Understanding and Using Reading Assessment, K–12 (second edition) —
Abstract of

Chapter 5
Performance Assessment

Peter Afflerbach

Performance assessments offer opportunities to describe and measure student reading and learning across the curriculum. Performance assessments reflect the complexity of learning and using knowledge in school, and they anticipate students' uses and applications of reading beyond school. With sample rubrics, checklists, and student work, this chapter discusses effective performance assessments and highlights their use in the content areas. It also examines the many challenges of performance assessments. Effective performance assessments reflect a clear and detailed understanding of the things teachers would like students to learn and do. Performance assessments also promote excellence in teaching because they presume attention to important curricular goals and a detailed understanding of how to reach those goals. However, performance assessment demands unprecedented teacher and student involvement. The chapter ends by encouraging readers to complement their understanding of how to do performance assessment well with the sustained commitment of resources that promote the development and use of successful performance assessment programs.

Afflerbach, P. (2011). Performance Assessment. In Understanding and Using Reading Assessment, K–12 (second edition) (pp. 96-117). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.