Performance-Based Assessment to Measure Understanding

Performance-based assessment, which became a popular alternative to multiple choice tests in the 1990s, has been overshadowed by the recent emphasis on standardized tests. More recently, however, schools are seeking more authentic measures of student learning, and performance-based assessments are making a comeback. Notable author and education consultant, Jay McTighe, defines a performance task as “any learning activity or assessment that asks students to perform to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and proficiency.” While most performance tasks tend to be focused in areas of the arts and career technology, McTighe argues that performance tasks should be used for all subjects at all grade levels. Performance tasks allow students to be assessed on their understanding of the content and subject matter, requiring them to use higher order thinking skills to demonstrate their learning.

Patricia Hilliard’s recent article, Performance-Based Assessment: Reviewing the Basics, highlights the essential components of a performance-based assessment. In addition to meeting the standards, the assessment should also be:

1. Complex
2. Authentic
3. Process/product-oriented
4. Open-ended
5. Time-bound

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe’s book, Understanding by Design, is an excellent resource for getting started with performance-based assessment. In this book, they encourage teachers to start their planning with the assessment and then work backwards from there to determine what to teach. Hilliard recommends that teachers create performance-based assessments for their students based on this "backward design" process. Below are some suggestions for getting started:

1. Identify goals of the performance-based assessment
2. Select the appropriate course standards
3. Review assessments and identify learning gaps
4. Design the scenario
5. Gather or create materials
6. Develop a learning plan

Pepper provides a wide range of courses for teachers that allow for creative and authentic assessment opportunities. As you participate in Pepper's online learning community discuss with peers and determine ways to create performance-based assessments for your students. Be sure to check out our wide range of Pepper Courses to further your own professional growth.

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Creating a Culture of Learning: Reflections on Assessments

Education has always gone hand in hand with assessments, whether it was Socrates forcing a friend to question a set of underlying premises to test their soundness, or whether it's a math quiz with technology-enhanced items administered and graded digitally on a tablet. It's nearly impossible to think about learning without also thinking about how we measure and understand and track and express what we've learned.

But the ways that educators think about assessments--and put them into practice in the classroom--can vary widely. Here are two thought-provoking articles by Katrina Schwartz from the website Mind/Shift, a blog from NPR and California radio station KQED. Both articles ask probing questions about the purpose of assessments, the current practices, and possible ways of doing things differently.

Take a look at this piece, "More Progressive Ways to Measure Deeper Levels of Learning," which discusses a number of less traditional assessment models.

And be sure to check out this article, too: "The Importance of Low-Stakes Student Feedback," which explores the possibilities that open up when educators make use of frequent formative assessment.

Assessment Literacy -- FREE WestEd Webinar

If you're a middle school or high school educator, this webinar is for you! We all know that assessment is a critically important part of instruction. Recently, there has been increasing emphasis on the ways that formative assessment in particular can help you meet your students' needs.

This free webinar from the experts at WestEd helps clarify the different kinds of assessments and how you can make the best use of them. Plus, it takes a closer look at aligning ELA assessments with Common Core State Standards. Click here to check it out!