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by Giselle O. Martin-Kniep
Table of Contents
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.
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:
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