This self-paced online course provides educators with detailed information on creating and using performance assessments. Through five 30-minute modules, practitioners, instructional leaders, and administrators will learn the foundational concepts of assessment literacy and how to develop, score, and use performance assessments. They will also…

There is a growing interest in conceptualizing, defining, and assessing what are often called 21st century skills or deeper learning competencies. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the conceptualizations, definitions, and understandings in the research literature related to critical thinking. Key initial questions include: What…

The Assessment Clearinghouse of the Memphis (Tennessee) City Public Schools is a collection of performance-based instructional tasks that have been designed to address specific content standards at specific grade levels. The tasks consist of a complete set of instructional and assessment activities for immediate classroom use. They also provide a…

This Digest addresses developing scoring rubrics, administering performance assessments, and scoring, interpreting, and using results. In developing scoring rubrics, the criteria within the scoring rubric should be clearly aligned with the requirements of the task and the state goals and objectives. They should also be expressed in terms of…

Provides a broad perspective on results-based performance measurement (RBPM). It describes the reasons for its growing popularity in government and outlines several of the key elements and considerations that must be included in the implementation of the RBPM system in the public sector. (Author)

Research on developing technology for large-scale performance assessments in science is reported briefly, and a conceptual framework is presented for defining, generating, and evaluating science performance assessments. Types of tasks are discussed, and the technical qualities of performance assessments are discussed in the context of…

Describes the implementation plans, experience, and results of incorporating performance measurement into the accreditation process of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Traces the evolution of standardized core measures known to be valid and reliable, noting political and technical problems in measure…

Describes educational assessment in Singapore and discusses changes planned to focus assessment on more real-life situations while taking into account research on learning and critical thinking. (SLD)

This book is intended as a practical guide to implementing a standards-based curriculum, developing performance tasks, teaching to those tasks, and using performance assessments. The chapters are: (1) "Establishing the Foundations"; (2) "Understanding the Achievement Cycle"; (3) "Focusing on Authentic Learning"; (4) "Building on a Standards-Based…

This Addendum was created with the expectation that it would enhance the understanding of the conceptual framework of "Improving Classroom Assessment: A Toolkit for Professional Developers," link its text and activities to other assessment aids, and help trainers design high-quality workshops. The first section of the addendum contains…

The two articles in this special section, combined with two previous articles, discuss the use of portfolios in large-scale assessment. Ten years ago, there was great interest in portfolio assessment in state testing programs, but no large-scale program relies on portfolios at the present time. These articles continue to consider their uses. (SLD)

A study was conducted to begin a process of validating hypothesized causes of local item dependence (LID) in large-scale performance assessments. Data for the study are item level scores from 26 science tasks from the 1993 edition of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. Causes of high LID were hypothesized from studies by Ferrara et…

This paper presents a study of primary and secondary mathematics teachers' changing assessment practices in the context of policy, stakeholder, and personal presses for change. Two cohorts of teachers, one of 35 elementary, middle school, and high school teachers and the other of 24 elementary and middle school teachers participated. Using survey…

This paper traces the origins of the portfolio movement, examines the treatment of portfolios in texts and other writings on classroom assessment, and poses several questions about the use of portfolios in classrooms. Interest in portfolios as assessment devices first emerged in the literature in the field of composition and writing, but interest…

To make the transition from traditional assessment, which was often counterproductive, to an array of assessment applications that will be more constructive for students, teachers must expand their vision of the relationship between assessment and effective schools. Assessment must be used to inform classroom decision making, and it must become…