Performance-based Assessment for Middle and High School Physical Education

Performance-based Assessment for Middle and High School Physical Education

Author: Jacalyn Lea Lund

Publisher: Human Kinetics

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 073608360X

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Performance-Based Assessment for Middle and High School Physical Education, Second Edition, breaks down the complex topic of assessments and shows you how to develop assessments that will help you and your students work together to enhance the instructional process in physical education. The authors describe the various types of performance-based assessments and show how to integrate assessments into fitness education and physical education, using numerous models that can be adapted to your own situation. The authors provide a wealth of tools for assessing students according to local, state, and NASPE standards while helping students reach their goals. The text is supported by a Web site that includes a test package, a presentation package with PowerPoint slides, an instructor guide, and a CD-ROM that includes additional forms and assessments.


Book Synopsis Performance-based Assessment for Middle and High School Physical Education by : Jacalyn Lea Lund

Download or read book Performance-based Assessment for Middle and High School Physical Education written by Jacalyn Lea Lund and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2010 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Performance-Based Assessment for Middle and High School Physical Education, Second Edition, breaks down the complex topic of assessments and shows you how to develop assessments that will help you and your students work together to enhance the instructional process in physical education. The authors describe the various types of performance-based assessments and show how to integrate assessments into fitness education and physical education, using numerous models that can be adapted to your own situation. The authors provide a wealth of tools for assessing students according to local, state, and NASPE standards while helping students reach their goals. The text is supported by a Web site that includes a test package, a presentation package with PowerPoint slides, an instructor guide, and a CD-ROM that includes additional forms and assessments.


PE Metrics

PE Metrics

Author: SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators

Publisher: Human Kinetics

Published: 2018-03-05

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1492586153

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If you are looking for the definitive resource to help you measure your students’ achievement, your search is over. PE Metrics: Assessing Student Performance Using the National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education, Third Edition, aligns with SHAPE America’s National Standards and Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education, was created by SHAPE America and its writing team, and was reviewed by researchers and teachers with expertise in assessment. The result is a text that you can use with confidence as you help develop physical literacy in your students. Written for physical educators, administrators, and curriculum writers (and for physical education majors and minors), this latest edition offers the following: • 130 ready-to-use assessments for kindergarten through grade 12 (65 elementary, 43 middle school, and 22 high school) • Worksheets, checklists, and rubrics that support the assessments • Guidance on creating your own assessments for any lesson or unit These assessments are aligned with the three SHAPE America lesson planning books for elementary, middle, and secondary school and dovetail with SHAPE America’s The Essentials of Teaching Physical Education. The assessments can be used as they are, or you can modify them or use them as samples in creating assessments that are best suited to your needs. PE Metrics, now in a four-color design, is organized into four main parts: Part I introduces the purpose and uses of assessment, how to develop an assessment plan, and the various types of assessments and tools you can use. Part II contains sample assessments for students in grades K-5, focusing on fundamental motor skills; as such, the elementary-level assessments center heavily on Standard 1. In part III, the emphasis shifts to middle school assessments, with a concentration on Standard 2 and on the categories of dance and rhythms, invasion games, net/wall games, fielding/striking games, outdoor pursuits, aquatics, and individual-performance activities. Part IV offers sample assessments for high school students, with a priority on providing evidence of the knowledge and skills students will need to remain active and fit after they leave high school. This resource provides a comprehensive, performance-based assessment system that enables you to incorporate assessment into every facet of your teaching, create assessments that are unique to your program, and measure your students’ performance against the grade-level outcomes. The assessments are process focused and are designed to measure multiple constructs as well as provide meaningful feedback to students—ultimately helping them to develop holistically across all three learning domains (psychomotor, cognitive, and affective). PE Metrics will help you instill in students the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to enjoy a lifetime of healthful physical activity.


