Despite increased interest in instructional and assessment innovation, change has been difficult for many local educators because many well-intended initiatives have placed added burdens on them – additional requirements in terms of time and effort. One goal of educational reform is to change the way some teachers and students spend their time – to get them doing things differently, not doing more. Curriculum-embedded performance assessments (CEPAs) are multi-day instructional modules or units, each consisting of a series of instructional activities. Some of the activities lead to student work that can be used in the formative assessment process, and some can be used for summative assessment purposes. These units are intended to replace existing units, not add to them. Teacher ownership in CEPAs can be enhanced by their involvement in the development, selection, and scoring processes. Their scoring of student work yields immediate results so valued today. With a scoring audit process, a CEPA component of a state accountability assessment can be phased in over a period of a few years. The two keys to success are 1) minimizing burden by replacing, not adding on and 2) phasing in over time.
“Replace, Don’t Add On: Giving Performance Assessment a Chance” by Stuart Kahl
7 Replace, Dont Add On