Keeping It Real(ish): A Journey Towards Authentic Assessment in a Communication Sciences and Disorders Program

Abstract

In the United States clinical higher education programs can be perceived as having ‘nailed' the concept of authentic assessment. College programs for nurses, physical therapists, and mental health counseling, for example, all have clinical experience requirements in which students are assessed. Communication sciences and disorders (CSD) programs have the potential to be viewed in a similar light. However, as one examines CSD programs a bit more closely, they see that the programs typically fall short of the mark of infusing authentic assessment into the curriculum in a consistent and beneficial manner. This chapter discusses these shortcomings and shares one CSD instructor's meandering journey to implementing more authentic assessment while respecting the necessity of traditional assessment in allied health professional training.