What educators mean by performance standards varies. Performance standards define how students demonstrate their proficiency in the skills and knowledge framed by states' content standards. This issue becomes even more important when performance standards are used to evaluate school effectiveness. In that case, rules for combining performance standards must be developed, in addition to standards for particular subjects. A 5th grade mathematics performance assessment task in Delaware's Interim Assessment Program presents the situation of students planning a county all-star basketball game.
Students respond to a series of fourteen questions that are organized into four exercises.
They communicate clearly and effectively, using appropriate detail and language. Establishing technical quality involves reviewing development plans for new assessments or applying review criteria to assessments developed by other groups. New assessments must be introduced in a way that builds public support. Parents and community members must understand what the assessments accomplish, why they are needed, and how they fit with other ways of testing students. If assessments are introduced without public review, they likely will be misunderstood and they may undermine other reform efforts.