessment Toolbox Mueller (2005), a how-to text on creating authentic tasks, rubrics, and standards for measuring and improving students’ learning, can be a good source for the English teachers in creating an authentic assessment.
From the two teachers, they confessed that the attitude assessment nowadays is only for the homeroom and counseling teacher. That was why they did not overlook the attitude assessment since they are subject teacher. The first teacher did the written test on the second meeting. The form of the written test was description questions. Moreover, the second teacher not only used written test in assessing students. From the documentation, there was a form of discussion observation. However, the teacher did question and answer activity on the second meeting before the other groups presented their drama yet the teacher did not use any instrument in assessing students’ knowledge. The first teacher divided the students into groups and asked all students to perform an oral presentation while the second teacher asked the students to perform a drama. Due to the student, the oral presentations and drama were divided into a group task where groups of 4-5 students for presentation and 9-10 for drama and then presented their oral presentation/drama. The meeting ran for 90 minutes for the presentation and 60 minutes for the drama. Both the oral presentation and drama took 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the number of students in the group. Each student was required to speak. The oral presentation/drama was marked by the teacher, and the teacher was assisted by students’ paper for presentation and script for the drama. Although students presented in a group, they received an individual marked criteria sheet and an individual mark. Immediately after the presentation/drama, the teacher provided the group with oral feedback on their group’s performance. According to Newmann, King, & Carmichael (2007), a monologue is not the only type of performance task. The teacher can also ask students to do telling story, debate, or even doing written assessment. All of the students’ performances were observed and recorded by teachers by using instruments. In fact, the first teacher assessed the students’ paper of presentation too. From the documentation, the first teacher used two instruments of performance assessment. They are rating scale of presentation and rating scale of paper with the rubric. The second teacher used one instrument of performance assessment. She used assessment rubric of English drama which is developed by herself to assess the students’ performance in the drama.
The first teacher gave evaluation for the students by giving remedial for the students who did not achieve the minimum passing grade. Similar with the first teacher, the second teacher gave remedial for the students who did not pass. But the second teacher gave enrichment for the students who already passed. It is reasonable to think that these kinds of activities are easily implementable in senior high school classrooms, although such an approach might warrant some additional professional development for the teachers and classroom organizational considerations. The ultimate goal probably was to investigate the conditions that best support the production of lasting and flexible knowledge for a wide range of students. Furthermore, the use of assessment by the teachers in the classroom was not only regarding how the teachers assessed the students while doing presentation or drama. It was more likely that the teachers’ ways of using assessment in the class, such as giving instruction, questioning, and giving feedback conducted to improve the learning process for the next meeting.
The Challenges Encountered by the Teachers in Implementing Authentic Assessment
The process of implementing authentic assessments in curriculum 2013 at MAN 2 Model Makassar did not run properly. The English teachers seemed to experience some constraints in assessing students’ competence. The English teachers have generally understood both the concept of the assessment system in the curriculum 2013 and the idea of authentic assessment but they have not yet got in depth about all type of assessments. However, there were still some difficulties related to the teacher used English in the class. In fact, based on the observation, the researcher did not find the teachers’ own difficulties in assessing students in the class.
Furthermore, from the information that the researcher got from the interview, according to the teachers, the main problems they had in assessing students in the classroom were the students and the time they had in the classroom. For the first teacher, students’ were varied in the classroom and teachers' prior knowledge of their students influences the objectivity of their performance ratings. Personality, effort, work habits, cooperativeness, and the like are all part of a teacher's perception of the students in his or her class. Often, these prior perceptions influence the rating a student is given: the likable, cooperative student with the pleasant personality may receive a higher rating than the standoffish, belligerent student, even though they performed similarly. Assessing students on the basis of their personal characteristics rather than their performance lowers the validity of the assessment. Each of these concerns threatens the validity of teacher interpretations and scores (Russell & Airasian, 2012).
For the second teacher, the assessment method was quite complex and time-consuming so that the teacher confused and shifted her focus from teaching to mostly assessing. However, she had another duty to do besides teaching at the school. That was why her work mostly postponed and it made her to finish the unfinished work late at school.
Above all, managing time and scoring the result of the students’ were the two most complicated duties to conduct by the teachers. The researcher assumed that the problems of implementing the assessment in relation to the managing time and scoring might have been prevented by designing an application that might facilitate the teachers in manipulating and presenting scores easily. The teachers need an online system in having a mutual relationship between them so that they might save their time and effort. With the existence of the online system, the effort that the teachers, especially the class teachers, spend might be minimized. The researcher also expects that there will be a system that might be implemented easily in the process of score input, score integration and description printout of the results of the students’ learning process.
CONCLUSIONS
The teachers employed several authentic assessment types to assess the students’ competences in the 2013 Curriculum. The teachers employed observation, written test, and performance assessment. They were sometimes conducted in one class session, and some other were conducted separately.
The teachers in the study assessed only two out of three competencies as suggested by the 2013 Curriculum covering knowledge, and skills. Those competencies sometimes were conducted with the same technique of the assessment, and some others were conducted exclusively by the particular technique.
Finally, the discussion of the last major research question about the challenges of implementing authentic assessment in 2013 Curriculum encountered by the teacher reveals several important things. The teacher encountered student-related issues, time and effort consuming, and validity issue. One challenge created a domino effect on the existence of other challenges. Besides, some challenges were encountered consciously and some others were not. The most important thing dealing with the teacher in the study in implementing authentic assessment and facing the challenges of it was that they tried to fulfill the demand of the 2013 Curriculum. However, the English teacher seriously did some efforts to conduct the assessment as effective as possible. The authentic assessments were always prepared organized. They conducted the performance assessment in such a way that all students could demonstrate their expertise equally. They also considered managing the activities well. Besides, they monitored the students intensively. Nevertheless, as with all assessments, the major challenges are to ensure that the assessments help improve classroom instruction. It is a good fact since the teacher spent her time and energy to educate the students in relation to the demand of the curriculum and the context of their teaching.