Authentic Assessment Reflection

     I very much enjoyed the Edutopia video on authentic assessment because my ideal school would be the sort of environment that utilizes interdisciplinary learning and alternative assignments.  However, I understand the necessity of standardized testing in a time of greater accountability for public schools.  My personal opinion, though, is that if students are given meaningful and challenging assignments, test scores will take care of themselves.  In fact, based on a study, it was found that when "teachers employed more authentic intellectual instruction, students logged test-score gains on the ITBS that exceeded the national average by 20 percent. However, students who were given few authentic assignments gained much less than the national average" ( article about teaching to the test).  Though I feel like making sure our students feel comfortable with standardized tests is important, I think there's so much more we can give them.

What does assessment looks like in your classroom now?
     As of now, I use a mixture of standard assessment and authentic assessment, though most of my tests are multiple-choice per the requirement of my administration.  Since I teach reading, though, I have tried a few authentic assessments in my classroom to help students interact with the books and stories that they read.
     Unfortunately, I've had mixed results with my authentic assessments.  Usually I only had a handful of students that genuinely tried and did a good job on the projects.  Others procrastinated, spent class time devoted to working goofing off, or didn't take the rubric I gave them seriously.  The result was a poor project that they felt deserved a 100 just because they turned it in.  On the standard tests, though, my students generally did better because they took them seriously.
     There are a few things I think that contributed to this mess:

• The students are accustomed to multiple-choice tests.

• Students are taught to take standard assessment seriously.

• I did not give the students an example of the ideal finished product.

• While I became more and more specific in my instructions, breakdown of the assignments, and expectations of project class time, I feel like I need to be even more detailed with middle schoolers.  Often, they still fell short of what I wanted.

• I was not consistent with my rubric in grading.  Because so few good projects were turned in, I usually inflated grades.  I think that if I grade accurately and fairly on the first project next time, my students will have a better idea of what I expect.

What you would like assessment to look like in your classroom this summer and next year?
     This summer, my classroom is doing an authentic assessment that I used with my seventh graders this year about The Giver.  Now that I've seen how not to do the project, I'm hoping that my experience coupled with tons more organization can make this time around much more productive.  My partners and I are all interested in making our summer school class a much more cohesive, theme-based, interdisciplinary classroom, so I feel like authentic assessments like The Giver project will be crucial to making that happen.
     Next year, I want to make my kids read tons more and do more authentic reflection on the books they read.  The students are already required to be part of the reading fair, so that will be one project they're already committed to.  Besides that, I'm thinking of making one or two books required reading for all students, maybe To Kill A Mockingbird or The Outsiders, both good candidates for class projects.  Other than that, I want my kids reading books of their own choice every day.  I haven't quite figured out how to make that work, but I think a big part of it will be setting a high expectation for quiet in the classroom and being VERY consistent in my grading practices.

Are there any roadblocks that you may encounter as your vision of assessment changes?
     I see tons of roadblocks.  Here they are:

• My kids don't know how to be quiet.
• My kids don't read on grade level.
• My kids don't appreciate books.
• My kids don't understand the value of authentic assessment.
• My kids don't work well in groups without constant supervision.
• I often don't communicate clear expectations to my students, which leads to all of the above.  Sadly, I'm usually always the root of the problem.