A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Assessment of Student Performance April 1997

EXHIBIT 2-4

Sample Characteristics

Assessment Criterion Sample
Type of AssessmentA majority (10 of the 16) of the assessments involved multiple
types of assessment tasks. The number of sites using each type
of assessment is as follows:
8 on-demand tasks
8 extended performance tasks or projects
10 portfolios
3 demonstrations or presentations
2 teacher observations
Locus of Development4 national-level assessments (3 national organizations, 4 sites).
6 state-level assessments
3 district-level assessments
3 school-level assessments
Status of Implementation3 pilot and development
12 full-scale implementation/maintenance
1 implementation by individual teachers
Content AreaMost (13 of the 16) of the assessments incorporated multiple
subject areas. Some were integrated assessments, while others
incorporated distinct assessment tasks for various subject areas.
Most assessments that focused on multiple subject areas
included language arts and mathematics, and some included
science and social science. The number of performance
assessments focusing on different subject areas is as follows:
11 language arts
8 mathematics
5 science
5 social studies
1 practical living/vocational
School Criterion Sample
Grade Level6 elementary schools
5 middle schools
5 high schools
Geographical DiversityAs is demonstrated in Exhibit 2-3, our sample included schools
from most regions of the country. One exception was an under
representation of southern states: sites in Kentucky and
Virginia were included, but no states from the deep south were
represented in the sample. This was in part because at the
time of sample selection, few southern states were introducing
state-level performance assessments.

The sample is composed primarily of schools located in urban
and suburban areas and small cities. Rural sites are under-
represented.

Exhibit 2-5 identifies the seven sites we selected for a second visit during round two of our data collection.