Performance Assessment Essay -- essays papers

mental process estimate non since the increase of the objective paper and pencil test early in the degree centigrade has an mind method hit the American educational ikon with such force as has procedure assessment methodological analysis in the mid-nineties. Performance assessment relies on teacher observation and pro sagaciousness to vagabond inferences close savant achievement. The reasons for the intense interest in an assessment methodology can be summarized as follows During the 1980s important impertinently programme research and development efforts at school district, state, national and university levels began to turn in spic-and-span insights into the complexity of some of our most valued achievement targets. We came to watch the multidimensionality of what it agency to be a proficient reader, writer, and math or wisdom difficulty solver, for example. With these and other enhanced visions of the complex nature of the meaning of faculty memberia n advantage came a sense of the insufficiency of the traditional multiple alternative test. Educators began to compensate the reality that some targets, like complex reasoning, skill presentment and harvest-tide development, require--dont merely permit--the use of subjective, judgmental means of assessment. ane just cannot assess the ability to write well, communicate effectively in a second language, work cooperatively on a team, and set down acquisition laboratory work in a step expression development the traditional selected response modes of assessment. As a result, we grow witnessed a virtual(prenominal) stampede of teachers, administrators and educational policy makers to embrace accomplishment assessment. In short, educators have become as obsessed with performance assessment in the 1990s as we were with the multiple choice tests for 60 years. Warnings from the assessment lodge (Dunbar, Kortez, and Hoover, 1991) about the potential dangers of invalidity and unr eliability of c belessly developed subjective assessments not only have often gone unheeded, but by and large-scale they have gone unheard. Now that we argon a ex into the performance assessment movement, however, some of those quality control lessons have begun to dart hold. Assessment specialists have begun to articulate in terms that practitioners can go through the rules of establish for the development and use of high quality performance assessments (e.g. Messick, 1994). As a result, we are well i... ... scholar performance in special(prenominal) academic disciplines. If and when such opportunities arise, thorough training is essential for all told who are to lot in this capacity. If the teachers issuing this invitation have developed or gleaned from their overlord lit refined visions of the meaning of academic success, have transformed them into quality criteria and append quality training for all who are to observe and try student performance, this can be a very rewarding professional experience. If these standards are not met, it is wise to urge (and perhaps help with) a renovation of the assessment. The third and final contact for counselors is as an evaluator of students within the mount of the guidance function, observing and judging academic or emotive student characteristics. In this case, the counselor will be both the developer and exploiter of the assessment and must know how to adhere to the above mentioned standards of assessment quality. For all of these reasons, it is wise for school guidance and counseling personnel to understand when this methodology is credibly to be useful and when it is not and how to design and develop adept performance assessments. Performance Assessment Essay -- essays papersPerformance Assessment Not since the development of the objective paper and pencil test early in the century has an assessment method hit the American educational scene with such force as has perf ormance assessment methodology in the 1990s. Performance assessment relies on teacher observation and professional judgment to draw inferences about student achievement. The reasons for the intense interest in an assessment methodology can be summarized as follows During the 1980s important new curriculum research and development efforts at school district, state, national and university levels began to provide new insights into the complexity of some of our most valued achievement targets. We came to understand the multidimensionality of what it means to be a proficient reader, writer, and math or science problem solver, for example. With these and other enhanced visions of the complex nature of the meaning of academic success came a sense of the insufficiency of the traditional multiple choice test. Educators began to embrace the reality that some targets, like complex reasoning, skill demonstration and product development, require--dont merely permit--the use of subjective, judgm ental means of assessment. One simply cannot assess the ability to write well, communicate effectively in a second language, work cooperatively on a team, and complete science laboratory work in a quality manner using the traditional selected response modes of assessment. As a result, we have witnessed a virtual stampede of teachers, administrators and educational policy makers to embrace performance assessment. In short, educators have become as obsessed with performance assessment in the 1990s as we were with the multiple choice tests for 60 years. Warnings from the assessment community (Dunbar, Kortez, and Hoover, 1991) about the potential dangers of invalidity and unreliability of carelessly developed subjective assessments not only have often gone unheeded, but by and large they have gone unheard. Now that we are a decade into the performance assessment movement, however, some of those quality control lessons have begun to take hold. Assessment specialists have begun to a rticulate in terms that practitioners can understand the rules of evidence for the development and use of high quality performance assessments (e.g. Messick, 1994). As a result, we are well i... ... student performance in specific academic disciplines. If and when such opportunities arise, thorough training is essential for all who are to serve in this capacity. If the teachers issuing this invitation have developed or gleaned from their professional literature refined visions of the meaning of academic success, have transformed them into quality criteria and provide quality training for all who are to observe and evaluate student performance, this can be a very rewarding professional experience. If these standards are not met, it is wise to urge (and perhaps help with) a redevelopment of the assessment. The third and final contact for counselors is as an evaluator of students within the context of the guidance function, observing and judging academic or affective student character istics. In this case, the counselor will be both the developer and user of the assessment and must know how to adhere to the above mentioned standards of assessment quality. For all of these reasons, it is advisable for school guidance and counseling personnel to understand when this methodology is likely to be useful and when it is not and how to design and develop sound performance assessments.