'We Can Do It! Poster' photo (c) 2011, DonkeyHotey - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Performance Assessment can be an ‘Equity Strategy’ is  my three-part Education Week Teacher series.

This is the second-to-last in a series of “The Best…” lists related to student assessment. The next, and last, post in the series will related to grading.

This post focuses on “performance assessment.” Here’s how Linda Darling-Hammond describes it:

For many people, performance assessment is most easily defined by what it is not:specifically, it is not multiple-choice testing. In a performance assessment, ratherthan choosing among pre-determined options, students must construct an answer,produce a product, or perform an activity. From this perspective, performance assessment encompasses a very wide range of activities, from completing a sentence with a few words (short-answer), to writing a thorough analysis (essay), to conducting and analyzing a laboratory investigation (hands-on).

Because they allow students to construct or perform an original response rather than just recognizing a potentially right answer out of a list provided, performance assessments can measure students’ cognitive thinking and reasoning skills and their ability to apply knowledge to solve realistic, meaningful problems.

Here are other “The Best…” lists on student assessment:

The Best Resources For Learning About Formative Assessment

The Best Resources On ELL’s & Standardized Tests

The Best Posts On How To Prepare For Standardized Tests (And Why They’re Bad)


The Best Articles Describing Alternatives To High-Stakes Testing

Here are my choices for The Best Resources Learning About Performance Assessment:

Beyond Basic Skills:The Role of Performance Assessment in Achieving 21st Century Standards of Learning is by Linda Darling-Hammond and others.

Deborah Meier’s education advice to Obama is an excellent column in the Washington Post about “performance assessment” in evaluating both students and teachers. This is an excellent, and useful, alternative to the evaluative processes that are used right now in schools.

The Other Kind of Testing is by Walt Gardner at Education Week.

The Forum on Capitol Hill Series: Assessments for Learning – A Briefing on Performance-Based Assessments.

Performance Assessment in an Era of Standards-Based Educational Accountability is from The Rand Corporation.

Student Performance Assessment Series: Performance Assessments for English Language Learners

Intriguing alternative to rating schools by tests is by Jay Mathews at The Washington Post.

Developing Performance Assessment Tasks is from the Prince George’s County Schools.

Performance Assessment Examples
looks very useful.

What is Performance-Based Learning and Assessment, and Why is it Important? is from ASCD.

Performance Assessment
comes from Learner.org.

Performance assessment making a comeback in schools is from eSchool News.

Performance Assessment Is Best is by Walt Gardner at Education Week.

Performance assessments may not be ‘reliable’ or ‘valid.’ So what? is from Scott McLeod.

Performance Assessment Re-Emerging in Schools appeared in Education Week.

The Power of Performance Assessments is from Edutopia.

Beyond the Bubble Test: Why We Need Performance Assessments is by Linda Darling-Hammond and appeared at Education Week.

A New Era for Student Assessment is from Edutopia.

What is a Performance Task? is by Jay McTighe.

The Role of Performance Assessments in Fostering Opportunities for Deeper Learning appeared in Ed Week.

The Spring, 2016 issue of The American Educator has several important articles on performance-based assessment.

Four Strategies for Integrating Performance Assessment in State Systems of Assessment is from Ed Week.

Performance-Based Assessment: Reviewing the Basics is from Edutopia.

Brooklyn Elementary School Creates Test Alternative to Assess Students is from DNA Info.

3 Ways That Performance-Based Assessment Addresses 3 Important Critiques of Standardized Assessment is from Ed Week.

What is a Performance Task? (Part 1) by Jay McTighe at Learning Personalized.

How Can Educators Design Authentic Performance Tasks? (Part 3) is by Jay McTighe.

Great Free Resource Available Today – The Performance Assessment Resource Bank

Interview With Staff From The Performance Assessment Resource Bank

Everything You Wanted To Know About Performance Assessment, But Were Afraid To Ask

The Promise of Performance Assessments: Innovations in High School Learning and Higher Education Admissions is from The Learning Policy Institute.

Putting Assessment Back in the Hands of Teachers is by John R. Troutman McCrann.

The Power and Promise of Performance Assessments is from Ed Week.

Performance Assessment: 4 Best Practices is from Ed Week.

Best Practices for Designing Accessible Performance Assessments is from The Learning Policy Institute.

As New York Rethinks High School Graduation Requirements, Under-the-Radar School Group May Offer a Model is from Gotham Gazette.

Summative Assessment in Distance Learning is from Edutopia. It points out that performance tasks make a lot of sense in this situation. I can testify to that – many of my students prepared oral presentations (which many did with a partner), and it worked very well – especially for engagement!

Using Performance Assessments to Support Student Learning is from The Learning Policy Institute.

ReDesign has created some interesting looking “Toolboxes.” I especially like their High-quality Performance Assessments one, which includes Performance Task Teacher Guides.

What Happens to Performance Assessment If We Use It for Accountability? is from The Center For Assessment.

A New Report Explores How States Approach Performance-Based Assessments is from WestEd.

Feedback is welcome.

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You might also want to explore the 1000 other “The Best…” lists I’ve compiled.