Assessment
New forms of assessment are required in order to develop and evaluate the more complex skills students need to succeed in the rapidly changing U.S. society and economy. The modern workplace requires students to demonstrate well-developed thinking skills, problem-solving abilities, design strategies, and communication capabilities that cannot be assessed by most currently used multiple-choice tests. Performance assessments—widely used around the world and increasingly sought in the United States—allow students to demonstrate their knowledge more fully and authentically by directly exhibiting a skill, reporting on an investigation, producing a product, or performing an activity. By measuring students’ abilities to apply knowledge to solve meaningful problems, such assessments encourage and support more rigorous and relevant teaching and learning. Research and development supporting the effective design and use of such assessments encourages their wider use at all levels of schooling, including in college admission, placement, and advising decisions.
Further Reading
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How Preparation Predicts Teaching Performance Assessment Results in California (
report and brief
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Using Performance Assessments to Support Student Learning (
report and related resources
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Assessing College Readiness Through Authentic Student Work (
report and webinar
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Developing and Measuring Higher Order Skills: Models for State Performance Assessment Systems (
report and brief, LPI and CCSSO
) -
Using Learning and Motivation Theories to Coherently Link Formative Assessment, Grading Practices, and Large Scale Assessment (
journal article, Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice
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Ambitious Teaching and Equitable Assessment (
article, American Federation of Teachers
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In Search of the “Just Right” Connection Between Curriculum and Assessment (
blog, Center for Assessment
)
