JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS AND PRACTICES OF AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT

Abstract

ABSTRACT
The implementation of 2013 Curriculum recommends practices of authentic assessment. This
qualitative study investigated teachers’ perceptions and practices of authentic assessment and
explored the difficulties affecting their practices. The questions guided this study are: 1) How
do English teachers’ perceive authentic assessment?, 2) What kinds of authentic assessment
techniques do they frequently use?, 3) What problems do they encounter in implementing
authentic assessment?, and 4) How do teachers’ assessment practices relate to their perceptions?
This research used an interview to reveal the teachers’ perceptions, the assessments frequently
used, and their problems. Meanwhile, the document analysis helped to map out patterns between
their perceptions and practices. A total of six teachers were drawn from six Junior High Schools
that implement 2013 Curriculum in Purworejo regency. Through the interview, it revealed that
teachers had positive perceptions towards authentic assessment. This study also found out that
observation, written test, and performance were the techniques often used by the teachers in
assessing students’ competence. Then, they claimed time constrain, lack of understanding, and
class size as the main problems. The last, it was informed that in some cases, they did not put
the assessment perceptions into practices.
Keywords:perceptions, practices, authentic assessment