Kellie Dimmette
CI 5055
Authentic Assessment
Authentic instruction and assessment in the classroom involves the knowledge, thinking, problem-solving skills, social skills, and attitudes demonstrated by the students. To establish an authentic assessment the teacher must test what was taught and practiced in the class, and ask the students to use the same skills, knowledge, and thought processes that are presented in the classroom. There are two basic forms of assessment: summative assessment is given for the teacher to assign a grade for the student, and formative assessment is given to identify classroom learning problems and provide ways to overcome them. Classroom assessment should promote learning so formative assessment is the authentic way to accomplish this task.
Giving students a single test on an isolated skill does not effectively measure a student’s capabilities. To effectively measure what a student has learned an assessment method must be used to examine his or her collective abilities. Teachers must directly examine student performance on worthy intellectual tasks. Authentic assessment is the only way that teachers can be fair to students. When assessment is uniform or standardized it is not appropriate for all students and does not give a true statement of what all students in the classroom can do or what knowledge they have obtained. Assessment must be personalized, natural and flexible so it can be modified to instruct the teacher on specific student abilities.
In the past years, schools have seen the motivation of students’ efforts to learn and improve in diverse areas, such as band, drama, and school newspaper increase. This is mainly because these subject areas are related to students’ personal interest. In order to motivate students in all subject areas basic elements of authentic assessment must be applied to the classroom. A teacher’s top priority should be to assess students on what they are taught and have practiced. Students need to be required to be effective demonstrators of the knowledge that they have obtained. The assessment should be based on whether students can produce justifiable answers, performances, or products about what was taught. An example of an authentic assessment versus a summative assessment: a student that is playing in the band at a Friday night game is judged on how well they play the songs they have learned in band class versus a student that studies for a history test sees questions on the true-false and multiple choice test that was not discussed in class. Would we expect a band student to perform a song without practice and instruction? If the answer is no then why do we expect this of students in other academic areas?
In the classroom the teacher should integrate problem solving skills that students will be faced with in the real world. Students should be asked to take on roles and rehearse ideas that they will face as adults and as professionals. The instruction should be problem centered. In journalism class students would be asked to prepare a newspaper, but in a literature class students may not have the opportunity to complete activities that correspond to their daily lives. Without the real world connection it is difficult for students to retain the information taught and make it valid in their life. It is the teacher’s responsibility to make this connection and to take students thinking beyond the classroom. In order to make this connection the teacher must provide the learners with standards, share these expectations, and provide feedback. A track team member knows the standards given by the coach and track officials when they are used to judge their abilities, so teachers should give students objectives about what is considered a good performance. This should be followed up with suggestions for improvement and feedback. Without follow-up the student may be unaware of what they can do to expand their knowledge in a particular area.
Tests that are given to students should test real-world abilities or present the student with several tasks that reflect the challenges found in the best instructional activities. Students should be allowed to confer with peers, consult a dictionary or notes, and use spell checkers or calculators. As adults in the working place they will not be denied these tools because they reinforce learning, so teachers should apply this in the classroom. If the resources are always going to be available to students then why not let students use them any time in the classroom? In a final assessment it is important for the teacher to not only assess the product, but also the process used to arrive at it. Students should not be tested on whether they know the one right answer on a test. It requires more effort for a student to conduct research, revise and discuss a paper with a peer, or groups to present a project than for students to mark a one-answer question on a paper-pencil test. The teacher also gains more knowledge about what the student has learned and the energy exhibited by the student by using these types of authentic assessment.
To evaluate the effectiveness of authentic assessment an illustration called an assessment triangle can be used. One corner of the triangle represents cognition. Cognition refers to a set of beliefs about how learners develop cognitive abilities in a subject area taught at school. In assessments the teacher should evaluate declarative knowledge: the facts, concepts, and generalizations pertaining to a specific topic, and procedural knowledge: the ability to perform the actions required by the specific subject area. The second corner of the triangle represents observation. The teacher must use a variety of tools to gather information about learners. These tools may include teacher-made and standardized tests, formal and informal observations, the results of class work or homework, and products or performances such as, portfolios, projects, or cooperative learning tasks. The last corner of the triangle represents interpretation. This is how the teacher makes sense of the information that he or she has gathered. A wide assortment of evidence must be collected before a dependable judgment can be made about the student.
To genuinely assess a students knowledge there are many areas a teacher must focus in on and provide activities to gain an understanding of the student. One of these assessments must be of the knowledge base. Emphasis should be placed on outcomes of critical thinking, learning specific skills, and deep understanding versus memorizing facts. Second teachers have to focus on what students can do. It is not only important that the student knows the material, but also that they can use the information that has been taught. Third students must be assessed on problem-solving strategies. Students must possess thinking and reasoning skills to solve problems that the teacher presents based on the material that was taught in class. Fourth the teacher must assess deep understanding. This measure whether students “really know” the information. If students really know the information they are able to take what they have learned to new ideas in the same area and generalize these concepts to new things. Last teachers must assess genuine achievement. One example of this type of assessment is a portfolio. It informs the teacher of a student’s growth in proficiency, long-term achievement, and accomplishments in a given area.
There are many forms of authentic assessment and activities to support these strategies for teachers. Throughout a unit of study essential questions can be used for the teacher to determine the overall level of the class. These questions should require higher-order thinking skills. These types of questions should be used at the beginning of the unit to determine what knowledge the students already know, throughout the unit to help students gain knowledge, and for final assessments to determine if the student can individually produce what was learned. Teachers should also integrate curriculum as much as possible. For students to understand how ideas are linked in the real world this strategy needs to be taught in the classroom.
Rubrics are an excellent way to differentiate learning. The rubric can be teacher designed or student designed. The goal of a rubric is for students to know the expectations of an assignment before they actually begin the task. Students know the goals and requirements to reach the desired outcome on the rubric.
The most important goal for teachers is for the teacher’s main concern to be on what students are learning. Teachers want students to become internally motivated. If students feel that cannot succeed in school and their effort is not good then this will never be accomplished. Through the use of authentic assessment each student is evaluated individually in many ways so all students can receive feedback on their accomplishments. By providing feedback students learn what skills they need to improve and what skills that have mastered. This is the best way for the teacher to gain insight on what each student has learned, and to take steps to improve and design curriculum based on student’s needs.
Resources:
What does Authentic Assessment look like?
Futherstanding authentic assessment
The Case for Authentic Assessment.
Martin-Kniep. Becoming a Better Teacher: Eight Innovations that Work. Alexandria, Virginia: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2000.
Borich, Gary and Tombari, Martin. Authentic Assessment in the Classroom. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall, 1999.
Borich, Gary and Tombari, Martin. Educational Assessment for the Elementary and Middle School Classroom 2nd Edition. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill Prentice Hall, 2004.