Collaboratively-developed, Standards-based Performance Assessment

NEW Case Study Research Just Released!

CDE Partners with The Center for Assessment, Design, Research and Evaluation (CADRE) at the University of Colorado Boulder to study Performance Assessment implementation. See this new case study report here:

2024 Learnings from a Large District’s Experience with Using Performance-based Assessments to Evaluate Graduation Competencies

Collaboratively-developed, Standards-based Performance Assessment Fact Sheet

This comprehensive Fact Sheet provides implementation supports and expectations.

Performance Assessment Design and Implementation Learning Modules Now Available!

These modules were originally created to support the 2020-2022 Performance Assessment PLC in collaboration with Colorado educators and our partners at 2Revolutions. The modules have been updated and are available on CDE's professional learning Moodle platform. These modules will provide you with access to all resources in one place, allow you to track your learning, and connect with educators from across the state. Gain FREE access to these modules here.

Article: The Changing Assessment Landscape in Colorado

Partner to CDE in the advancement of performance assessment, 2Revolutions, features an article highlighting innovations in Colorado's assessment program.

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What Are
They?

Why
This Option?

Implementation
Supports

Research

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What are Collaboratively-Developed, Standard-Based Performance Assessments?

The CDE offices of Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness and Assessment engaged Colorado practitioners and leaders from K-12 education, industry, and higher education to create a process and supports to the field in the development of performance assessments that students can use to demonstrate their readiness to graduate from high school.

High quality performance assessments are generally hands-on and/or involve real-world scenarios and have the capacity to measure a student's ability to apply and transfer to new situations both relevant content knowledge and essential skills. The use of performance assessment to inform readiness to graduate from high school provides all students the opportunity to demonstrate deep content knowledge through the application of essential skills in a non-traditional assessment format that has the ability to more effectively showcase student talent.

The performance assessment process is a student-centered approach that is designed to benefits all students. Performance Assessment is designed to:

Validate student perspective and experiences
Support transference of knowledge and skills into new situations by giving students the skills to articulate what they know and can do, as well as identify their areas of strengths and challenges

Promote student agency through feedback (teacher/mentor/peer)
Be an asset-based approach to assessment for learning
Engage students in the co-creation of learning goals and success criteria

The performance assessment process is content-agnostic, student-centered, and values local context.

As a result, this option serves the needs of ALL students, including general education students, special education students, English language learners, students in credit recovery, and gifted and talented students.

Performance Assessment Defined

Performance Assessment in Colorado is an authentic demonstration of student knowledge and skills through the creation of a complex product or presentation. The product and process are relevant to the student, and prepare them for success in the postsecondary and workforce world. Performance assessments are an iterative process where students apply their knowledge and improve their skills through feedback and revision in order to reflect on and demonstrate growth.

A culminating Collaboratively-developed, Standards-based Performance Assessment, as per CDE's Graduation Guidelines Menu of College and Career-Ready Demonstrations, is an authentic application of Essential Skills for Postsecondary & Workforce Readiness, through the creation of a complex product or presentation.

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Why This Option?

A Focus on Essential Skills

The performance assessments used for graduation purposes are focused on measuring a student's academic content knowledge in Math and Reading, Writing & Communicating as well as the Colorado Essential Skills.

The Collaboratively-developed, Standards-based Performance Assessments are intended to be developed through the lens of the Essential Skills, using content in English and Math as the vehicle through which the Essential Skills are demonstrated. Note that while the Graduation Guidelines indicate only English and Math content, the performance assessment process is content-agnostic and can and should be used across all content areas, including interdisciplinary.

This approach represents a significant shift in performance assessment development as most processes focus on tasks that measure academic content only. Performance assessments designed through the lens of the Essential Skills can result in deeper content learning as students must demonstrate their knowledge by engaging with specific skills that elevate the content, e.g., various modes of communication, reflective practice, and/or time management. While Essential Skills have been embedded in academic standards and recognized in classroom practices, until now, Colorado educators have not come to consensus on how these skills ought to be measured alongside content.

The Collaboratively-developed, Standards-based Performance Assessment process is designed to be Aligned, Accessible, Authentic, Relevant, Transferable, and Iterative. As such, performance assessments should represent student voice and local context. And while current pilot efforts will result in high quality examples of performance assessment tasks, culminating events, and graduation defense demonstrations, there will not be a “bank” of performance assessments to administer directly to students.

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Implementation Supports

These resources represent the components of the State-wide Scoring Criteria needed to ensure that all performance assessments are rigorous and equitable.

**Collaboratively-developed, Standards-based Performance Assessment State-wide Scoring Criteria Framework and Resources**
Performance Assessment Definition	An authentic demonstration of student knowledge and skills through the creation of a complex product or presentation. The product and process are relevant to the student and prepare them for success in the postsecondary and workforce world. Performance assessments are an iterative process where students apply their knowledge and improve their skills through feedback and revision in order to reflect on and demonstrate growth.
Design Elements	Design Elements signal the attributes of a high-quality performance assessment: Aligned, Accessible, Authentic, Relevant, Transferable, and Iterative
Performance Outcomes	Performance outcomes are observable behaviors linked to Essential Skills by which students can demonstrate each competency: Adaptability and Reflective Practice * Communication * Career Development * Credible and Ethical Research * Social Responsibility * Time and Work Management * Inquiry and Problem Solving Self-Efficacy and Self-Care Team Building
Performance Assessment Development Tools	The 2020-2022 Performance Assessment PLC created and trialed various tools and templates to design and score performance tasks, culminating events, and graduation defenses. Tools currently available are: Performance Assessment Planning Template Validation Protocol *Calibration Protocol
Free, Comprehensive Online Learning Modules	These modules were originally created to support the 2020-2022 Performance Assessment PLC in collaboration with Colorado educators and our partners at 2Revolutions. The modules have been updated and are available on CDE's professional learning Moodle platform. These modules will provide you with access to all resources in one place, allow you to track your learning, and connect with educators from across the state. If you are interested in accessing these modules for yourself and/or for your team, please reach out to Angela Landrum to gain FREE access.
Performance Assessment System Recommendations	Recommendations by Colorado educators focus on aspects of district and school systems that set students up for success in performance assessment: School Systems & Structures * Leadership & Professional Learning * Pedagogies * School Culture *
Guidelines for Sufficiency	The Guidelines for Sufficiency document is meant to help schools describe how a student’s body of evidence will be collected, how much evidence will be collected, what types of evidence will be collected, when evidence will be collected, and the process that will be utilized at the building-level to support both students and educators.

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Research

CDE Partners with The Center for Assessment, Design, Research and Evaluation (CADRE) at the University of Colorado Boulder to study Performance Assessment implementation.

This multi-site case study work documents what was learned from Colorado schools that have used performance assessments for several years to establish relevant learning experiences for students and to evaluate student postsecondary and workforce readiness knowledge and skills.

Summary: Exploring the Uses of Performance-Based Assessment to Assess Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness

Paper 1 – The Performance-Based Assessment Pilot

Paper 2 – Documenting the Implementation and Uses of Performance-Based Assessment to Evaluate Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness

Paper 3 - Using Performance-Based Assessments to Advance Teaching and Learning in High School Classrooms

Funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Additional Research: