This paper presents an overview of New Hampshire's efforts to implement a pilot accountability system designed to support deeper learning for students and powerful organization change for schools and districts. The accountability pilot, referred to as Performance Assessment of Competency Education or PACE, is grounded in a competencybased…

Over the past decade, the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA) has been documenting what colleges and universities are doing to gather evidence about student learning and helping institutions to productively use assessment data to strengthen undergraduate education. NILOA also has been monitoring how institutions communicate…

This document is one of eight reports prepared to support the development of a new learning system, a development effort that is the first step in a major initiative undertaken by the Stupski Foundation. This report synthesizes recent research and theoretical literature on using best practices related to formative assessment to support urban…

Performance tasks build on earlier content knowledge, progress skills, and work habits. They are not add-ons at the end of instruction, but an integral part of the learning and an opportunity to assess the quality of student performance. This guide was written by teachers to share their experiences in the introduction of performance based…

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge on new forms of assessment by examining the impact of teacher involvement in the scoring of standards-based performance assessments. Researchers studied 250 of 500 teachers who participated in a New York state project to pilot new state assessment prototypes. The National Center for Restructuring…

This collection of examples of authentic assessments has been compiled to provide a sampling of the many new strategies for evaluating student work and learning that are being developed and used in schools around the country. These strategies are called "authentic" because they require that students demonstrate what they can do as…

This book offers a philosophy about classroom assessment that places students at the center of the assessment equation. Classroom assessments must define for students what is expected of them, and they must provide the basis for decision making by students, parents, teachers, administrators, and the community. Part I of this volume, the first five…

In recent years, many psychological constructs with associated measures have been proposed for educational research and the evaluation of educational programs. Among the most interesting and potentially useful are those reflecting motivational and volitional aspects of human behavior, the conative constructs. Among the conative constructs are…

Student assessment, from the classroom to the state and national levels, is changing. The era of norm-referenced, multiple choice, standardized tests may be coming to an end, to be replaced by other forms of assessment, not all equally good. This guide outlines a vision of what assessment in the service of learning can be and provides ideas,…

Forms of assessment that are consistent with outcomes based education are discussed. Assessment in service to learning must inform students about their learning, provide data for teachers who plan instruction, inform parents about student progress, and provide data for policymakers. Chapter 1 of this document is "The Implications of…

Three papers are presented that summarize current project findings from a study of the actual effects of introducing new forms of assessment at the classroom level. All focus on aspects of performance assessment as an alternative to traditional assessments. "Effects of Introducing Classroom Performance Assessments on Student Learning" by Lorrie A.…

This paper discusses underlying beliefs about teaching that are related to the assessment of prospective teachers and elucidates some basic beliefs that are guiding the development of new types of assessments for new teachers. These new assessments are called "The Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers(TM)."…

The new "Mathematics Framework for California Public Schools" identifies complex instructional activities and student performance, and requires new assessment methods to reveal that performance. One of the goals of the California Assessment Collaborative (CAC) is to study the effects of local assessment development and implementation…

This review of state higher education assessment policies sought to test assumptions and conclusions reached during an initial phase of the study, to explore the dynamics of the process by which assessment becomes a state-level issue or concern, and to better understand the multifaceted relationship between state assessment policy and the…

A variety of methods are examined that teachers from preschool to graduate school levels can use in assessing their students; the common principles underlying classroom assessment are explored. The first principle is that the primary purpose of classroom assessment is to inform teaching and improve learning. A second principle is that multiple…