Authentic Assessment (Real Tests)

Chris gave an informative and thought-provoking introduction to "Authentic Assessment" at the New Teachers Meeting last night. He made the case for having students do rather than regurgitate. This is sometimes hard to think about because we have traditional ways of testing in-grained in us. Plus, that's the way we learned, so it must be good. Not necessarily. What about all those successful,creative people out there who weren't good in school and who never considered being involved in education because it was so uninspiring? (I think of the obvious ones: Bill Gates, August Wilson.) My impression is that students feel they are being beaten down with the grind, partly because they aren't doing enough. And I don't mean just "studying" (ie., staring at the textbook) or "taking good notes" (ie., copying down whatever the teacher says). Of course, those are both skills that are useful to have, just like it's useful to know about the five-paragraph theme. But they're not our end goals, I think, and they're just plain boring when it comes down to the grind of every-day schooling. Doing is much more exciting, and much more meaningful, and much more lasting as a way of learning and knowing. I think we know this from our own experience, but it is hard to break out of the habits that we -- and the students -- have adopted so completely for school.

I believe the students don't really want to learn only in this old way -- even if they kick and scream when we change things. (They don't love field trips just because they get to leave school, but because they do something.) Change is scary, but it's also exhilerating, challenging, invigorating. It makes us appreciate what matters. It gives us choice about what works.

I would be interested in hearing about anyone's forays into the world of "authentic assessment." What have you tried? When has it worked...or not? What has been the result? I'll admit that I'm already one of the converted. But I respect the healthy skepticism of teachers with other views.

If you want to try out some authentic assessments, you could start with the main web site Chris mentioned:
Authentic Assessment Toolbox (Commended by Merlot)http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edy/toolbox/

Here is some additional food for thought: Much of the recent "brain research" supports the idea of authentic assessment (doing in order to learn). The following web site tracks the brain research in relation to education and learning. It might be a good thing to take a look at:
The Brain Connection
www.brainconnection.com

I'm eager to hear what you think.