Authentic Assessments

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on authentic assessments lately. Authentic assessments are performance projects that use a student’s skill, abilities and educational knowledge to demonstrate that comprehension of a concept or process way achieved. These assessments offer teachers an alternative way to assess students instead of paper/pencil.  Here is a video clip on authentic assessment: http://www.edutopia.org/stw-assessment-school-of-the-future-introduction-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29&utm_content=Google+Reader. The clip is from the teacher’s perspective rather than the students. I use authentic assessments in class and the students really enjoy them. The students are assessed at their ability level, engaged, and using higher order thinking skills. If you haven’t tried these type of assessments, it’s worth looking into.