Book Synopsis PE Metrics by : SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators

Download or read book PE Metrics written by SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2018-03-05 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If you are looking for the definitive resource to help you measure your students’ achievement, your search is over. PE Metrics: Assessing Student Performance Using the National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education, Third Edition, aligns with SHAPE America’s National Standards and Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education, was created by SHAPE America and its writing team, and was reviewed by researchers and teachers with expertise in assessment. The result is a text that you can use with confidence as you help develop physical literacy in your students. Written for physical educators, administrators, and curriculum writers (and for physical education majors and minors), this latest edition offers the following: • 130 ready-to-use assessments for kindergarten through grade 12 (65 elementary, 43 middle school, and 22 high school) • Worksheets, checklists, and rubrics that support the assessments • Guidance on creating your own assessments for any lesson or unit These assessments are aligned with the three SHAPE America lesson planning books for elementary, middle, and secondary school and dovetail with SHAPE America’s The Essentials of Teaching Physical Education. The assessments can be used as they are, or you can modify them or use them as samples in creating assessments that are best suited to your needs. PE Metrics, now in a four-color design, is organized into four main parts: Part I introduces the purpose and uses of assessment, how to develop an assessment plan, and the various types of assessments and tools you can use. Part II contains sample assessments for students in grades K-5, focusing on fundamental motor skills; as such, the elementary-level assessments center heavily on Standard 1. In part III, the emphasis shifts to middle school assessments, with a concentration on Standard 2 and on the categories of dance and rhythms, invasion games, net/wall games, fielding/striking games, outdoor pursuits, aquatics, and individual-performance activities. Part IV offers sample assessments for high school students, with a priority on providing evidence of the knowledge and skills students will need to remain active and fit after they leave high school. This resource provides a comprehensive, performance-based assessment system that enables you to incorporate assessment into every facet of your teaching, create assessments that are unique to your program, and measure your students’ performance against the grade-level outcomes. The assessments are process focused and are designed to measure multiple constructs as well as provide meaningful feedback to students—ultimately helping them to develop holistically across all three learning domains (psychomotor, cognitive, and affective). PE Metrics will help you instill in students the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to enjoy a lifetime of healthful physical activity.


Dynamic Physical Education for Secondary School Students

Dynamic Physical Education for Secondary School Students

Author: Paul W. Darst

Publisher:

Published: 2013-07-30

Total Pages: 490

ISBN-13: 9781292020525

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Dynamic Physical Education for Secondary School Students, Seventh Edition provides secondary school physical education pre-service teachers everything they need to create exciting and engaging PE programs. Using accessible, everyday language, authors Paul Darst, Robert Pangrazi, Mary Jo Sariscsany, and Timothy Brusseau cover foundational teaching elements as well as current issues in physical education. Updated to reflect important issues facing today's PE teachers, this new edition includes topics such as the effects of overweight on youth, teaching students with different ability ranges, and teaching culturally diverse students. Updated research, recommended readings, and a variety of study tools make this book a comprehensive resource for all teachers of physical education


Book Synopsis Dynamic Physical Education for Secondary School Students by : Paul W. Darst

Download or read book Dynamic Physical Education for Secondary School Students written by Paul W. Darst and published by . This book was released on 2013-07-30 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dynamic Physical Education for Secondary School Students, Seventh Edition provides secondary school physical education pre-service teachers everything they need to create exciting and engaging PE programs. Using accessible, everyday language, authors Paul Darst, Robert Pangrazi, Mary Jo Sariscsany, and Timothy Brusseau cover foundational teaching elements as well as current issues in physical education. Updated to reflect important issues facing today's PE teachers, this new edition includes topics such as the effects of overweight on youth, teaching students with different ability ranges, and teaching culturally diverse students. Updated research, recommended readings, and a variety of study tools make this book a comprehensive resource for all teachers of physical education


