LESSON 2: WHAT IS AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT

Introduction
In 1935, the distinguished educator Ralph Tyler proposed an "enlarged concept of
student evaluation," encompassing other approaches besides tests and quizzes. He
urged teachers to sample learning by collecting products of their efforts throughout the
year. That practice has evolved into what is today termed "authentic assessment," which
encompasses a range of approaches including portfolio assessment, journals and logs,
products, videotapes of performances, and projects. Authentic assessments have many
potential benefits.
Authentic assessments are new to most students. They may be suspicious at first;
years of conditioning with paper-pencil tests, searching for the single right answer, are
not easily undone. Authentic assessments require a new way of perceiving learning and
evaluation. The role of the teacher also changes. Specific assignments or tasks to be
evaluated and the assessment criteria need to be clearly identified at the start. It may be
best to begin on a small scale. Introduce authentic assessments in one area (for
example, on homework assignments) and progress in small steps as students adapt.

Nature of Authentic Assessment

Authentic assessment is where students thoughtfully apply their acquired skills to
a new situation or environment. Assessments are authentic if they are realistic, require
judgement and innovation and assess students' ability to effectively use their knowledge
or skills to complete a task.
Authentic assessment is "a form of assessment in which students are asked to
perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge
and skills" (J. Mueller). While we understand that environmental constraints make
authentic assessments significantly more challenging to develop and implement than
other forms of assessment, authentic assessment is key to student engagement, and we
will focus on how to make your assessments as "authentic" as possible. When students'
work benefits real people or organizations, for instance, it often stimulates students to
hold themselves more accountable, produce higher quality work, and make connections
between course content and the real-world.
Authentic assessments: are direct measures; capture the constructive nature of
learning; integrate teaching, learning and assessment; and provide multiple paths to
demonstration.

A. Definitions:
Jon Miller (2011) defines Authentic Assessment s “a form of assessment in which
students are asked to perform real-world tasks than demonstrate meaningful application
of essential knowledge and skills”.
Grant Wiggins (1987), defined Authentic Assessment as “…engaging and worthy
problems or questions of importance, in which students must use knowledge to fashion
performances effectively and creatively. The tasks are either replicas of or analogous to
the kind of problems faced by adult citizens and consumers or professionals in the fields
An authentic assignment is one that requires application of what students have
learned to a new situation, and that demands judgment to determine what information
and skills are relevant and how they should be used. Authentic assignments often focus
on messy, complex real-world situations and their accompanying constraints; they can
involve a real-world audience of stakeholders or “clients” as well. According to Grant
Wiggins (1998), an assignment is authentic if it is realistic, requires judgment and
innovation, asks the student to “do” the subject, replicates or simulates the contexts in
which adults are “tested” in the workplace or in civic or personal life, assesses the
student’s ability to efficiently and effectively use a repertoire of knowledge and skills to
negotiate a complex task, and allows appropriate opportunities to rehearse, practice,
consult resources, and get feedback on and refine performances and products.
In other words, authentic assessment allows us to assess how the students will
perform or showcase a skill or use their knowledge in a practical setting.
Authentic assessment is also known as performance assessment, alternative
assessment, and direct assessment.
Types of Authentic Assessment
 Performance Assessment
 Portfolio Assessment
 Self-Assessment

What are some examples of authentic assessment?

Authentic assessment can be either a short-term or long-term assignment for
students. There is no specific length of time attached to an authentic assessment learning
opportunity. However, "within a complete assessment system, there should be a balance
of longer performance assessments and shorter ones" (Valencia, 1997). According to
Lawrence Rudner, authentic assessment should require that students be active
participants in learning and be able to demonstrate knowledge and skills. The following
is a list of examples of authentic assessment that meet one or both of these requirements
- active participation and/or demonstration of knowledge and skills. As you read through
this list, keep in mind that some of the examples will work better for you depending on
your grade level and topic area. Make a note of the examples of assessment that you
could use in your own classroom.
Authentic Assessment examples:
• Conduction research and writing a report
• Character analysis
• Student debates (individual or group)
• Drawing and writing about a story or chapter
• Experiments - trial and error learning
• Journal entries (reflective writing)
• Discussion partners or groups
• Student self-assessment
• Peer assessment and evaluation
• Presentations
• Projects
• Portfolios
• Tiered learning classrooms
Characteristics of Authentic Assessment
1. Authentic assessment requires the students to perform meaningful tasks in real
world satiation.
2. It promotes the development of higher order thinking skills.
3. It tenders direct evidence of application and construction of knowledge and
skills acquired.
4. It demonstrates application of a particular knowledge and skills.
5. It demonstrates application of a particular knowledge and skills.
6. It fosters role-playing of the lessons learned by students which serves as show
window to them.
7. It identifies performance of students’ acquired skills expertise.
8. It assesses directly holistic projects by multiple human judgement like self,
peer, subject teacher, and teacher-adviser.
9. It trains the students to evaluate their own work as well as to their parents.
10. It is designed on criterion-referenced measure rather than norm-referenced
measure.

