Basic Elements of Authentic Assessment: y y y y y y y y y Students are asked to develop responses rather than choose from a list of possibly

correct answers Fosters higher order thinking Takes a direct approach to evaluate projects and the process of creating the final product Aligns with classroom instruction Uses student work which has been collected over time Based on clear criteria given to students Allows for multiple interpretations Students learn to evaluate own work Relates more to classroom learning

Ten Features of Authentic Assessments 1. Authentic activities have real-world relevance: Activities match as nearly as possible the real-world tasks of professionals in practice rather than decontextualized or classroom-based tasks 2. Authentic activities are ill-defined, requiring students to define the tasks and sub-tasks needed to complete the activity: Problems inherent in the activities are ill-defined and open to multiple interpretations rather than easily solved by the application of existing algorithms. Learners must identify their own unique tasks and sub-tasks in order to complete the major task. 3. Authentic activities comprise complex tasks to be investigated by students over a sustained period of time: Activities are completed in days, weeks and months rather than minutes or hours. They require significant investment of time and intellectual resources. 4. Authentic activities provide the opportunity for students to examine the task from different perspectives, using a variety of resources: The task affords learners the opportunity to examine the problem from a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives, rather than allowing a single perspective that learners must imitate to be successful. The use of a variety of resources rather than a limited number of preselected references requires students to detect relevant from irrelevant information. 5. Authentic activities provide the opportunity to collaborate: Collaboration is integral to the task, both within the course and the real world, rather than achievable by the individual learner. 6. Authentic activities provide the opportunity to reflect: Activities need to enable learners to make choices and reflect on their learning both individuall and socially. 7. Authentic activities can be integrated and applied across different subject areas and lead beyond domain-specific outcomes: Activities encourage interdisciplinary perspectives and enable students to play diverse roles thus building robust expertise rather than knowledge limited to a single well-defined field or domain. 8. Authentic activities are seamlessly integrated with assessment: Assessment of activities is seamlessly integrated with the major task in a manner that reflects real-world assessment, rather than separate artificial assessment removed from the nature of the task. 9. Authentic activities create polished products valuable in their own right rather than as preparation for something else: Activities culminate in the creation of a whole product rather than an exercise or sub-step in preparation for something else. 10. Authentic activities allow competing solutions and diversity of outcomes: Activities allow a range and diversity of outcomes open to multiple solutions of an original nature, rather than a single correct response obtained by the application of rules and procedures.

How Does Authentic Assessment Compare to Traditional Assessment? With traditional assessment students are asked to demonstrate their knowledge of subject matter based on multiple choice or true/false questions and matching. Unlike authentic assessment, traditional assessment does not show the thought process which led students to arrive at the answer they selected. In contrast to traditional assessment, authentic assessment is much less structured and provides a more in-depth method of evaluating understanding in a subject area. The process is valued just as much as the product when the assessment is complete. The chart below compares and contrasts some characteristic of authentic and traditional assessment. Authentic Assessment ..................................................Traditional Assessment perform a task................................................................select a response real-life task...................................................................simulated and contrived application and original construction.................................recall or recognition student-based................................................................teacher-based direct evidence...............................................................indirect evidence ongoing over a long period of time....................................completed once for a specific amount of time integrated seamlessly within learning...............................completed once learning is "finished" Though there are differences in the two, it does not mean they cannot be used together. Sometimes, these two types of assessments make great partners. An widely used example is how to choose a chauffeur if there was a choice between one that has only passed the writing portion of the test and one that has only passed the driving portion. Most

would choose the chauffeur that has passed the driving portion (the authentic assessment), however most would prefer their chauffeur has past both parts, the authentic assessment and the traditional assessment. This would insure that the chauffeur had basic knowledge of driving and road laws, as well as the skill to drive.

Types of Authentic Assessment: y Scoring Guides/Rubric: A scoring scale is used to assess student performance along a task-specific set of criteria. A list of required elements are grouped together to make the scoring guide with point specific designations. Portfolio/E-Portfolio: A collection of a student's work specifically selected to highlight achievements or demonstrate improvement over time (e-portfolio is electronic and usually accessible on the Internet). Authentic Task: An assignment given to students designed to assess their ability to apply standard-driven knowledge and skills to real-world challenges. Self-Assessment: Evaluating one's own performance to determine strengths and weaknesses, as well as reflecting on what improvements can be made to enhance product Oral Interviews: The teacher asks the student questions about the subject matter Story or Text Retelling: Student retells main ideas or selected details of text experienced through listening or reading. Writing Samples: Student generates narrative, expository, persuasive, or reference paper. Projects/Exhibitions: Student works with other students as a team to create a project that often involves multimedia production, oral and written presentations, and a display. Experiments/Demonstrations: Student documents a series of experiments, illustrates a procedure, performs the necessary steps to complete a task, and documents the results of the actions. Constructed-Response Items: Student responds in writing to open-ended questions. Teacher Observations: Teacher observes and documents the students attention and interaction in class, response to instructional materials, and cooperative work with other students.

