The words “authentic” and “assessment” are two words which we are all familiar with. However, if these two words are combined together to form one concept, the term may be Greek to some. In fact, people who haven’t encountered the term “authentic assessment” may never have an idea that it is actually related to education. To understand authentic assessment, it should first be defined and analyzed.
Authentic assessment is a group of assessment tasks which are a lot like school works. It can be a writing or a reading task which aims to assess a specific literacy ability of a person. For example, authentic assessment requires a student to write about a significant topic or read an actual text. He or she may also be asked to join in authentic literacy projects like editing and re-editing a paper until the reader think it is already a good read (Houghton Mifflin Company, 1997).
Authentic assessment has different objectives to meet. Instead of simply letting students choose from predetermined choices, authentic assessment aims to develop a student’s responses. Aside from the basic skills gained from school, authentic assessment develops the personality of a student by arousing higher order thinking. Holistic projects are also evaluated directly. Authentic assessment effectively synthesizes with the instructions given inside the classroom, too. Multiple human judgments become possible, add to that the chance for students to evaluate their own work.
Because of these given objectives, it is then safe to say that authentic assessment can no longer be fair once it is absolute and impersonal. To make authentic assessment effective, it should never be standardized and uniform. What does this mean? Authentic assessment should always observe equity, where it is employed with utmost flexibility. The objectives of an authentic assessment can be easily achieved as long as it is kept natural and personalized. Because of this, an authentic assessment should be modified for each individual to be an appropriate means of pinpointing certain literacy abilities of a person. Also, there must be a rapport between the student and the examiner (On Purpose Associates, 2001).
This is where the concept of excellence in education comes in. With authentic assessment appropriately employed, excellence in education is achieved.
What, then, does the concept of excellence in education mean? A lot of governments around the world once thought that education is at its best if it is fully subsidized. If more schools are built, more excellence in education is achieved. Solutions to educational problems are there. The authority can always refer to standardized documents to resolve issues in education. Today, if excellence in education has to be achieved, these steps are no longer effective to take (Finn, 1995).
Excellence in education always follows the principle of quality over quantity. While it is true that the delivery of educational services should always be funded, it is not always the better step to take towards excellence in education. That said, performance must be rewarded, especially the excellent ones at that (Finn, 1995).
What the authorities has failed to see before excellence in education was realized, was the significant and realistic needs of the students. Dilemmas in education are changing. They are not published, nor are they predicted. Because challenges are dynamic in nature, solutions must be dynamic, too. The Department of Education, for example, should have a central policy which adapts itself to the constant changes in the difficulties concerning education. Once a central policy is appropriately adapting itself to the nature of problems, excellence in education is achieved.
A step to strengthen the power of excellence in education is President Bush’ bipartisan education reform which largely covers the “No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.” The No Child Left Behind Act aims to change the federal function in the educational system in the United States, making sure that there really is no single child left behind. Today, it can be noticed how many students are being left behind, especially those who are extremely needy. Seventy percent of 10 year olds in the US can’t read basic words and have poor spelling skills. One third of the college freshmen are also having difficulties in school because all these students need to take a remedial course. These college freshmen are not ready to start regular courses for college level. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 aims to optimize accountability for the performances of students, concentrate on what step works more efficiently, increase flexibility, lower bureaucracy and strengthen parents’ empowerment (The White House, 2001).
Educating the whole child is as important. This term may seem to be vague at first, but when its objectives are presented, it is easy to understand. Educating the whole child is about identifying the role of education in making a harmonious society. A lot of orders have been passed to create a prosperous society, but a lot of uses seem to have failed to see that the first thing we should utilize is our own human potential. This is where educating the role of a child comes in. Educating the whole child is based on consciousness, where experts research about the consciousness of students to make them more harmonious, self-actualized, emotionally balanced and more alert when it comes to studies. Eliminating the primary cause of problems like drug abuse, violence and crime is also part of educating the whole child (Brain Matrix, 2006).
To wrap it all up, all these concepts boil down to one point: an education that makes a difference. Education is a universal need, but not all forms make a difference. If literacy abilities are determined and improved through authentic assessment, quality of education is prioritized more than quantity through excellence in education, the development of every child is prioritized through the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 and a society is transformed into a prosperous one through educating the whole child, then there is definitely no way a concept such as ‘education that makes a difference’ can better be explained.
References:
Brain Matrix Incorporated (2006). Educating the Whole Child. Retrieved February 19, 2008
from http://www.ebrainmatrix.org/topics/pdf/education.pdf.
Finn, C. E. (1995). Towards Excellence in Education. February 19, 2008 from
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0377/is_n120/ai_17379686/pg_8.
Funderstanding (2001). Authentic Assessment. Retrieved February 19, 2008 from
http://www.funderstanding.com/authentic_assessment.cfm.
Houghton Mifflin Company (1997). What is Authentic Assessment? Retrieved February 19,
2008 from http://www.eduplace.com/rdg/res/litass/auth.html.
The White House (2001). Report On: No Child Left Behind, Foreword by President George
W. Bush. Retrieved February 19, 2008 from http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/reports/no
child-left-behind.html.
