Have you ever wondered whether your tests, quizzes or assessments truly measure what your students can do with the language, or are they just looking at what students can memorize or explain about the language? In this episode we’re diving into Integrated Performance Assessments, or IPAs, an effective way to assess how students are actually able to use the grammar, vocabulary and cultural understanding. An IPA assesses how students engage with the language through the interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes. If you’ve been working toward proficiency-based instruction and looking for assessments that align with those goals, this episode will help you with that.
Topics in this Episode:
Many teachers are moving toward proficiency-based instruction, but assessment often remains disconnected from communication goals.
If our goal is communication, then assessment should provide opportunities for students to communicate.
What is an Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA)? IPAs assess students through the three modes of communication: Interpretive, Interpersonal, Presentational
The three tasks are connected rather than separate activities.
Students move through a sequence that mirrors real-world communication: Receive information, Discuss information, Share information
An IPA focuses on what students can do with language rather than how many grammar rules they can identify.
If you’ve been teaching with proficiency in mind, you’ve probably asked yourself an important question: How do I assess communication in a way that reflects what students can actually do with the language?
Traditional quizzes and tests often measure vocabulary memorization or grammar knowledge in isolation. While those skills have their place, they don’t always show whether students can use the language to interpret messages, interact with others, and share ideas. That’s where Integrated Performance Assessments (IPAs) come in.
What Is an Integrated Performance Assessment?
An Integrated Performance Assessment is a proficiency-focused assessment that evaluates students through the three modes of communication:
Interpretive Communication
Interpersonal Communication
Presentational Communication
Rather than treating these modes as separate and unrelated tasks, an IPA connects them through a common theme or context. Students begin by interpreting authentic language, then use information from that experience to interact with others, and finally create a presentational product. The assessment mirrors how communication happens in the real world. We listen, read, discuss, and share information in connected ways.
The Three Parts of an IPA
1. Interpretive Communication
Students engage with an authentic resource such as a text, video, audio recording, infographic, advertisement, or social media post. Their task is not to translate every word. Instead, they demonstrate comprehension by identifying key ideas, supporting details, and cultural perspectives. The interpretive task provides the foundation for everything that follows.
2. Interpersonal Communication
After working with the authentic resource, students engage in communication with another person. This may take the form of a conversation, discussion, interview, problem-solving task, or collaborative decision-making activity. Students use information gathered during the interpretive phase to exchange ideas and negotiate meaning.
3. Presentational Communication
Finally, students create a product that communicates information, opinions, or recommendations to an audience. Depending on the level and context, this could be spoken, written, or multimedia in nature. The presentational task builds directly from the previous two stages, allowing students to synthesize what they have learned and communicated.
Why IPAs Matter
One of the biggest strengths of an IPA is that it measures language use rather than isolated language knowledge. Instead of asking students whether they know a grammar rule, an IPA asks them to use language to accomplish a purpose. When students complete an IPA, they demonstrate what they can actually do with the language.
Well-designed IPAs:
Align with proficiency goals
Reflect real-world communication
Encourage meaningful language use
Connect learning and assessment
Provide a clearer picture of student performance
Common Misconceptions About IPAs
Many teachers assume that IPAs must be large, complicated projects that take weeks to complete. In reality, IPAs can be scaled to fit different levels, schedules, and instructional goals.
Another misconception is that every IPA requires extensive preparation or lengthy authentic resources. Effective IPAs focus on purposeful communication, not complexity. The key is designing tasks that naturally connect the three modes of communication while remaining appropriate for your students’ proficiency levels.
Getting Started
If you’re new to IPAs, begin by identifying a theme or essential question that fits your current unit. Then consider how students might:
Interpret information from an authentic source.
Discuss or exchange ideas about that information.
Present their own message to an audience.
Keeping the assessment connected across all three modes is what makes it an integrated performance assessment. Remember that assessment should reflect communication. IPAs help us move beyond testing what students know about the language and toward measuring what they can do with it.
Ready to Learn More?
Designing effective IPAs becomes much easier when you have a clear planning process, examples, templates, and proficiency-aligned task models.
In my Integrated Performance Assessments (IPA) Quick Win Course, I walk through the entire process of creating meaningful, proficiency-focused assessments that align with the three modes of communication. You’ll learn how to design connected tasks, create effective rubrics, and adapt IPAs for different proficiency levels.
Are your assessments really capturing what your students can do with the language? Or are they just measuring memorization and correctness? In today’s episode, we’re diving into what it looks like to assess for performance and proficiency. I’ll share tips for aligning tasks to the modes of communication, using Can Do Statements to drive growth, and giving feedback that supports risk-taking rather than only focusing on what is not completely accurate.
Topics in this Episode:
Assessment and feedback are teaching tools, not just measurement tools
Questions to consider when looking at feedback and assessments in your classroom:
Do Your Assessments Reflect Performance & Communication?
Do Assessments inInclude the 3 Modes of Communication
Do Students Understand How They’re Being Assessed?
Does the Feedback Encourage Growth?
Assessment doesn’t have to feel like a judgment. It can be an opportunity to motivate by showing what was done well and guidance on improving on that.
Let your assessments and feedback tell students: ‘You can do this—and here’s what’s next.
How do you implement IPAs effectively in your classroom? Today’s episode is a Leveling Up episode, where I coach Judy, a German teacher in Illinois. Implementing IPA’s effectively is the area where wants to level up her teaching practice.
Suggestions:
Begin by incorporating IPAs in one unit or topic. This step-by-step approach allows you to refine your techniques and identify what works best for your students.
Authentic materials can be just about anything: a short video, a photo, a brochure. Create a Pinterest board where you can pin authentic resources that you find on the internet.
Develop clear and detailed rubrics to evaluate students’ performance in IPAs.
Begin with 2-3 modes on the IPA, then add on the other modes with future IPAs.
Offer formative practice opportunities before the actual IPA to help students become familiar with the assessment format.
Use AI tools, such as ChatGPT to create a possible IPA, or at least offer a template to use.
Create a Pinterest board where you can pin authentic resources that you find on the internet
Action Plan:
This Week:
Choose one unit or topic from your curriculum where you will create an IPA.
Create a clear and detailed rubric that aligns with the IPA tasks
The Coming Weeks:
Design and implement formative practice activities related to the selected IPA unit.
Administer the IPA for the selected unit, using the rubric to evaluate students’ performance.
What is a highlight or takeaway from the first 100 episodes of the World Language Classroom Podcast? Leave a 20-20 second audio recording. I hope to include you in episode 100.
How do you approach assessment in your language classroom? Is it about quizzes and tests on particular vocabulary and language structures, or do you focus on students demonstrating what they can do with the Target Language? In this episode I am going to focus on Integrated Performance Assessments (or IPA’s). This type of assessment provides a chance to determine what students are able to do with the target language, rather than just what they know about the language.
Topics in this Episode:
Henshaw and Hawkins’ recommendations around assessments in Common Ground
aligning instruction with assessment
Success Criteria
what an Integrated Performance Assessment (IPA) is
the 3 sections of an IPA: interpretive, interpersonal, presentational
Teachers want to hear from you and what you are proud of in your classroom. Join me on the podcast.
We record conversations remotely, so you can be anywhere.
