Authentic Assessment

Authentic Assessment is not simply one thing, in fact it is so many different things. Every assessment needs to be fitting for the child. When we are picking the appropriate assessment we must consider the child, and identify our purpose in the assessment. Teachers can use many different types of assessment including anecdotal and cumulative assessment. When doing theses assessments it can also be helpful to focus on what the student is able to do, instead of what they are unable to do. This can help with communication with parents and for the self esteem of the students.
If you are assessing a certain subject area you must also remember that their are different contexts within that subject. It is especially important to remember this in language arts because their are so many different areas such as thematic units, reading, writing, and literature. If all parts are assessed we may see that a students shines in one or more of those areas but has problems in the others.