National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education

National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education

Author: SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators

Publisher: Human Kinetics

Published: 2014-03-13

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 1492584789

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Focused on physical literacy and measurable outcomes, empowering physical educators to help students meet the Common Core standards, and coming from a recently renamed but longstanding organization intent on shaping a standard of excellence in physical education, National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education is all that and much more. Created by SHAPE America — Society of Health and Physical Educators (formerly AAHPERD) — this text unveils the new National Standards for K-12 Physical Education. The standards and text have been retooled to support students’ holistic development. This is the third iteration of the National Standards for K-12 Physical Education, and this latest version features two prominent changes: •The term physical literacy underpins the standards. It encompasses the three domains of physical education (psychomotor, cognitive, and affective) and considers not only physical competence and knowledge but also attitudes, motivation, and the social and psychological skills needed for participation. • Grade-level outcomes support the national physical education standards. These measurable outcomes are organized by level (elementary, middle, and high school) and by standard. They provide a bridge between the new standards and K-12 physical education curriculum development and make it easy for teachers to assess and track student progress across grades, resulting in physically literate students. In developing the grade-level outcomes, the authors focus on motor skill competency, student engagement and intrinsic motivation, instructional climate, gender differences, lifetime activity approach, and physical activity. All outcomes are written to align with the standards and with the intent of fostering lifelong physical activity. National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education presents the standards and outcomes in ways that will help preservice teachers and current practitioners plan curricula, units, lessons, and tasks. The text also • empowers physical educators to help students meet the Common Core standards; • allows teachers to see the new standards and the scope and sequence for outcomes for all grade levels at a glance in a colorful, easy-to-read format; and • provides administrators, parents, and policy makers with a framework for understanding what students should know and be able to do as a result of their physical education instruction. The result is a text that teachers can confidently use in creating and enhancing high-quality programs that prepare students to be physically literate and active their whole lives.


Book Synopsis National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education by : SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators

Download or read book National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education written by SHAPE America - Society of Health and Physical Educators and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2014-03-13 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Focused on physical literacy and measurable outcomes, empowering physical educators to help students meet the Common Core standards, and coming from a recently renamed but longstanding organization intent on shaping a standard of excellence in physical education, National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education is all that and much more. Created by SHAPE America — Society of Health and Physical Educators (formerly AAHPERD) — this text unveils the new National Standards for K-12 Physical Education. The standards and text have been retooled to support students’ holistic development. This is the third iteration of the National Standards for K-12 Physical Education, and this latest version features two prominent changes: •The term physical literacy underpins the standards. It encompasses the three domains of physical education (psychomotor, cognitive, and affective) and considers not only physical competence and knowledge but also attitudes, motivation, and the social and psychological skills needed for participation. • Grade-level outcomes support the national physical education standards. These measurable outcomes are organized by level (elementary, middle, and high school) and by standard. They provide a bridge between the new standards and K-12 physical education curriculum development and make it easy for teachers to assess and track student progress across grades, resulting in physically literate students. In developing the grade-level outcomes, the authors focus on motor skill competency, student engagement and intrinsic motivation, instructional climate, gender differences, lifetime activity approach, and physical activity. All outcomes are written to align with the standards and with the intent of fostering lifelong physical activity. National Standards & Grade-Level Outcomes for K-12 Physical Education presents the standards and outcomes in ways that will help preservice teachers and current practitioners plan curricula, units, lessons, and tasks. The text also • empowers physical educators to help students meet the Common Core standards; • allows teachers to see the new standards and the scope and sequence for outcomes for all grade levels at a glance in a colorful, easy-to-read format; and • provides administrators, parents, and policy makers with a framework for understanding what students should know and be able to do as a result of their physical education instruction. The result is a text that teachers can confidently use in creating and enhancing high-quality programs that prepare students to be physically literate and active their whole lives.


Performance-Based Assessment in 21st Century Teacher Education

Performance-Based Assessment in 21st Century Teacher Education

Author: Winter, Kim K.

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2019-03-01

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 1522583548

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Performance-based assessments can provide an adequate and more direct evaluation of teaching ability. As performance-based assessments become more prevalent in institutions across the United States, there is an opportunity to begin more closely analyzing the impact of standardized performance assessments and the relationship to variables such as success entering the workforce, program re-visioning for participating institutions, and the perceptions and efficacy of teacher candidates themselves. Performance-Based Assessment in 21st Century Teacher Education is a collection of innovative research that explores meaningful and engaging performance-based assessments and its applications and addresses larger issues of assessment including the importance of a balanced approach of assessing knowledge and skills. The book also offers tangible structures for making strong connections between theory and practice and offers advice on how these assessments are utilized as data sources related to preservice teacher performance. While highlighting topics including faculty engagement, online programs, and curriculum mapping, this book is ideally designed for educators, administrators, principals, school boards, professionals, researchers, faculty, and students.


