Performance assessment is assessment based on observation and judgment; we look at a performance or product and make a judgment as to its quality. Examples include the following:
• Complex performances such as playing a musical instrument, carrying out the steps in a scientific experiment, speaking a foreign language, reading aloud with fluency, repairing an engine, or working productively in a group. In these cases it is the doing—the process—that is important.
• Creating complex products such as a term paper, a lab report, or a work of art. In these cases what counts is not so much the process of creation (although that may be evaluated, too), but the level of quality of the product itself.
As with extended written response assessments, performance assessments have two parts: a performance task or exercise and a scoring guide. Again, the scoring guide can award points for specific features of a performance or product that are present, or it can take the form of a rubric, in which levels of quality are described. For example, to
assess the ability to do a simple process, such as threading a sewing machine, doing long division, or safely operating a band saw, points might be awarded for each step done in the correct order. Or, for more complex processes or products, you might have a rubric for judging quality that has several dimensions, such as ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions in writing, or content, organization, presentation, and use of language in an oral presentation. Again, scores could be reported in number or percent of points earned, or in terms of a rubric score.
• Complex performances such as playing a musical instrument, carrying out the steps in a scientific experiment, speaking a foreign language, reading aloud with fluency, repairing an engine, or working productively in a group. In these cases it is the doing—the process—that is important.
• Creating complex products such as a term paper, a lab report, or a work of art. In these cases what counts is not so much the process of creation (although that may be evaluated, too), but the level of quality of the product itself.
As with extended written response assessments, performance assessments have two parts: a performance task or exercise and a scoring guide. Again, the scoring guide can award points for specific features of a performance or product that are present, or it can take the form of a rubric, in which levels of quality are described. For example, to
assess the ability to do a simple process, such as threading a sewing machine, doing long division, or safely operating a band saw, points might be awarded for each step done in the correct order. Or, for more complex processes or products, you might have a rubric for judging quality that has several dimensions, such as ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions in writing, or content, organization, presentation, and use of language in an oral presentation. Again, scores could be reported in number or percent of points earned, or in terms of a rubric score.
Assessing Knowledge Learning TargetsPerformance assessment is usually not a good choice for assessing knowledge targets, for three reasons.
The first reason with a brief example. Let’s say we ask a student to complete a rather complex performance, such as writing and executing a computer program, for the purpose of determining if she has the prerequisite knowledge. If the student successfully executes the program, then we know that she possesses the prerequisite knowledge. The problem comes in when the program does not run successfully. Was it due to lack of knowledge of the programming language, due to the inability to use knowledge to create a program that does what it is intended to do, or merely due to the inability to manipulate the keyboard or to proofread? We can’t know the reason for failure unless we follow up the performance assessment with one of the other assessment methods. We must ask some short answer or extended response questions to find out if the prerequisite knowledge was there to start with. But, if our initial objective was to assess mastery of specific knowledge, why go through the extra work? To save time and increase accuracy, we recommend using selected response, short answer, and extended written response assessments to evaluate knowledge targets. The second reason this is not a good match is because it is inefficient to assess all content knowledge with a performance assessment. The third reason that performance assessments are usually not a good match for knowledge learning targets has again to do with practicality. It just isn't practical (or safe) to conduct some performance assessments. Assessing Skill Learning TargetsThere is really only one assessment method that adequately covers skill targets, and that is performance assessment. We can use other assessment methods to determine if students possess the knowledge required to perform skillfully, but the only way to determine whether students can actually perform skillfully is to watch them do it and then judge their level of achievement. For example, we can ask students to answer selected response or oral questions about how to conduct themselves during a job interview,
but the only way to determine how well they can do it is to watch them during a simulated job interview. Performance assessment overlaps with personal communication when the performance skills in question fall into the category of oral proficiency, such as speaking a foreign language or giving an oral presentation. Also, the only option for determining whether students can create a certain kind of product is performance assessment: have them create the product or performance and then judge its quality. Once again, we can assess the knowledge required for creating a quality product with a less time-consuming method, but the only way to determine students’ levels of proficiency in creating the product is to have them create it. Performance assessment overlaps with extended written response when the product in question requires writing, such as writing a business letter, lab report, research report, or health and fitness plan. Assessing Reasoning Learning TargetsThis is a partial match for assessing reasoning. For example, we can observe students carrying out science laboratory procedures and draw conclusions about their reasoning based on our observations. But, there’s a hitch that keeps performance assessment from being a great match with reasoning targets: we need to make an inference from what we observe. If students do well on a performance task requiring specific patterns of reasoning, we can assume that reasoning is sound. However, if they don’t do well, it could be due to lack of prerequisite knowledge, lack of motivation, or to imprecise reasoning. Without engaging in additional time-consuming assessment, we may not be able to judge level of achievement on reasoning targets.
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Please Review the Following File to Refresh on PA.
Barriers With Performance Aassessments• Lack of reading skills
• Inappropriate or nonexistent scoring criteria • Evaluator untrained in applying scoring criteria • Bias due to stereotypic thinking • Insufficient time or patience to observe and score carefully • Student doesn’t feel safe • Unfocused or unclear tasks • Tasks that don’t elicit the correct performance • Biased tasks • Students don’t know the criteria by which they’ll be judged • Insufficient sampling |
Two Parts of a Performance Assessment
A good Performance Assessment includes the following two components.
TasksTasks are activities or exercises in which students engage while the teacher observes and judges quality. For example:
A task is an activity that is used as a context to observe a skill or product - a naturally occurring event or a separate event, at the end of instruction of during instruction. The only requirement is that the task elicits the desired skill or product so that it is capable of being judged. |
Performance CriteaPerformance criteria is the basis for judging the quality of the performance on the task. Here are some examples:
The performance criteria is measured using a Rubric. Rubrics should be made before a Performance Assessment is given and it should be provided to the students. For information about Rubrics, click here. |
Example Skill AssessmentIdentify and summarize relevant skills, knowledge, and experience to include in your resume.
Task: Student will brainstorm different experiences in and out of school and identify the skills and knowledge they learned through them. They will write them up using descriptive, professional language and support the skills and knowledge with examples. Rubric: Answer common interview questions.
-Students will be assessed on this during a mock interview. -Rubric and additional questions |
Example Reasoning assessment |
Information obtained from:http://www-tc.pbs.org/teacherline/courses/inst325/docs/inst325_stiggins.pdf