Authentic Assessment engages students in applying knowledge and skills in ways that are meaningful and reflective of real-life. It is an ongoing process which allows teachers to gather information about student learning. This information is used to guide a variety of instructional decisions and actions by the teacher. The assessment process is valued as part of the whole learning experience. It is relevant and important to each learner.
Authentic assessment takes many forms.
This list provides a sample of the opportunities for authentic assessment throughout a student's K-12 experience. This relevant, real-world assessment enables students to construct knowledge and apply complex thinking skills. Learning material with the expectation that you will have to explain it to peers results in more frequent use of higher-level reasoning strategies than learning material to pass a test.