y y y y y y y y y y

Why Use Authentic Assessment? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Highlights constructive nature of learning and education Allows students to choose own path for demonstrating skill set Evaluates how effectively students can directly apply knowledge to a variety of task Legitimizes learning by completing it in a real-world context Allows for collaboration among students and across curriculum

Authentic Assessment: Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages Focuses on analytical skills and the integration of knowledge Promotes creativity Reflection of real-world skills and knowledge Encourages collaborative work Enhances written and oral presentation skills Direct match of assessment, instructional activities, and learning objectives Emphasizes integration of learning over time Challenges of Authentic Assessment: y y y Usually takes longer to plan, complete, and evaluate than other methods of assessment Difficult to ensure assessment accurately aligns with curriculum and standards Allows for greater margin of evaluator bias/judgments of assessment Disadvantages Time-intensive to manage, monitor, and coordinate Difficult to coordinate with mandatory educational standards Challenging to provide consistent grading scheme Subjective nature of grading may lead to bias Unique nature may be unfamiliar to students May not be practical for large enrollment courses Challenging to develop for various types of courses and ranges of objectives

Making rubrics are time consuming in the initial stages but are worth the investment. Rubrics are a wonderful tool to ensure a more authentic assessment of student work. The assessment tool gives students a framework on expectations and teachers a framework on what is being graded. y y A rubric provides a teacher with a scale of where the student's current knowledge and performance are currently at as well as what they may need to improve upon. A rubric provides a student with their own guidelines while they are working on an assessment. They are able to guide themselves, as well as assess their own work or the work of their classmates using the rubric provided to them.

A teacher can work with his or her students to develop assessment criteria for a rubric. This way, students are taking part in the evaluation process and feel more of an attachment to what they are working on. They need to live up to their own standards (criteria) as well as that of the teacher.

Authentic Assessment
In 1935, the distinguished educator Ralph Tyler proposed an "enlarged concept of student evaluation," encompassing other approaches besides tests and quizzes. He urged teachers to sample learning by collecting products of their efforts throughout the year. That practice has evolved into what is today termed "authentic assessment," which encompasses a range of approaches including portfolio assessment, journals and logs, products, videotapes of performances, and projects. Authentic assessments have many potential benefits. Diane Hart, in her excellent introduction to Authentic Assessment: A Handbook for Educators, suggested the following benefits: 1. Students assume an active role in the assessment process. This shift in emphasis may result in reduced test anxiety and enhanced self-esteem. 2. Authentic assessment can be successfully used with students of varying cultural backgrounds, learning styles, and academic ability. 3. Tasks used in authentic assessment are more interesting and reflective of students' daily lives. 4. Ultimately, a more positive attitude toward school and learning may evolve. 5. Authentic assessment promotes a more student-centered approach to teaching. 6. Teachers assume a larger role in the assessment process than through traditional testing programs. This involvement is more likely to assure the evaluation process reflects course goals and objectives. 7. Authentic assessment provides valuable information to the teacher on student progress as well as the success of instruction. 8. Parents will more readily understand authentic assessments than the abstract percentiles, grade equivalents, and other measures of standardized tests.

Why Use Authentic Assessment?