Related Terms:
Assessment – refers to the process of gathering data and information about what
students know and can do. Through assessment, the teacher can find out what students
are learning.
Evaluation – involves the task of interpreting, forming conclusions and making judgment
about the information which was gathered in the process of assessment.
Testing – is an instrument of assessment. A test is an assessment tool that reflects the
records of the students’ learning outcomes.
Marks – are reports of the result of evaluating information obtained in assessment
process. Marks have certain components related to the learning activities undertaken by
the students.
NOTE: Kindly view the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_gibuFZXZw
LESSON 3: WHY USE AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT?

Introduction
The question "Why use authentic assessment?" is not meant to suggest that you
have to choose between traditional assessments such as tests and more authentic or
performance assessments. Often, teachers use a mix of traditional and authentic
assessments to serve different purposes. This section, then, attempts to explain why
teachers might choose authentic assessments for certain types of judgments and why
authentic assessments have become more popular in recent years.

Principles of Authentic Assessment

1. Authentic assessment is continuous, informing every aspect of instruction and
curriculum building. As they engage in authentic assessment, teachers discover and
learn what to teach as well as how and when to teach them.
2. Authentic assessment is an integral part of the curriculum.
3. Authentic assessment is developmentally and culturally appropriate.
4. Authentic assessment focuses on students’ strengths.
5. Authentic assessment recognizes that the most important evaluation is self
evaluation.
6. Authentic assessment invites active collaboration between teachers, students and
parents work together to reflect and assess learning (Bridge, 1995).

Traditional Assessment vs Authentic Assessment

Traditional assessments refer to conventional methods of testing, usually
standardized and use pen and paper with multiple-choice, true or false or matching type
test items.
Authentic assessments refer to assessments wherein students are asked to
perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of what they have
learned.
To better compare traditional vs. alternative assessments, here’s a table I prepared:
 Traditional Assessment Authentic Assessment

• Purpose: to evaluate if the students• Purpose: to measure students’

have learned the content; to determine proficiency by asking them to perform
whether or not the students are real life-tasks; to provide students
successful in acquiring knowledge; to many avenues to learn and
ascribe a grade for them; to rank and demonstrate best what they have
compare them against standards or learned; to guide instruction; to
other learners provide feedback and help students
manage their own learning; to also
evaluate students’ competency

• Provides teachers a snapshot of what• Provides teachers a more complete

the students know picture of what the students know and
what they can do with what they know

• Measures students’ knowledge of the• Measures students’ ability to apply

content knowledge of the content in real life
situations; ability to use/apply what
they have learned in meaningful ways

• Requires students to demonstrate• Requires students to demonstrate

knowledge by selecting a proficiency by performing relevant
response/giving correct answers; tasks showing application of what has
usually tests students’ proficiency been learned
through paper and pencil tests
• Students are asked to choose an
answer from a set of questions (True or
False; multiple choice) to test
knowledge of what has been taught.
• Provides indirect evidence of learning • Provides direct evidence of
learning/competency; direct
demonstration of knowledge and skills
by performing relevant tasks

• Requires students to practice cognitive• Provides opportunities for students to

ability to recall/recognize/reconstruct construct meaning/new knowledge
body of knowledge that has been out of what has been taught
taught

• Tests and strengthens the students’• Tests and strengthens the students’
ability to recall/recognize and ability to reason and analyze,
comprehend content, but does not synthesize, and apply knowledge
reveal the students’ true progress of acquired; Students’ higher level of
what they can do with the knowledge cognitive skills (from knowledge and
they acquired. Only the students’ lower comprehension to analysis,
level of thinking skills, (knowledge and synthesis, application, and
comprehension), are tapped. evaluation) are tapped in multiple
ways.

• Hides the test • Teaches the test

• Teachers serve as evaluators and• Involves and engages the students in

students as the evaluatees: teacher- the teaching, learning and
structured assessment process: student
structured

• Assessment is separated from teaching• Assessment is integrated with

and learning. Test usually comes after instruction. Assessment activities
instruction to evaluate if the students happen all throughout instruction to
have successfully learned the content. help students improve their learning
 and help teachers improve their
teaching.

• Provides limited ways for students to• Provides multiple avenues for
demonstrate what they have learned students to demonstrate best what
they have learned

• Rigid and fixed • Flexible and provides multiple

acceptable ways of constructing
products or performance as evidence
of learning

• Standardized; valid and reliable • Needs well defined criteria/rubrics

and standards to achieve reliability
and validity

• Curriculum drives assessment. • Assessment drives curriculum and

instruction.

Examples: Examples:
• True or False; multiple choice tests • demonstrations
• standardized tests • hands-on experiments
• achievement tests • computer simulations
• intelligence tests • portfolios
• aptitude tests • projects
• multi-media presentations
• role plays
• recitals
• stage plays
• exhibits