Authentic Assessment in an Elementary Classroom

Informing Instruction and Evaluating Performance in Meaningful Ways

Nov 10, 2009

Authentic assessments are tied directly to what has been taught, and consequently are used both formatively and summatively to inform instruction and evaluate learning.

Authentic, or performance, assessments, require students to actually do or use what they have been taught. They provide teachers with a measure of not only the knowledge that has been gained, but the higher level thought processes that occur when that knowledge is applied to authentic tasks. In this age of standardized testing, however, many teachers fear spending time and effort on authentic assessments, which unfortunately, may give educators an unbalanced view of students' abilities.

Developing Authentic Assessments

Authentic assessments should be evident from the instructional objectives of the lesson or unit, and are derived, as much as possible, from the real-world application of what has been taught. When developing an authentic assessment, consider the knowledge that has been gained, the desired changes in attitudes or values, and/or skills that have been learned and practiced. Build a task or project that incorporates as many of these desired behaviors as possible.

For example, in a middle school language arts class, students may be studying the text structure of news articles and how to write them. They may also be expected to address state standards in fluent oral reading. speech presentation, and media composition. After appropriate instruction, an authentic assessment of these skills could entail students working in pairs or small groups to develop a newscast, which they then film and present.

Using Authentic Assessments to Inform Instruction

But authentic assessments don't have to be complicated projects; they can also be simpler opportunities for students to practice skills or demonstrate changes in understanding, attitudes, or values. Balancing a mock checkbook, writing an editorial, or teaching others in cooperative groups about a textbook passage can all be used as formative assessments of student progress, which can then be used to inform the next step in instruction.

Authentic assessment is also ongoing. It includes thoughtful teacher observation, anecdotal records, a collection of artifacts kept in portfolios, and even a student 's own reflections on learning. These informal but valuable measures can really assist a teacher in knowing when it is time to move on to a new topic, and when information or skills need to be retaught or practiced further.

Using Authentic Assessments to Evaluate Student Learning

Authentic assessments are difficult to evaluate, however; because they are usually multifaceted and qualitative in nature. they require an evaluative scale, a rubric, that is designed specifically for the task or project. Thoughtfully developed rubrics can provide summative assessment data that is both quantitative and qualitative and encourage teachers to make thoughtful decisions about which skills, knowledge, and attitudes are included, often resulting in more powerful instruction and student assignments.

Authentic assessments also provide a meaningful addition to information provided by standardized tests and traditional criterion-referenced measures, such as quizzes and tests. While those instruments are useful for measuring knowledge, they do not as effectively measure the application of the knowledge or the synthesis of ideas into creative solutions to problems or expressions of learning. Authentic assessments can do both, which may allow some students to better demonstrate their learning.

Authentic or performance-based assessments are tools that require students to use what they've learned in meaningful, real ways, which is, of course, the long-term purpose of all instruction. By giving students authentic tasks to accomplish, teachers can motivate reluctant students to see the purpose and application of what they are learning, help them to transfer academic skills into the real life use, and more effectively evaluate their academic progress.

Darling-Hammond, Linda and others. Authentic Assessment in Action: Studies of Schools and Students At Work. New York: Teachers College Press, 1995.

The copyright of the article Authentic Assessment in an Elementary Classroom in Curricula/Lesson Plans is owned by Barbara Abromitis. Permission to republish Authentic Assessment in an Elementary Classroom in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.