Chapter 4. Authentic Assessment

Essential Question: Can Learning in School Be Authentic?

Educators and researchers have been advocating authentic assessments since the mid-1980s as a means to help students engage with real or plausible problems and challenges. Yet most school programs are not conducive to authentic learning experiences. In fact, one could argue that schools themselves, especially high schools, are designed to minimize authenticity. After all, how many of us experience life in 38- to 42-minute segments? This chapter defines the attributes of authentic assessment, explains how existing assessments can be refined to make them more “authentic,” and demonstrates how to construct culminating authentic assessments. It provides examples of authentic assessments and guidelines for when and how to design them in different contexts.

What Is Authentic Assessment?

An assessment is authentic when it requires that students engage with real-life problems, issues, or tasks for an audience who cares about or has a stake in what students learn. Authentic tasks enable students to make sense of and apply what they have learned and to establish clear connections between what they have learned in schools and the world in which they live. Such tasks provide a wonderful opportunity for students to demonstrate what they have learned in the course of a unit and are often used as culminating projects. The following tasks are authentic:

• Following a strong storm in the area, a group of 4th grade students go to the beach to observe the problems associated with beach erosion. They read fiction and nonfiction works related to coastal environments. They then develop a series of picture books for 1st and 2nd graders on the problems associated with beach erosion and on the actions the community can take to prevent them.
• Students use imaging technology to create an autobiographical visual collage that incorporates images from a variety of sources (original photos of family and school life; original art work; magazines of interest; Internet sites; and scanned objects). They write a statement and elaborate on how or why the images depict who they are. They compare their written statement and visuals when they present and describe their collage.
• After surveying the local community to find out about the availability of summer jobs and internships, students meet with an officer from a local employment office and complete job applications for summer jobs, which they subsequently mail to prospective employers.
• To demonstrate their understanding of the geography of Egypt and of the reasons why the Nile River was essential to the ancient Egyptians, students create a game to be played by children ages 8 to 14 and market it to students in the middle school.
• Students identify and conduct research on selected environmental issues that can be addressed at the local level. They conduct extensive research on the availability of existing children's literature on those issues. They meet with a children's book publisher to discuss the specific publication demands for producing and marketing children's literature. They write a children's book on their environmental issue and test-market it in school. They revise their book based on their test marketing and then submit it to a children's book publisher.
• Students use appropriate technology to design a phone chain that will contact their classmates in case of an emergency (assume a class of 30). They determine how long it will take to call everyone on the chain if they use a three-, four-, or five-person chain, explaining the method used to make that determination. They consider the advantages and disadvantages of using certain number chains and explain their reasoning. They present their solution to the class using a persuasive argument. The class selects the best proposal and submits it to the school office.
• Students watch and discuss a film on the Holocaust. They read Night by Elie Wiesel and write a personal response to the author. They then engage in a classroom discussion on human behavior and on the tendencies that supported fascism and Nazism. Students read The Wave by Todd Strasser or examine current data on extremist groups. They write an editorial on the extent to which the rights of such groups should be protected. Finally, among the class, they select two or three of the best editorials and submit them to the local newspaper.
• Students create a game to be played by people age 10 and older. The game will be marketed for an international corporation (predominantly French, English, and Spanish). The game has as its theme literary and historical figures who cross national boundaries. It is produced with the assistance of computer technology. Students create a game description, rules, and advertising strategies in both English and another language. They keep a journal of their progress, successes, failures, and reflections. They review copyright laws that apply to their game. They manufacture the game and offer it for sale to the student body. They select a charity that will receive the profits from the sale of the game. Finally, they communicate with businesses who might be interested in their product.

What Are the Attributes of Authenticity?