Authentic assessments are a critical piece to ensuring that students are engaged in their learning.

Reason 1: Authentic assessments require cognitive rigour. In a well-designed authentic assessment, all levels of thinking are required from students. It is this integration between all levels of thinking when problem-solving that creates a deeper understanding of the concepts under study.

Reason 2: When transferring knowledge and skills to solve a problem as though they are professionals in the field, students begin connecting the how and what of the learner outcomes to the why of the world. 

Reason 3: While creating selected-response quizzes and tests might be easier, it is almost impossible to accurately assess student understanding of the Alberta Programs of Study (POS)  By designing an assessment process that includes carefully planned selected and written responses, conversations, observations and performance tasks, teachers will make an informed judgement on the students’ level of understanding.

Helpful Tip: When designing the assessment process, teachers should be aware that only one or two pieces of evidence are needed to prove a certain level of student understanding. 

Reason 4:   The very design of the authentic assessment requires student choice and voice. Students provide input on choices (such as deciding how they want to present their understanding), and students share their opinions (voice) when decision-making is required. These opportunities create a sense of student ownership of their learning and provide a chance to develop student agency. Student agency and ownership result in greater student engagement. Greater student engagement translates into improved academic achievement.

Reason 5: Over time, our education system has shifted to an unhealthy focus on summative assessment. Educational researchers (like Dylan Wiliam, Rick Stiggins, Anne Davies, Sandra Herbst, Damian Cooper, Lorna Earl, Ken O’Connor, Rick Wormeli, Tom Guskey, to name a few) have proven repeatedly that summative assessment does not consistently improve student learning. While summative assessment can benefit our most successful learners, it often harms our students that need the most support. These same researchers have proven it is the formative assessment process that significantly improves students’ learning. 

Although authentic assessments can be used as summative assessments, the very nature of their design ensures that the majority of student activity is spent in the formative assessment feedback and practice cycle.  

When planning an authentic assessment, a number of instructional design frameworks can be used.  Understanding By Design (Wiggin and McTighe), Project-Based Learning, GRASPS, or Design Thinking all incorporate the formative assessment feedback and practice cycle.