Using Hybrid Assessments to Develop Civic Competency in History

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the problem of how to best design authentic writing assessments in history that support learners in demonstrating the types of higher order thinking skills needed for effective citizenship. Recent research has primarily focused on curriculum interventions intended to build disciplinary literacies through various types of document-based essay tasks. The authors argue for increased use of “hybrid” tasks that not only emphasize historical thinking, but also require ethical reasoning and decision-making as students consider enduring societal issues connected to the history curriculum. They offer recommendations for creating this type of task based on an in-depth analysis of an assessment implemented with tenth grade history students.

KEYWORDS:

• Classroom-based assessment
• authentic assessment
• history education

Notes

¹ The persuasiveness score would have been higher if students were simply arguing for or against the Mexican-American War instead of having to argue in terms of the nation's Manifest Destiny; 39% of the students would have had persuasiveness scores of “adequate” if this had been the standard.