{"id":153,"date":"2018-11-12T15:17:19","date_gmt":"2018-11-12T21:17:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.wordpress.com\/?p=153"},"modified":"2023-09-30T12:00:06","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T16:00:06","slug":"authentic-assessments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itslitteaching.com\/authentic-assessments\/","title":{"rendered":"Increase Student Engagement with Authentic Assessments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I know I am not alone in the engagement challenge. In a world where students can stream fistfights and stand-up comedians, how do you get them to care about what’s going on in your little classroom?<\/strong> There are more distractions for students now than any other time in history. Yet, we are tasked with making school feel even more important, relevant, and engaging than ever before. What’s a teacher to do? Enter authentic assessments. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

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Pinterest pin for blog post: \"Increase Student Engagement with Authentic Assessments\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

What Are Authentic Assessments?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I’m going to give you the quick-and-dirty definition here and then illustrate with an example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You know what an assessment is: a culminating test, project, paper, or assignment that is meant to measure a student’s level of growth in a subject matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you and I were in school, many of our assessments were multiple choice scantrons. Or maybe a ton of standard 5-paragraph essays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Traditional assessments have been formulaic. Rote. Boring<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So what’s an authentic assessment? It’s an assessment that is, well, authentic<\/em>. It’s real<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never in my profession has my principal asked me to take a multiple choice test. Or even write a 5-paragraph essay. Those tasks just don’t have much meaning in the “real world.” Why, then, do we make our students do them?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students have a nose for time-wasting crap. They know that in the long run, being able to write a thesis probably won’t be all that important. So why put in the effort?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authentic assessments replicate real-world activities or pursuits. A multiple choice test on fractions doesn’t reflect real life tasks. However, having students bake 12 cookies using a cookie recipe that yields 48 suddenly makes their knowledge of fractions high-stakes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an English class, the 5-paragraph essay can be replaced with all kinds of projects that are more likely to occur in real life: speeches, debates, discussions, pamphlet or letter writing, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authentic assessments give students a purpose behind their learning. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, how do we go about creating authentic assessments for our students?<\/p>\n\n\n

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Pinterest Pin Cover for Blog Post: \"Increase Student Engagement with Authentic Assessments\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Authentic Assessments: One Example<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This past week I had the pleasure of being involved in two different authentic assessments–one in my own classroom, and one in a colleague’s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In both of the authentic assessments I took part in this past week, there was nervous energy around the students. They cared <\/em>about their performance. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the process, you could see the confidence gained and how proud they were of themselves for completing the task.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll focus on the example in my colleague’s leadership class. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For his final exam, his students had to make a speech about the person who had impacted them most during their life. The speech was only two minutes, but it had all the components of an authentic assessment.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Authentic<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Components of Authentic Assessments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In order for an assessment to be truly authentic, it needs to include three critical components.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#1: A Real-World Task<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In my colleague’s leadership class, students had to make a speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Students know that important people make speeches. They’ve seen Ted Talks. They know that in business, they will have to speak in front of others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Making the connection between this assignment and the world after high school is not much of a leap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

#2: Real-World Audience<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Students weren’t just presenting their speeches to their teachers, however. They weren’t even just presenting to their classmates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No, these poor students had to perform in front of staff and administration (many adults that they didn’t know). <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During final exams, teachers on prep and support staff were invited to come in and watch the speeches. This is how I ended up having the privilege to watch these young people speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having to perform in front of some strangers as well as peers made the students nervous. But that nervousness is a good thing! Because it means they cared.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I watched student after student walk up to the podium, shaking or jittery. But they didn’t give up. They gave their speeches and then congratulated on another for facing their fears.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more important than the ability to write or present a speech was the students’ learning that they can overcome difficult challenges. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n