Show Me What You Can Do: Big Ideas About Authentic Assessments

Show Me What You Can Do: Big Ideas About Authentic Assessments

1. Big Idea #6: Assessment drives curriculum

   • Also called "working backwards"; teachers decide tasks students need to be able to do, then design curriculum to give info and skills needed
   • Example: Students need to be able to distinguish between editorials and news articles. First lesson will be about the characteristics of an editorial.

2. Big Idea #1: Students learn as they perform real-world tasks

   • tasks simulate challenges faced by adults & in professional settings
   • teachers act as facilitators as students problem-solve

3. Big Idea #7: Students demonstrate ability to APPLY skills and knowledge

   • students complete tasks to show what they have learned
   • often work well with TA's as a way to show that student can apply knowledge
   • Example: Students show they know basic conversation words by recording a short conversation with a classmate

4. Big Idea #5: Use of rubrics to evaluate performance

   • students see rubrics ahead of time so they know what they are expected to do and need to learn
   • rubrics identify criteria of good performance

5. Big Idea #3: Student-structured

   • students have more choices in how they demonstrate proficiency

6. Big Idea #2: Uses direct evidence

   • AA's offer direct evidence of a student's abilities to apply and construct knowledge
   • traditional assessments like multiple choice gives us indirect evidence student knows about and/or how to do something
   • Example: To show that they understand the complex issues following the Civil War, students were tasked with creating their own Reconstruction plan.

7. Big Idea #4: AA's are constructive

   • AA's encourage students to construct meaning as they work on tasks
   • Example: With the Reconstruction Plan assignment, Instead of just learning facts about the negative effects of Reconstruction, students are forced to think about what they have learned and make a plan for how things could have been different

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