Scoring and Subsequent Communications with Consumers. In large scale assessment systems, the scoring and interpretation of performance assessment instruments is akin to a criterion-referenced approach to testing. A student's performance is evaluated by a trained rater who compares the student's responses to multitrait descriptions of performances and then gives the student a single number corresponding to the description that best characterizes the performance. Students are compared directly to scoring criteria and only indirectly to each other. In the classroom, every student needs feedback when the purpose of performance assessment is diagnosis and monitoring of student progress.
Teachers are comfortable with having students share in their own evaluation process.
Linking and Comparing Results Over Time. Linking is a generic term that includes a variety of approaches to making results of one assessment comparable to those of another. This approach is used to compare performances across content areas for groups of students who have taken a test at the same point in time. This is a judgmental approach that is built on consensus of raters. The comparability of scores assigned depends substantially on the development of consensus among professionals.