4 engaging assessment ideas for middle and high school

Key points:

• When students have different ways to demonstrate learning, educators can collect more accurate data
• Middle and high school students benefit from choice, and different assessment options can lead to better engagement
• See related article: 3 new trends in student assessment

As an educator and leader who grades holistically, it becomes important to consider how to create well rounded assessments that offer students myriad different opportunities to demonstrate their learning.

Providing students with authentic and varied assessment opportunities helps educators gather datapoints on a student holistically. What is equally important is that we provide varied assessment opportunities so students can demonstrate understanding in different ways. This article offers ideas that are outside traditional essay writing and test taking mediums.

Here are 4 ideas I have found to be successful in my educational context, which is the IB’s Middle Years Programme.

1. Speech an expert

Students can write speeches on a particular topic that connects to the unit being studied. Presenting these speeches in front of an expert in the field augments the authenticity. Finding an expert can be difficult.