Chapter 1Introduction: The Rationale and Context for Performance Assessment

Linda Darling-Hammond

I am calling on our nation’s Governors and state education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don’t simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking, entrepreneurship and creativity.

—President Barack Obama, March 2009

Over the past decade, the effects of US test-driven accountability practices have been the focus of intense debate. Disappointment about the performance of US students on international tests, concern about the nation’s global competitiveness, and questions about our students’ readiness to enter college and the workforce ...

Get Beyond the Bubble Test: How Performance Assessments Support 21st Century Learning now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.