A Journey in Authentic Assessment

If you have been reading my blog since the beginning, you may remember a post a while back about authentic assessment and I what I believe it is. Check it out here if you want. As we enter this time of year, schools around the country are preparing for the horror that is the standardized testing season. This is my first year teaching an EOC class - a class with a Missouri End of Course Exam that is required by the state.

As we start down this path, I am reminded of a TED talk from Geoffrey Canada, founder and Principle of the Harlem Children's Zone. Dr. Canada discusses many things, but at one point he talks about standardized tests. It was a light bulb moment for me, so much so that the day after I saw the video for the first time I showed it to my students. I told them that it didn't particularly relate to anything - I just wanted to them to hear it and I wanted to see what they thought of it. Needless to say, I enjoyed the heck out of our discussion that day.

Watch the video here:

And then check out part one of a three-part series on assessment in education.  

Part 1: Wandering in the Wilderness Click Here

Part 2: The Phase of Justification April 30th, 2014

Part 3: Data-Based Decisions May 7th, 2014