The question "Why use authentic assessment?" is not meant to suggest that you have to choose between traditional assessments such as tests and more authentic or performance assessments. Often, teachers use a mix of traditional and authentic assessments to serve different purposes. This section, then, attempts to explain why teachers might choose authentic assessments for certain types of judgments and why authentic assessments have become more popular in recent years. Authentic Assessments are Direct Measures We do not just want students to know the content of the disciplines when they graduate. We, of course, want them to be able to use the acquired knowledge and skills in the real world. So, our assessments have to also tell us if students can apply what they have learned in authentic situations. If a student does well on a test of knowledge we might infer that the student could also apply that knowledge. But that is rather indirect evidence. I could more directly check for the ability to apply by asking the student to use what they have learned in some meaningful way. To return to an example I have used elsewhere, if I taught someone to play golf I would not check what they have learned with just a written test. I would want to see more direct, authentic evidence. I would put my student out on a golf course to play. Similarly, if we want to know if our students can interpret literature, calculate potential savings on sale items, test a hypothesis, develop a fitness plan, converse in a foreign language, or apply other knowledge and skills they have learned, then authentic assessments will provide the most direct evidence. Can you think of professions which require some direct demonstration of relevant skills before someone can be employed in that field? Doctors, electricians, teachers, actors and others must all provide direct evidence of competence to be hired. Completing a written or oral test or interview is usually not sufficient. Shouldn't we ask the same of our students before we say they are ready to graduate? Or pass a course? Or move on to the next grade? Authentic Assessments Capture Constructive Nature of Learning A considerable body of research on learning has found that we cannot simply be fed knowledge. We need to construct our own meaning of the world, using information we have gathered and were taught and our own experiences with the world (e.g., Bransford & Vye, 1989; Forman & Kuschner, 1977; Neisser, 1967; Steffe & Gale, 1995; Wittrock, 1991). Thus, assessments cannot just ask students to repeat back information they have received. Students must also be asked to demonstrate that they have accurately constructed meaning about what they have been taught. Furthermore, students must be given the opportunity to engage in the construction of meaning. Authentic tasks not only serve as assessments but also as vehicles for such learning. Authentic Assessments Integrate Teaching, Learning and Assessment Authentic assessment, in contrast to more traditional assessment, encourages the integration of teaching, learning and assessing. In the "traditional assessment" model, teaching and learning are often separated from assessment, i.e., a test is administered after knowledge or skills have (hopefully) been acquired. In the authentic assessment

model, the same authentic task used to measure the students' ability to apply the knowledge or skills is used as a vehicle for student learning. For example, when presented with a real-world problem to solve, students are learning in the process of developing a solution, teachers are facilitating the process, and the students' solutions to the problem becomes an assessment of how well the students can meaningfully apply the concepts. Authentic Assessments Provide Multiple Paths to Demonstration We all have different strengths and weaknesses in how we learn. Similarly, we are different in how we can best demonstrate what we have learned. Regarding the traditional assessment model, answering multiple-choice questions does not allow for much variability in how students demonstrate the knowledge and skills they have acquired. On the one hand, that is a strength of tests because it makes sure everyone is being compared on the same domains in the same manner which increases the consistency and comparability of the measure. On the other hand, testing favors those who are better test-takers and does not give students any choice in how they believe they can best demonstrate what they have learned. Thus, it is recommended (e.g., Wiggins, 1998) that multiple and varied assessments be used so that 1) a sufficient number of samples are obtained (multiple), and 2) a sufficient variety of measures are used (varied). Variety of measurement can be accomplished by assessing the students through different measures that allows you to see them apply what they have learned in different ways and from different perspectives. Typically, you will be more confident in the students' grasp of the material if they can do so. But some variety of assessment can also be accomplished within a single measure. Authentic tasks tend to give the students more freedom in how they will demonstrate what they have learned. By carefully identifying the criteria of good performance on the authentic task ahead of time, the teacher can still make comparable judgments of student performance even though student performance might be expressed quite differently from student to student. For example, the products students create to demonstrate authentic learning on the same task might take different forms (e.g., posters, oral presentations, videos, websites). Or, even though students might be required to produce the same authentic product, there can be room within the product for different modes of expression. For example, writing a good persuasive essay requires a common set of skills from students, but there is still room for variation in how that essay is constructed.

Authentic Assessment Definition

Simply testing an isolated skill or a retained fact does not effectively measure a students capabilities. To accurately evaluate what a person has learned, an assessment method must examine his or her collective abilities.This is what is meant by authentic assessment. Authentic assessment presents students with realworld challenges that require them to apply their relevant skills and knowledge.

Basic Elements
Authentic assessment accomplishes each of the following goals: Requires students to develop responses rather than select from predetermined options Elicits higher order thinking in addition to basic skills Directly evaluates holistic projects Synthesizes with classroom instruction Uses samples of student work (portfolios) collected over an extended time period Stems from clear criteria made known to students Allows for the possibility of multiple human judgments Relates more closely to classroom learning Teaches students to evaluate their own work Fairness does not exist when assessment is uniform, standardized, impersonal, and absolute. Rather, it exists when assessment is appropriatein other words, when its personalized, natural, and flexible; when it can be modified to pinpoint specific abilities and function at the relevant level of difficulty; and when it promotes a rapport between examiner and student. Authentic assessment is designed to be criterion-referenced rather than norm-referenced. Such evaluation identifies strengths and weaknesses, but does not compare or rank students. Authentic assessment is often based on performance: Students are asked to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, or competencies in whatever way they find appropriate. There are several challenges to using authentic assessment methods. They include managing its timeintensive nature, ensuring curricular validity, and minimizing evaluator bias.