Book Synopsis Performance-Based Assessment in 21st Century Teacher Education by : Winter, Kim K.

Download or read book Performance-Based Assessment in 21st Century Teacher Education written by Winter, Kim K. and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2019-03-01 with total page 295 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Performance-based assessments can provide an adequate and more direct evaluation of teaching ability. As performance-based assessments become more prevalent in institutions across the United States, there is an opportunity to begin more closely analyzing the impact of standardized performance assessments and the relationship to variables such as success entering the workforce, program re-visioning for participating institutions, and the perceptions and efficacy of teacher candidates themselves. Performance-Based Assessment in 21st Century Teacher Education is a collection of innovative research that explores meaningful and engaging performance-based assessments and its applications and addresses larger issues of assessment including the importance of a balanced approach of assessing knowledge and skills. The book also offers tangible structures for making strong connections between theory and practice and offers advice on how these assessments are utilized as data sources related to preservice teacher performance. While highlighting topics including faculty engagement, online programs, and curriculum mapping, this book is ideally designed for educators, administrators, principals, school boards, professionals, researchers, faculty, and students.


Testing, Teaching, and Learning

Testing, Teaching, and Learning

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 1999-10-06

Total Pages: 136

ISBN-13: 0309172861

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State education departments and school districts face an important challenge in implementing a new law that requires disadvantaged students to be held to the same standards as other students. The new requirements come from provisions of the 1994 reauthorization of Title I, the largest federal effort in precollegiate education, which provides aid to "level the field" for disadvantaged students. Testing, Teaching, and Learning is written to help states and school districts comply with the new law, offering guidance for designing and implementing assessment and accountability systems. This book examines standards-based education reform and reviews the research on student assessment, focusing on the needs of disadvantaged students covered by Title I. With examples of states and districts that have track records in new systems, the committee develops a practical "decision framework" for education officials. The book explores how best to design assessment and accountability systems that support high levels of student learning and to work toward continuous improvement. Testing, Teaching, and Learning will be an important tool for all involved in educating disadvantaged studentsâ€"state and local administrators and classroom teachers.


Book Synopsis Testing, Teaching, and Learning by : National Research Council

Download or read book Testing, Teaching, and Learning written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1999-10-06 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: State education departments and school districts face an important challenge in implementing a new law that requires disadvantaged students to be held to the same standards as other students. The new requirements come from provisions of the 1994 reauthorization of Title I, the largest federal effort in precollegiate education, which provides aid to "level the field" for disadvantaged students. Testing, Teaching, and Learning is written to help states and school districts comply with the new law, offering guidance for designing and implementing assessment and accountability systems. This book examines standards-based education reform and reviews the research on student assessment, focusing on the needs of disadvantaged students covered by Title I. With examples of states and districts that have track records in new systems, the committee develops a practical "decision framework" for education officials. The book explores how best to design assessment and accountability systems that support high levels of student learning and to work toward continuous improvement. Testing, Teaching, and Learning will be an important tool for all involved in educating disadvantaged studentsâ€"state and local administrators and classroom teachers.


Assessment-Driven Instruction in Physical Education with Web Resource

Assessment-Driven Instruction in Physical Education with Web Resource

Author: Jacalyn Lea Lund

Publisher: Human Kinetics

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 1450419917

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You will learn how to develop assessments and gather information that helps you monitor student progress, structure effective lessons, and make grading more accurate and systematic. The book shows you how to use standards-based assessment to advance and support student learning in middle and high school physical education programs.


