Statement of Rationale In the classroom, there is a place for both traditional and authentic assessments, both of which are

equally important. Traditional assessment is defined as a means of gathering information about student learning through selected response techniques such as: multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, matching, or true/false questions in the form of question and answer response, quizzes, tests, exams, and sometimes essays. This kind of assessment is summative, stopping the learning and focusing on lower order thinking skills, such as knowledge, comprehension, and application. Traditional assessment leaves no opportunity for demonstration of thought processes or revision, yet it provides the basic foundation for all other learning. It is important for students to be exposed to this type of assessment and be taught how to write tests in order to be prepared for public accountability measures, such as EQAO. However, there is little potential for traditional assessment to measure higher order thinking skills, and thus authentic assessment is needed.

Authentic assessment is performance oriented and does not stop the learning to measure students skills. This form of assessment includes, but is not limited to, learning logs, presentations, journal responses, interviews, and other performance tasks. Through this formative and/or summative type of assessment, students develop and demonstrate the application of their knowledge and skills in real world situations, which promotes and supports the development of higher levels of thinking through analysis, synthesis and evaluation. Authentic assessment respects the learning styles of all students and allows students to have more choice, thus motivating them to learn. However, this form of assessment is time consuming and cannot be implemented until students have a solid foundation in lower order thinking skills.

Included in the remaining portion of this package, there is an example of traditional assessment in the form of a test, along with response examples and a marking scheme. An example of a culminating task, along with a level four model, is also included to demonstrate a form of authentic assessment. This task is accompanied by a marking scheme in the form of a rubric.