An Alternative Model of Project-Based Assessment of Writing Competence in Junior High School

Abstract

To improve the quality of education outcomes, English teachers have to enhance their
competence in assessing students learning. In fact, in Curriculum 2013, many English
teachers find difficulties in assessing students learning. One of the reasons is lack of
knowledge about the model of assessment for Curriculum 2013. Therefore, in this article, an
alternative model of project-based assessment is proposed. The focus here is on the English
writing competence. This article actually concerns with a proposed model of assessment with
pilot study data. The pilot study was conducted by adapting research and development (R &
D) procedure. The participants of the study were English teachers from Yogyakarta and
graduate students of English Language Studies, Sanata Dharma University. The technique
used were questionnaire and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The data were verbal and
numerical. The result of the pilot study shows that the model is good but needs some
improvement. It also reveals some principles in developing the effective project-based
assessment model: practical, holistic, systematic, systemic, relevant, authentic, and
meaningful. In addition, the project-based instrument should have: clear objectives, clear
scoring criteria, clear instruction, clear items and feedback.

Keywords: alternative model, project-based assessment, writing competence