Performance assessment is a type of educational assessment in which judgments are made about student knowledge and skills based on observation of student behavior or inspection of student products. In dealing with the issue of fairness in performance assessment, educators are confronted with some dilemmas. Assuring equality in performance…

The nature of classroom assessment is changing. Teachers are being urged to rely less on traditional tests and more on innovative measurement methods, such as performance tests and portfolio assessments. This digest describes a strategy whereby student services personnel can play a leadership role in familiarizing classroom teachers and school…

Assessments are authentic when they have meaning in themselves--when the learning they measure has value beyond the classroom and is meaningful to the learner. Authentic assessments (AAs) address the skills and abilities needed to perform actual tasks. Perhaps the most widely used technique is portfolio assessment. Well-designed AAs demonstrate a…

The purpose of this digest is to summarize major portions of the literature on assessment in counseling and therapy. In this collection of 32 digests, assessment is used to refer to assessment of clients as well as evaluations of program and counselor effectiveness. Recognized professionals have written about topics that are grouped into nine…

Not since the development of the objective paper and pencil test early in the century has an assessment method hit the American educational scene with such force as has performance assessment methodology in the 1990s. Performance assessment relies on teacher observation and professional judgment to draw inferences about student achievement.…