Issues in the Development of Authentic Assessment: Portfolio, Project, Extended Response, etc.

By:

Marwa & Erlik Widiyani Styati

A commonly advocated best practice for classroom assessment is to make the assessments authentic. Authentic is often used as meaning the mirroring of real-world tasks or expectations. There is no consensus, however, in the actual definition of the term or the characteristics of an authentic classroom assessment. Sometimes, the realistic component is not even an element of a researcher’s or practitioner’s meaning.

            Simply testing an isolated skill or a retained fact does not effectively measure a student's capabilities. To accurately evaluate what a student has learned, an assessment method must examine his or her collective abilities. The term authentic assessment describes the multiple forms of assessment that reflect student learning, achievement, motivation, and attitudes on instructionally relevant classroom activities.

           

            There are several challenges to using authentic assessment methods. They include managing its time-intensive nature, ensuring curricular validity, and minimizing evaluator bias. Despite these challenges, efforts must be made to appropriately assess all LEP students and to welcome the possibility of assessment strategies that can empower students to take control of their own learning and to become independent thinkers and users of the English language.

REFERENCES

O’Malley, J.M. and Pierce, L.V. 1996: Authentic Assessment for English Language      Teachers: Practical Approaches for Teachers. New York:Addison-Wesley Publishing         Company.