Assessments may not always be fun, but they are a very necessary part of the learning process - and they don't always have to be difficult and stressful either! Teaching students how to use and reflect on their own assessment data can be a great tool to improve both their language and overall study skills in addition to the more traditional applications such as tracking and reporting on their skill growth.
This essay outlines a portfolio assessment I designed for a former employer. This format was partly chosen due to the real life constraints of the district (as teachers were not allowed to design their own formal assessments) as well as to fill in some important gaps teachers had noticed were missing in the assessment data. In addition, this alternative format of assessment was more likely to motivate and engage the otherwise largely reluctant students.