Criterion

Ask Yourself

Consequences

Does using an assessment lead to intended consequences or does it produce unintended consequences, such as teaching the the test?  For example, minimum competency testing was intended to improve instruction and the quality of learning for students; however, its actual effects too often were otherwise [a shallow drill and kill curriculum for remedial students].

Fairness

Does the assessment enable students from all cultural backgrounds to demonstrate their skills, or does it unfairly advantage some students?

Transfer and Generalizability

Do the results of the assessment generalize to other problems and other situations?  Do they adequately represent students’ performance in a given domain?

Cognitive Complexity

Does the assessment adequately assess higher levels of understanding and complex thinking?  We cannot assume that performance-based assessments will test a higher level of student understanding because they appear to do so.  Such assumptions require empirical evidence.

Content Quality

Are the tasks selected to measure a given content area worth the time and effort for students and raters?

Content Coverage /

Comprehensiveness

Do the assessments enable adequate content coverage?  Do they assess all the important objectives taught?

Meaningfulness /

Contextualization

Are the assessment tasks meaningful to the students and do they motivate them to perform their best?

Cost and Efficiency

Has attention been given to the efficiency of the data collection designs and scoring procedures? [Performance-based assessments are by nature labour intensive.]