Beyond the Bubble Sheet: What Authentic Assessment Looks Like in Practice

What if the most important things students learn… aren't showing up on your tests?

In this episode of The What and Who of EDU, we go beyond the buzzword to explore authentic assessment: what it is, where it came from, and whether it actually works. With insights from education researcher Sarah Gray, we dig into what authentic assessment looks like in practice, how it holds up in the AI era, and what the research really says about deeper learning, academic performance, and workforce readiness.

We'll explore:

• How authentic assessment builds critical thinking, collaboration, and self-regulated learning
• What the research actually says (including some eye-opening effect sizes)
• A brief but mighty history lesson
• 10 practical tips to help you design, scaffold and grade authentic assessments

Whether you're teaching STEM, social science, or Shakespeare, this episode offers actionable ideas to make assessment more meaningful—and more manageable. And spoiler alert: Yes, the research backs it up. But only when it's done well.

Supported by Macmillan Learning

🧠 Today's Syllabus:

02:06 – What is authentic assessment, really?

05:02 –  The big three skills: self-regulation, critical thinking, collaboration

07:11 – History rewind: Dewey, the 90s, and the assessment triangle

15:40 – What authentic assessment looks like in practice 

18:40 – Sarah Gray's design rule of thumb

23:40 – The receipts: what the research says 

30:11 – Common pitfalls + grading without losing your weekend

35:20 – 10 practical tips to try in your classroom

 📖 Required Reading: 

What Is Authentic Assessment, Really?

• Wiggins, G. (1990). The Case for Authentic Assessment – The origin story.
• Newmann & Wehlage (1993).  Five Standards of Authentic Instruction – A framework for meaningful work.
• Resnick, L. B. (1987). Education and Learning to Think – Early call for reasoning and transfer.
• National Research Council (2001). Knowing What Students Know – Introduced the "assessment triangle."
• Stanford SCOPE (2013).  Criteria for High-Quality Assessment – What good assessment looks like.

The Core Skills: Self-Regulation, Critical Thinking, and Collaboration

• Donker et al. (2014). Effectiveness of learning strategy instruction (Educational Research Review)
• Boekaerts & Corno (2005). Self-regulation in the classroom (Applied Psychology)
• Zimmerman & Campillo (2003).  Motivating self-regulated problem solvers (Cambridge University Press)
• Abrami et al. (2008). Meta-analysis on critical thinking instruction (Review of Educational Research)
• Halpern, D. F. (1998).  Teaching critical thinking across domains (American Psychologist)
• Halpern & Abrami (2015). Critical Thinking in Education
• Johnson & Johnson (2009). Social interdependence theory (Educational Researcher)
• Cooper & Robinson (2014). Using Classroom Assessment and Cognitive Scaffolding to Enhance the Power of Small-Group Learning. (2014). Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, 25(3&4). 

Does It Work? Academic Performance, Grading, Scaling & Career Readiness

• Newmann, Bryk, & Nagaoka (2001). Authentic Intellectual Work & Standardized Tests – Test gains in high-authenticity classrooms
• NACE (2024). Job Outlook Data – Employers report a 25-point gap in critical thinking perceptions
• AAC&U & SHEEO (2017).  On Solid Ground: VALUE Report (PDF) – 91,000 student artifacts, real scoring data
• Herrington, J., Reeves, T.C., & Oliver, R. (2010).  <a href= "h