Book Synopsis Assessment-Driven Instruction in Physical Education with Web Resource by : Jacalyn Lea Lund

Download or read book Assessment-Driven Instruction in Physical Education with Web Resource written by Jacalyn Lea Lund and published by Human Kinetics. This book was released on 2013 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: You will learn how to develop assessments and gather information that helps you monitor student progress, structure effective lessons, and make grading more accurate and systematic. The book shows you how to use standards-based assessment to advance and support student learning in middle and high school physical education programs.


Educating the Student Body

Educating the Student Body

Author: Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2013-11-13

Total Pages: 503

ISBN-13: 0309283140

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Physical inactivity is a key determinant of health across the lifespan. A lack of activity increases the risk of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and others diseases. Emerging literature has suggested that in terms of mortality, the global population health burden of physical inactivity approaches that of cigarette smoking. The prevalence and substantial disease risk associated with physical inactivity has been described as a pandemic. The prevalence, health impact, and evidence of changeability all have resulted in calls for action to increase physical activity across the lifespan. In response to the need to find ways to make physical activity a health priority for youth, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment was formed. Its purpose was to review the current status of physical activity and physical education in the school environment, including before, during, and after school, and examine the influences of physical activity and physical education on the short and long term physical, cognitive and brain, and psychosocial health and development of children and adolescents. Educating the Student Body makes recommendations about approaches for strengthening and improving programs and policies for physical activity and physical education in the school environment. This report lays out a set of guiding principles to guide its work on these tasks. These included: recognizing the benefits of instilling life-long physical activity habits in children; the value of using systems thinking in improving physical activity and physical education in the school environment; the recognition of current disparities in opportunities and the need to achieve equity in physical activity and physical education; the importance of considering all types of school environments; the need to take into consideration the diversity of students as recommendations are developed. This report will be of interest to local and national policymakers, school officials, teachers, and the education community, researchers, professional organizations, and parents interested in physical activity, physical education, and health for school-aged children and adolescents.


Book Synopsis Educating the Student Body by : Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment

Download or read book Educating the Student Body written by Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2013-11-13 with total page 503 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Physical inactivity is a key determinant of health across the lifespan. A lack of activity increases the risk of heart disease, colon and breast cancer, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, osteoporosis, anxiety and depression and others diseases. Emerging literature has suggested that in terms of mortality, the global population health burden of physical inactivity approaches that of cigarette smoking. The prevalence and substantial disease risk associated with physical inactivity has been described as a pandemic. The prevalence, health impact, and evidence of changeability all have resulted in calls for action to increase physical activity across the lifespan. In response to the need to find ways to make physical activity a health priority for youth, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Physical Activity and Physical Education in the School Environment was formed. Its purpose was to review the current status of physical activity and physical education in the school environment, including before, during, and after school, and examine the influences of physical activity and physical education on the short and long term physical, cognitive and brain, and psychosocial health and development of children and adolescents. Educating the Student Body makes recommendations about approaches for strengthening and improving programs and policies for physical activity and physical education in the school environment. This report lays out a set of guiding principles to guide its work on these tasks. These included: recognizing the benefits of instilling life-long physical activity habits in children; the value of using systems thinking in improving physical activity and physical education in the school environment; the recognition of current disparities in opportunities and the need to achieve equity in physical activity and physical education; the importance of considering all types of school environments; the need to take into consideration the diversity of students as recommendations are developed. This report will be of interest to local and national policymakers, school officials, teachers, and the education community, researchers, professional organizations, and parents interested in physical activity, physical education, and health for school-aged children and adolescents.


Skill Assessment in Physical Education

Skill Assessment in Physical Education

Author: Ellen Kowalski

Publisher:

Published: 2012-09-27

Total Pages: 72

ISBN-13: 9780736096430

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"Skills Assessment in Physical Education" presents the Basic Skills Assessments (BSA) for use with students in kindergarten through grade 12, including those with disabilities. The text examines 22 sports and lifetime activities using developmentally based, multilayered rubrics. Useful in curriculum development, longitudinal tracking, and IEP development, Skills Assessment in Physical Education and the accompanying web resource provide a convenient and adaptable computer-based tool for teachers and administrators evaluating individual students as well as programs.


