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Assessment
is a continuous process of inquiry and decision-making. The questions
teachers pose as a part of this process need not to proceed in lock-step
order. Teachers can return to any stage of the process at any time to
make modifications in their decisions.
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Developing
Authentic Tasks and Contexts for Teaching/Learning Assessment |
Each
classroom activity, representation, response, question and answer presents
an opportunity for teaching, for learning and for assessment. The tasks
and contexts we present must allow students to learn and demonstrate their
learning in authentic ways. Authentic tasks and contexts:
- reflect learning
expectations
- are based on developmentally
appropriate purposes
- are the same as
those used for teaching and learning
- reflect current
understandings of teaching and learning
- require students
to connect and apply knowledge, skills and attitudes in purposeful ways
- ask students to
perform, create, produce or do something
- reflect real-life
applications
Some examples of authentic
assessment tasks and contexts include:
- Students demonstrate
what they know and can do when they use a variety of materials to create
skeletal models of geometric shapes they have observed within and outside
the classroom
- Students demonstrate
their learning in their learning logs when they reflect upon and describe
what they have learned, what they know, and how they feel about their
experiences
- Students demonstrate
what they know and value when their parents are invited to write down
and return to the teacher their child's response to the probe, "Tell
me about your field trip today."
- Students demonstrate
what they know, can do and value when they make a story map at the sand
table and use this map to retell the story
- Students demonstrate
problem solving knowledge and skills when they use materials to investigate
how dry and wet ingredients combine, discuss their observations with
other members of their group, and decide how to record their findings
Implications
for the Classroom
In classrooms
where assessment is used to improve student learning, students:
- understand what
they are expected to know and be able to do
- know what the standard
looks like
- understand why,
when and how they are being assessed and how the information will be
used
- practice and receive
feedback prior to a summative assessment
- engage in self-reflection
and peer and self assessment
- use feedback to
help identify what steps they will take to improve their performance
- know why the learning
is of value and can apply their learning in authentic/real world contexts
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