ABSTRACT
Thoughtful decisions about assessment should lay at the heart of all teachers’ practices since assessment ought to drive many of our instructional choices. Fred Newmann’s Center for Authentic Intellectual Work composed a guide for the Iowa Department of Education in 2007 called “Authentic Instruction and Assessment”. Perhaps the educators whose work most closely aligns with expanded notion of authentic assessment are Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine. The bulk of the literature and practice in authentic assessment revolves around writing. Social studies classrooms often appear to be environments in which there is a clear playing field in which hyper-specialized practice can do wonders. Thus, the link between authentic assessment and joy is clear. Authentic assessments work differently since they are really about both the teacher and the student. Assessments need to be authentic, but they also must fight the boredom and apathy by bringing joy, meaning, and leadership into the experience.
