Effects of Introducing Classroom Performance Assessments on Student Learning

A new CRESST study says that introducing performance assessments into the classroom does not automatically yield achievement improvements for students. “Results in reading showed no change or improvement attributable to the [performance assessment] project,” write researchers in Effects of Introducing Classroom Performance Assessments on Student Learning. Additionally, the authors found only small performance gains in mathematics. However, they did find significant qualitative changes in mathematics classrooms that provide cause for optimism. “We noted qualitative changes in students’ answers to math problems which suggest that at least in some project classrooms whole groups of students were having opportunities to develop their mathematical understandings that had not occurred previously.”