Performance assessment involves students completing a task in a ways that demonstrates an understanding of skills. For instance, instead of answering questions about a science concept, students could perform an experiment and report their results. These hands-on activities allow students with a wide variety of learning methods to show their mastery of a material.
Authentic assessments are also task-based, tying classroom learning into real-world applications. For instance, students studying persuasive writing techniques might complete a writing project in which they work individually or in teams to create an advertisement for a fictional product. Students' ability to weave persuasive writing techniques into their projects would demonstrate a good understanding of the concept. Authentic assessments engage students in the world around them and show them the value of education in all aspects of their lives.
Portfolios record students' progress over a period of time. They have the benefit of showing development in individual students, as all children learn at different rates. Portfolios also give students a sense of ownership over their work, much more than brief assignments and tests. The practice of using portfolios is common in the arts, but the concept can be applied to any discipline. Language arts teachers may want students to create a weekly writing folder, for instance, while science classes could benefit from science notebooks. At the end of the year, portfolio-based work gives students a concrete record of their work.
Since alternative assessments are subjective by nature, they are not as easy to grade as forced-answer tests. Rubrics and checklists are useful tools to keep scoring consistent and fair among individuals and over time. While devising an assessment activity, decide on the criteria for grading. A checklist could list all the points a student must hit in order to complete an assessment. Rubrics serve as references for evaluating work. Decide on the type of product or performance that would garner the highest score and describe it in words. Then work down the list, describing what would earn the next highest score, and so on. These tools take some of the guess work out of assessing students in creative ways.