Imparted by Prof. Smith, Riverdale Country School
In language education, assessment should reveal not only what students know but how they communicate as users of language in real time. Because AI complicates traditional measures of student learning and performance, this workshop will reimagine assessment as an ontological practice–a way of making communication itself and the human presence and capability it reveals–visible in the act of learning. Grounded in Ralph Tyler’s principle of aligning objectives, instructional practice, and evidence of student learning and in Tom Guskey’s framework of assessment as a driver of growth, we will explore how feedback, transparency, and integrity shape authentic demonstrations of linguistic understanding. Through discussion and hands-on redesign, participants will identify unmeasurable objectives, reconceive integrity as visible capability, and design transparent, performance-based tasks that prioritize spontaneous interaction and reflection. Through this work, participants will reimagine an assessment that foregrounds presence, process, and meaning–qualities of authentic communication that move beyond algorithmic imitation and toward genuine human connection.
