Standardized testing of American students provides comparative scores for the placement of individual students, enables students to make appropriate decisions regarding a future course of study, and offers the opportunity to assess the effectiveness of teachers, schools, and school districts. As a result of using standardized test scores for comparative purposes, however, "teaching to the test" is becoming a common practice in our nation's schools. Performance-based assessments offer an alternative to standardized testing by requiring students to demonstrate active skills. Because performance-based assessments are more easily scored using a criterion- rather than a norm-referenced approach, to maintain assessment reliability comparisons must be made with similar assessments made by other teachers in other settings, the adoption of an exemplary system involving regular meetings between teachers responsible for scoring would be necessary. Such a shift in testing methodology sacrifices reliability for the benefits of validity. (9 references) (KM)