Authentic Assessment in the Integrated Exploratory Class

Researchers in education, and classroom teachers as well, are continuously seeking answers to the sticky question of assessment of student learning. Nowhere will this question be of greater importance than in the Integrated Exploratory class where cycles of inquiry, project-based learning, and cooperative collaboration will be featured. Providing students with options for authentic product design and individual choice permits opportunities to restructure some of our assessment procedures.

In their recent book Powerful Learning: What We Know About Teaching for Understanding (2008), Barron and Darling-Hammond of Stanford University list three key characteristics of assessment systems designed to support cooperative and inquiry-based learning. They are:

1.) intellectually ambitious performance assessments that help students learn and apply desired concepts and skills in authentic and disciplined ways,

2.) evaluation tools, such as assignment guidelines and rubrics, that define what constitutes good work and effective collaboration, and

3.) formative assessments that guide teacher feedback to students and help to inform teacher instructional decisions throughout a project.

This school year we will use a combination of formative assessments, meant to question student thinking (iterative cycles) and guide production of project work, and rubrics that provide rigorous academic standards for both production and collaboration. Generated by personal reflection on work and continuous action toward improvement, students will assume a greater responsibility for their own learning.

We plan to provide many opportunities this school year for students to exhibit their learning through public presentation. Perhaps you would like to join one of our review panels. Calls for reviewers will be posted throughout the year.