A training course grounded in the principles of authentic assessment was implemented with 24 academics from two Chilean universities. Through a single-group pre-test/post-test design, the change in the evaluated parameters was analysed to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the conducted training. By the end of the course, the assessments…

This case study aimed to change the construction of teachers' written tests so that items were designed to assess competencies in an authentic and challenging way. A small group of five psychology teachers participated in 10 sessions of an authentic assessment faculty-training program, to learn to assess problem-solving competencies for situations…

Current research into data use suggests that the intersection of assessment, reform, and public accountability and their impact on teacher practice are under-conceptualized and not well researched, especially when the data are derived from assessments that are locally produced by teachers. This qualitative case study investigates the development…

In this brief article, Christina Kuriacose provides four sample performance assessments. Spanning grade levels, these assessments are strong examples of teacher-developed performance assessments from schools within the Center for Collaborative Education's Quality Performance Assessment network. These performance tasks demonstrate the pedagogical…

As the field of education moves forward in the area of assessment, researchers have yet to come to a conclusion about definitions of commonly used terms. Without a consensus on the use of fundamental terms, it is difficult to engage in meaningful discourse within the field of assessment, as well as to conduct research on and communicate about best…

This article describes the use of a Dutch pyramid model that may help teachers design assessment problems that go beyond reproduction and need mathematization, generalization, and insight. (Contains 4 figures.)

This book presents an approach to developing performance assessments. It begins with four steps for "Info In" and moves to four "Info Out" modes through which students can make their content understanding explicit for evaluation purposes. The first chapter is an overview of performance assessment in the classroom. Chapter 2 discusses the "Info In"…

Provides advice on designing scoring rubrics, rating scales as opposed to checklists, for use with performance assessments. Discusses holistic and analytic rubrics, and lists the steps in rubric development. (SLD)

There is renewed emphasis on student assessment in adult literacy. Popular methods are instructor-made tests and performance assessment through observation, portfolios, writing samples, audio- and videotapes, and collaborative projects. (SK)

To support educational reforms, new assessments must stress the performance of complex, holistic tasks, not snippets of performance in segments, elements, or chunks of complex tasks. Sidebars present helpful guidelines for developing staff and creating an assessment. Assessments can assume numerous shapes, including budgeting activities,…

Describes the teacher-developed California Assessment Program (CAP) writing measure, designed to support California's reform curriculum and based on matrix sampling techniques. This program will be supplemented by literature and mathematics assessments. The greatest challenge is designing an assessment to match the state's new history and social…

In 1990, the California Assessment Collaborative was created to support development and implementation of teacher-designed performance assessments. Four key practices help ensure that assessment serves instruction: articulating standards and assessment design; building teacher capacity for using assessment to improve instruction; building student…

Students find performance-based assessment exciting because the tasks are intriguing and mirror real-life experiences. As this vignette of a middle school interdisciplinary coastal ecology unit shows, hands-on, teacher-made assessments can effectively evaluate students' mastery of process skills such as observing, classifying, inferring,…

This booklet examines fundamental technical and implementation issues involved with large-scale, on-demand performance assessments and teacher-constructed, classroom-based performance assessments, especially for use with students who have disabilities. It discusses definitions and core concepts, outlines theoretical matters, reviews research on…

Teachers at an interdisciplinary magnet middle school in Pensacola, Florida, collaboratively developed performance assessments to help them evaluate defined student processes and outcomes shown in student writings, oral and electronic presentations, and other portfolio offerings. In interdisciplinary schools, collaboration between curricula and…