Designing an Integrated Performance Assessment in a Mixed-Level Class
German 2 meets three times a week for 50 minutes at a diverse urban high school. The class of 30 includes four heritage speakers, three students with IEPs requiring extended time, and two students who recently arrived from Ukraine and are new to German. The district requires at least 70% target-language use and a unit on 'Schule in Deutschland.' The teacher wants to build an integrated performance assessment with interpretive reading of a German school schedule, an interpersonal information-gap about classes, and a presentational task creating an ideal timetable. Constraints include one shared device cart, a copier limit of 60 pages per week, and two weeks before grades close. The teacher worries that novices will switch to English during the interpersonal task and that heritage speakers will dominate.
1. Sequence the three IPA tasks and explain the scaffolding needed to keep the unit comprehensible for novices and appropriately challenging for heritage speakers.
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Sequence interpretive before interpersonal before presentational. In the interpretive phase, use a one-page authentic-style schedule with visuals and cognates; pre-teach only high-frequency items such as Mathe, Pause, AG, and Montag. Students answer scaffolded questions: identify the day, the subject, and the room, then infer one pattern. This keeps cognitive load manageable and avoids translating the whole schedule. In the interpersonal phase, give A/B role cards with an information gap: each student has two classes the partner lacks. Provide sentence frames such as 'Ich habe Mathe am Montag um neun' and 'Wann hast du ...?' Heritage speakers receive an extension card comparing a German schedule with an Austrian or Swiss one; they are language models during pair work but not translators or unpaid teachers. For IEP students, chunk the task, allow extended time, and provide a word bank. The presentational phase then recycles the same language: create an ideal timetable and present five sentences. This backward design ensures that the final task assesses language already practiced, not new content.
2. What routines and assessment moves will sustain at least 70% target-language use and prevent heritage speakers from dominating?
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Target-language use depends on routines and accountability, not just teacher insistence. Establish predictable German openings, instructions with gestures or visuals, and a visible 'Auf Deutsch, bitte' routine. Give novices rehearsed chunks and choice boards so they can participate without switching to English. During the information gap, assign roles and use a participation rubric that rewards asking questions, not just giving answers. Structure groups so heritage speakers are not always with novices; rotate roles and give heritage speakers an extension task that requires comparison and justification in German. The teacher circulates with a clipboard, noting evidence for the interpersonal score: task completion, comprehensibility, and language control. For the device cart, rotate one station at a time rather than planning a whole-class online task. Assessment should be separate for interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes so a strong reader is not automatically credited as a strong speaker. This also protects quieter novices from being overshadowed.