Increasing Student Engagement in Performance-Based Assessments
August 29, 2016
A new study from the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education (SCOPE) and the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity’s (SCALE) looks to “provide guidance to educators, assessment developers, and policymakers on how to increase student engagement in performance-based assessments.” The authors note that “increasing student engagement” has not been a “goal of standardized tests” but that ESSA may give opportunities to make it so. The report concludes with guidance for educators to “meaningfully incorporate” engagement strategies with “assessment tasks so that all students are more fully engaged and motivated to demonstrate their understanding.” They give recommendations, based on their research, such as creating “authentic tasks… that require students to solve real-world problems,” collaborating in “small groups” and emphasizing “higher-order thinking skills.” The authors of the report also highlighted the report in an Education Week op-ed.