Performance Assessment

Performance assessment, also known as alternative assessment, is a method of educational evaluation based on the measurement of an individual's proficiency at executing various complex tasks, such as writing an essay, following a lab protocol, or solving multistepped problems. Equal attention is paid to the how and why answers or solutions are reached for the results. By attending to the learner's practices, educators can identify and correct flaws in action and reasoning. In this way, it is argued, assessments can more effectively evaluate and remediate learning.

Practitioners of performance assessment hold that their evaluation methods provide a wider array of skills and information for measurement and analysis. They add that its residual effects are improved lesson planning and teaching practices. Advocates further argue that their practices ...