Authentic assessment

Authentic assessment is the measurement of "intellectual accomplishments that are worthwhile, significant, and meaningful"^[1]^[2] Authentic assessment can be devised by the teacher, or in collaboration with the student by engaging student voice. When applying authentic assessment to student learning and achievement, a teacher applies criteria related to “construction of knowledge, disciplined inquiry, and the value of achievement beyond the school.” ^[3]

Authentic assessment tends to focus on contextualised tasks, enabling students to demonstrate their competency in a more 'authentic' setting. According to Meg Ormiston, "Authentic learning mirrors the tasks and problem solving that are required in the reality outside of school."^[4]

This framework for assessment begins the same way curriculum design begins, with the question: What should students be able to do?^[5] Once the instructor answers that question, they can then devise a rubric to evaluate how well a student demonstrates the ability to complete the task. Because most authentic assessments require a judgement of the degree of quality, they tend toward the subjective end of the assessment scale. Rubrics are an "attempt to make subjective measurements as objective, clear, consistent, and as defensible as possible by explicitly defining the criteria on which performance or achievement should be judged."^[6]

^ Wehlage, Newmann, & Secada, 1996, p. 23
^ Performance-Based Pedagogy Assessment of Teacher Candidates Archived August 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction, June 2004
^ Scheurman, Geoffrey; Fred M. Newman (January 1, 1998). "Authentic Intellectual Work in Social Studies: Putting Performance before Pedagogy". Social Education. 62 (1): 23–25.
^ Ormiston, Meg (2011). Creating a Digital-Rich Classroom: Teaching & Learning in a Web 2.0 World. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-935249-87-0.
^ Mueller, Jon. "How Do You Create Authentic Assessments?". Retrieved 6 March 2013.
^ "A Rubric - by any other name?" (PDF). morningside.edu/. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2013.

[1] Wehlage, Newmann, & Secada, 1996, p. 23

[2] Performance-Based Pedagogy Assessment of Teacher Candidates Archived August 30, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, Washington State Superintendent of Public Instruction, June 2004

[Authentic_Intellectual_Work_in_Social_Studies:_Putting_Performance_before_Pedagogy-3] Scheurman, Geoffrey; Fred M. Newman (January 1, 1998). "Authentic Intellectual Work in Social Studies: Putting Performance before Pedagogy". Social Education. 62 (1): 23–25.

[4] Ormiston, Meg (2011). Creating a Digital-Rich Classroom: Teaching & Learning in a Web 2.0 World. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press. pp. 2–3. ISBN 978-1-935249-87-0.

[5] Mueller, Jon. "How Do You Create Authentic Assessments?". Retrieved 6 March 2013.

[6] "A Rubric - by any other name?" (PDF). morningside.edu/. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 May 2010. Retrieved 6 March 2013.

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