authentic assessment blog

With regards to authentic/alternative/performance assessments I am at a crossroads. I see them as appropriate and beneficial with certain types of students, but only as a supplement to their traditional instruction. I know I am in the minority among my teacher corps peers in believing that standardized testing is a good thing and that traditional assessments are overall a better assessment tool than alternative assessments in most cases. This is true especially for the student populations we serve as teacher corps members. There are a number of factors that must be in place in order for alternative assessments(independent projects) to be worthwhile, and most of these are not in place at the schools we work in. Many of these alternative assessments require funding that the school simply doesn't have. This however, this is not the biggest pothole that must be crossed. The largest issues are the skills and motivation of our students. Project based assessment requires highly motivated students who have at least a basic understanding(preferably more than that) of the concept or objective covered by the assessment. It is in this way that students may enhance their understanding of a topic through a project to supplement their classroom instruction. Alternative assessments are not a very good way of developing base-line knowledge and skills which are things that a majority of my students do not have. Because of this I run a pretty typical classroom assessment-wise. My assessments consist of tests and quizzes that include multiple choice, fill in the blank, short answer, and matching questions with occasional alternative assessments mixed in(illustrations, powerpoint presentations, etc..).

My assessments in the future(summer/next year/beyond):
If I am teaching at a low-performing school I will continue to use more traditional methods. I believe that bookwork/lectures/note-taking/skill-building exercises are the best way to attain basic skills and knowledge that a majority of my students are lacking. I have learned from the alternative assessments I have given that my students will do the absolute minimum, if they do anything at all. Likely due to either apathy, laziness, or lack of skills necessary to complete the project.
If I am teaching at a good school with motivated/advanced students then I would definitely whittle some performance based assessments into my classroom. These assessments would hopefully enhance my students knowledge of an objective.

Roadblocks to adding more alternative assessments
1)funding
2)time
3)student motivation
4)Lack of basic skills necessary for alternative assessments

Reference:
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/13_03/assess.shtml