formanceand quality of your ear,and your preseration explainingits design

features. If you have queStions about these instructions or the standards of

quality, let me know.

In this way sound exe cises frame clear and specific problems to solve
in a comprehensive discussion of the active ingredientstsof sound performance
assessment exercises Baron (1991 ) of ers us clear and thouglltprovoking guidance
I quot e and paraphxase below at length from her work because of the richness of
her advice. Baron urges that we ask important questions about the nature of the
assessment:

if a group of curriculum experts in my field and a group of educated citizens

in my community were to use my assessment tasks as an indicator of my edu
cational values, would I be pleased with their conclusions? And would they?
(p. 307)
When students prepare for my assessment tasks and i structure my curriculum
and pedagogy to enable them to be successful on these tasks, do I feel assured
that they will be making prog1ess toward becoming genuine or authentic read-
ers, mathematicians, Write1s, historians, problem solvers, etc?" (p. 308)
Do my tasks clearly communicate my standards and expectations to my Stu-
dents?" (P 308)
Is performance assessment the bestmethodto usegiven I want my stu~
dents to know and be able to do?
what
Are some of my tasks rich and integrative, requiring students to make connec~
tions and forge relationships among various aspects of the curriculum? (p. 310)
Are my tasks structured to encourage students to accesstheir prior knowledge
and skills when solving problems? (p. 310)
Do some tasks require students to work together in small groups to solve com-
"
plex problems. (p. 311)
Do some of my tasks require that my students sustain their efforts over a period
of time (perhaps even an entire term!) to succeed? Q

Do some tasks offer students a degree of freedom to choose the course of ac-
tionto designandentryout the investigationsthey will taketo solve the prob
lem

Do my tasks require self-assessment and reflection on the part of students?" (p

312)
Are my tasks likely to have personal meaning and value to my students? (p.
313)
Are they sufficiently challenging for the students?"(p. 313)
Do some of my tasks provide problems that are situated in real-world contexts
and are they appropriatefor the age group solvingthem?"(p. 314)

Theseguidelinesdefmethe an of developingsound performanceexercises.