Guilty of Too Many Paper/Pencil Tests? I am!

I keep hearing the term "authentic assessment" popping up lately both in my Math standards training and in my online course.  I admittedly don't do enough with authentic assessment and it's an area I plan to work on.  I've been asked if I believe that authentic assessment is possible in every subject area.  I do, in fact, feel like it is possible in all subject areas, but some lend themselves to this more easily than others.  I think that authentic performance tasks are an important part of assessing a child, but I think they must be weaved in with traditional testing methods as well.  I think students at every grade level can partially demonstrate mastery through authentic assessment, but they must also prove that they can perform on a traditional paper and pencil test. My online course discusses whether it is practical to ask teachers to include authentic assessments in their plans since we live in a world of high stakes testing.  I feel that it is practical and I will go one step further and say that I think administrators should welcome and even insist on teachers weave these activities into their planning.  Authentic assessments do seem to be more daunting and time consuming, but the students will love us for creating them!  I think giving students a chance to participate in authentic performance tasks helps to prepare them for the real world much more than a paper/pencil task.  In a perfect world, our success in school, college, and life wouldn't be determined by scores on written tests.  Unfortunately, the world continues to head in this direction so we must continue to give standardized testing-type assessments beginning at an early age to prepare students to show their "knowledge" on paper. If you're looking for some tips on incorporating more authentic assessments into your classroom, check out this Edutopia article: http://www.edutopia.org/10-assessment-tips-for-class In my opinion tip #5 "Ensure Rigor" is one of the most important things to remember.  Just because you're creating a memorable, authentic task for the students doesn't mean it is just for fun.  It should still be standards-based to correctly reflect what the students learned and of course encourage critical thinking skills.