Book Synopsis Skill Assessment in Physical Education by : Ellen Kowalski

Download or read book Skill Assessment in Physical Education written by Ellen Kowalski and published by . This book was released on 2012-09-27 with total page 72 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Skills Assessment in Physical Education" presents the Basic Skills Assessments (BSA) for use with students in kindergarten through grade 12, including those with disabilities. The text examines 22 sports and lifetime activities using developmentally based, multilayered rubrics. Useful in curriculum development, longitudinal tracking, and IEP development, Skills Assessment in Physical Education and the accompanying web resource provide a convenient and adaptable computer-based tool for teachers and administrators evaluating individual students as well as programs.


Principles and Practices of Performance Assessment

Principles and Practices of Performance Assessment

Author: Nidhi Khattri

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 1136499199

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This volume explores the recent national trend toward adoption of performance assessments. Embraced at all levels of educational decision-making--state, district, school, and teacher--the shapes these assessments take and the affects they have at the classroom level can differ significantly from one setting to another. Based on case studies of 16 schools, this study describes what performance assessments actually look like--the types of tasks they pose to children, the scoring methods used, the purposes to which they are put, and how they fit in with other components of assessment systems. It also shows how they differ when they are introduced by state departments of education, districts, and schools themselves. Factors that affect policymakers' and educators' abilities to successfully design and introduce performance assessments are also explored. These include the purposeful coordination of performance assessment with related education reforms, such as the adoption of content and student performance standards, and the professional development for teachers necessary to the successful implementation of performance assessments. Barriers to adoption, most notably the challenges of developing a technically sound performance assessment, are discussed as well. Crucial to teachers' ability to appropriate performance assessments for use in their own classrooms is their invovlement in designing and implementing them. Although it would be impossible for a state or school district to involve all teachers in the design of a performance assessment, they can take steps to foster teachers' understanding of the purposes and methods of the assessment, thereby supporting their ability to use similar methods in their daily teaching. Toward that end, this book describes the experiences of teachers and students with a range of assessments that all fall under the umbrella of performance assessment. In addition, it provides: *rich illustrations of those experiences across a diverse group of schools; *descriptions of the trade-offs inherent in developing a student assessment system; *demonstrations of why no single assessment can be "all things to all people;" and *valuable insights for teachers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers who want to improve their understanding of how performance assessments work in practice and how they may best serve to improve teaching and learning.


Book Synopsis Principles and Practices of Performance Assessment by : Nidhi Khattri

Download or read book Principles and Practices of Performance Assessment written by Nidhi Khattri and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 266 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume explores the recent national trend toward adoption of performance assessments. Embraced at all levels of educational decision-making--state, district, school, and teacher--the shapes these assessments take and the affects they have at the classroom level can differ significantly from one setting to another. Based on case studies of 16 schools, this study describes what performance assessments actually look like--the types of tasks they pose to children, the scoring methods used, the purposes to which they are put, and how they fit in with other components of assessment systems. It also shows how they differ when they are introduced by state departments of education, districts, and schools themselves. Factors that affect policymakers' and educators' abilities to successfully design and introduce performance assessments are also explored. These include the purposeful coordination of performance assessment with related education reforms, such as the adoption of content and student performance standards, and the professional development for teachers necessary to the successful implementation of performance assessments. Barriers to adoption, most notably the challenges of developing a technically sound performance assessment, are discussed as well. Crucial to teachers' ability to appropriate performance assessments for use in their own classrooms is their invovlement in designing and implementing them. Although it would be impossible for a state or school district to involve all teachers in the design of a performance assessment, they can take steps to foster teachers' understanding of the purposes and methods of the assessment, thereby supporting their ability to use similar methods in their daily teaching. Toward that end, this book describes the experiences of teachers and students with a range of assessments that all fall under the umbrella of performance assessment. In addition, it provides: *rich illustrations of those experiences across a diverse group of schools; *descriptions of the trade-offs inherent in developing a student assessment system; *demonstrations of why no single assessment can be "all things to all people;" and *valuable insights for teachers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers who want to improve their understanding of how performance assessments work in practice and how they may best serve to improve teaching and learning.