The term measurement disturbance has been used to describe systematic conditions that affect a measurement process, resulting in a compromised interpretation of person or item estimates. Measurement disturbances have been discussed in relation to systematic response patterns associated with items and persons, such as start-up, plodding, boredom,…

Discusses appropriate ways to prepare students for performance assessments and proposes a list of six guidelines for teaching to performance assessments. The focus is on elementary and secondary education. It is believed that these guidelines will help balance the domain and sample problem. (SLD)

Describes seven topics that should be included in a course for teachers on performance assessment and provides some ideas for teaching them. The topics range from assessment selection to recognizing inappropriate, unethical, or illegal assessment methods and uses. (SLD)

If annual performance assessments are to yield results that can be compared from year to year, many technical problems must be addressed. It is essential that tests to be equated measure the same construct. Methods of equating performance assessment scores, ways of equating system assessments, and standard setting are discussed. (SLD)

Some unfinished issues relating to achievement test theory that seemed implicit in the basic idea of criterion-referenced testing are reviewed, recognizing their importance in current studies of authentic assessment and performance-based tests. The future of performance-based evaluation is explored. (SLD)

The extent to which performance assessments can have unintended and undesirable consequences is not yet clear, but preliminary evidence suggests several issues of bias and fairness. Among these is the sheer difficulty of scoring complex performance assessments, as Vermont's experiences with portfolio assessment illustrate. (SLD)