TEXAS PERF TEST IS IDENTICAL TO NORM-REF CTBS TEST \doc\web\98\10\perftest.txt I recently reviewed the Texas exit test for history. It is claimed to be a performance test, but it is a conventional multiple-choice test that is almost identical to the ninth-grade CTBS social studies subtest. The CTBS is considered to be the epitome of the conventional, norm-referenced, objective, miultiple-choice test. Date sent: Thu, 19 Nov 1998 10:35:08 -0500 To: "ClearingHouse" From: "George K. Cunningham" Subject: [education-consumers] Re: Open Letter -- Tx. State Rep. Sadler Send reply to: "George K. Cunningham" ===================================================================== When someone advocates the use of performance-based assessments it is well to ask what they mean. In Kentucky, for years, essay questions were used and called performance assessments because the assessments that were supposed to be such, turned out to be unworkable. They have finally abandoned that subterfuge. There is something called a performance assessment and it is quite different from a conventional essay or multiple-choice item. I recently reviewed the Texas exit test for history. It is claimed to be a performance test, but it is a conventional multiple-choice test that is almost identical to the ninth-grade CTBS social studies subtest. The CTBS is considered to be the epitome of the conventional, norm-referenced, objective, miultiple-choice test. At 12:35 AM 11/19/98 -0600, you wrote: >===================================================================== > > > > >To: Open Letter to Texas State Representative Paul Sadler > Chairman, House Education Committee > >From: Donna Garner > Lead Writer, Texas Alternative Document (TAD) > for English / Language Arts / Reading > >Date: November 18, 1998 > >Re: Today's editorial in Dallas Morning News > ===================================================================== EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE networking and information for parents and taxpayers on the internet Subscriptions & Archives: http://education-consumers.com or You are currently subscribed to education-consumers as: arthurhu@halcyon.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a blank email to leave-education-consumers-989462S@lists.dundee.net ===================================================================== For less mail, click on the following link and choose 1) a daily digest, 2) a daily list of subjects, or 3) no mail (read postings on Web) http://lists.dundee.net/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=education-consumers For more help & info: http://www.lyris.com/help or Date sent: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 13:58:06 -0500 To: "ClearingHouse" From: "George K. Cunningham" Subject: [education-consumers] Performance assessment Send reply to: "George K. Cunningham" ===================================================================== Here is a post I sent to an AERA list that might be of interest here Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1998 13:45:27 -0500 At 09:55 AM 11/20/98 +0000, Dylan William responded to my assertion that "An essay test is not a performance assessment." with the question: >Not even in English literature? I suppose it is possible to define a term, like performance assessment to mean whatever one wishes it to mean. There exists no platonic ideal of performance assessment, so if one chooses to label essay tests or multiple-choice items, for that matter as performance assessments that is one's choice. If this is done, then it seems reasonable to ask why we need the term? If all testing is performance testing and the term is just a synonym for testing, what purpose does it serve? I would argue that performance assessment represents a type of assessment that is different from conventional essay and objective tests. In a recent post on this list, Paul Nichols described performance assessment as follows: "First, a good set of performance-based tasks should satisfy the following criteria: 1) a performance-based task should integrate the most essential aspects of the content of a discipline (big ideas, major concepts) with the most essential skills of a discipline (major processes); 2) a performance-based task should be grounded in real-world contexts, similar to what students might encounter outside of school; 3) a performance-based task should encourage multiple solutions, allow for more than one correct response; 4) a performance-based task should assess multiple processes which cut across domains; and, 5) may serve as an instructional activity as well as an assessment task." I would only add that a performance assessment provides a direct assessment of instructional objectives and does not require inferences about whether a student has mastered an instructional objective. Performance assessments are not a new way of assessing students. In actuality they are probably the oldest method. What thrust them into the forefront in the 90s was interest in their use across the curriculum rather than just in the areas where they had always been used such as art, music, physical education, and industrial arts. A lot of educational reform initiatives got caught up in enthusiasm for the use of alternate assessments and mandated and are still mandating the use of performance tests for statewide assessments. This does not work well for any subjects and has been an utter failure in several. There are an enormous number of problems with the use of real performance assessment for large scale assessment. Instead of recognizing their limitations and restricting their use, some states have solved the problem by changing the definition of performance assessment. In most cases this means designating essay tests as a form of a performance test. Is an essay written for an English literature class an example of a performance assessment? I suppose one could argue that this could be a direct assessment of the instructional objective. What I more strongly object to are practices such as requiring that students write essay answers to math problems because this is supposed to turn them into a performance task. ===================================================================== EDUCATION CONSUMERS CLEARINGHOUSE networking and information for parents and taxpayers on the internet Subscriptions & Archives: http://education-consumers.com or You are currently subscribed to education-consumers as: arthurhu@halcyon.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send a blank email to leave-education-consumers-989462S@lists.dundee.net ===================================================================== For less mail, click on the following link and choose 1) a daily digest, 2) a daily list of subjects, or 3) no mail (read postings on Web) http://lists.dundee.net/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=education-consumers For more help & info: http://www.lyris.com/help or