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When teachers redesign learning experiences to make school more relevant to students鈥� lives, they can鈥檛 ignore assessment. For many teachers, the most vexing question about real-world learning experiences such as project-based learning聽is: How will we know what students know and can do by the end of this project?

Teachers at the Siena School in Silver Spring, Maryland, decided to figure out the assessment question by investigating their classroom practices. As a result of their action research, they now have a much deeper understanding of authentic assessment and a renewed appreciation for the power of learning together.

Their research process offers a replicable model for other schools interested in designing their own immersive professional learning. The process began with a real-world challenge and an open-ended question, involved a deep dive into research, and ended with a public showcase of findings.

Start With an Authentic Need to Know

Siena School serves about 130 students in grades 4鈥�12 who have mild to moderate language-based learning differences, including dyslexia. Most students are one to three grade levels behind in reading.

Teachers have introduced a variety of instructional strategies, including project-based learning, to better meet students鈥� learning needs and also help them develop skills like collaboration and creativity. Instead of taking tests and quizzes, students demonstrate what they know in a PBL unit by making products or generating solutions.

鈥淲e were already teaching this way,鈥� explained Simon Kanter, Siena鈥檚 director of technology. 鈥淲e needed a way to measure, was authentic assessment actually effective? Does it provide meaningful feedback? Can teachers grade it fairly?鈥�

Focus the Research Question

Across grade levels and departments, teachers considered what they wanted to learn about authentic assessment, which the late Grant Wiggins engaging, multisensory, feedback-oriented, and grounded in real-world tasks. That鈥檚 a contrast to traditional tests and quizzes, which tend to focus on recall rather than application and have little in common with how experts go about their work in disciplines like math or history.

The teachers generated a big research question: Is using authentic assessment an effective and engaging way to provide meaningful feedback for teachers and students about growth and proficiency in a variety of learning objectives, including 21st-century skills?

Take Time to Plan

Next, teachers planned authentic assessments that would generate data for their study. For example, middle school science students created prototypes of genetically modified seeds and pitched their designs to a panel of potential investors. They had to not only understand the science of germination but also apply their knowledge and defend their thinking.

In other classes, teachers planned everything from mock trials to environmental stewardship projects to assess student learning and skill development. A shared rubric helped the teachers plan high-quality assessments.

Make Sense of Data

During the data-gathering phase, students were surveyed after each project about the value of authentic assessments versus more traditional tools like tests and quizzes. Teachers also reflected after each assessment.

鈥淲e collated the data, looked for trends, and presented them back to the faculty,鈥� Kanter said.

Among the takeaways:

• Authentic assessment generates more meaningful feedback and more opportunities for students to apply it.
• Students consider authentic assessment more engaging, with increased opportunities to be creative, make choices, and collaborate.
• Teachers are thinking more critically about creating assessments that allow for differentiation and that are applicable to students鈥� everyday lives.

To make their learning public, Siena聽hosted a colloquium on authentic assessment for other schools in the region. The school also submitted its research as part of an accreditation process with the Middle States Association.

Strategies to Share

For other schools interested in conducting action research, Kanter highlighted three聽key strategies.

• Focus on areas of growth, not deficiency:聽鈥淭his would have been less successful if we had said, 鈥極ur math scores are down. We need a new program to get scores up,鈥� Kanter said.聽鈥淭hat puts the onus on teachers. Data collection could seem punitive. Instead, we focused on the way we already teach and thought about, how can we get more accurate feedback about how students are doing?鈥�
• Foster a culture of inquiry:聽Encourage teachers to ask questions, conduct individual research, and share what they learn with colleagues. 鈥淪ometimes, one person attends a summer workshop and then shares the highlights in a short presentation. That might just be a conversation, or it might be the start of a school-wide initiative,鈥� Kanter explained. In fact, that鈥檚 exactly how the focus on authentic assessment began.
• Build structures for teacher collaboration:聽Using staff meetings for shared planning and problem-solving fosters a collaborative culture. That was already in place when Siena embarked on its action research, along with informal brainstorming to support students.

For both students and staff, the deep dive into authentic assessment yielded 鈥渄ramatic impact on the classroom,鈥� Kanter added. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the great part of this.鈥�

In the past, he said, most teachers gave traditional final exams. To alleviate students鈥� test anxiety, teachers would support them with time for content review and strategies for study skills and test-taking.

鈥淭his year looks and feels different,鈥� Kanter said. A week before the end of fall term, students were working hard on final products, but they weren鈥檛 cramming for exams. Teachers had time to give individual feedback to help students improve their work. 鈥淭he whole climate feels way better.鈥