Assessment through journals allows teachers and students to maintain a continuous exchange of reflections on the students' learning process and progress. Each of these forms of assessment permit students to shine in the way most suited to their own learning style. The adoption of performance assessment in recent years marks a shift towards meeting the competencies needed for the 21st century. Today, teachers using performance assessment create structured but open-ended lessons, where students become directors and producers of their own learning experiences. Students develop problem-solving, presentation, and organizational skills in the process of mastering the material.
Teachers act as facilitators, fellow learners, and evaluators of the learning experience.
The best assessment methods include time for teachers to confer with each student about his or her progress. Performance assessment avoids the limited perspective of multiple-choice exams in assessing student achievement. Students are able to develop the range of skills and knowledge they need to accomplish assigned tasks. By collecting portfolios of representative work, students can portray their accomplishments to an audience of reviewers. Teachers can review the skills students have acquired over the course of a semester or school year to ensure students have mastered what the curriculum and the schools demand.