Finding One’s Voice: A Model for More Equitable Assessment

In the early nineties, when educational reformers rejected multiple-choice tests, their most potent arguments were made in the name of validity. It was argued that highly structured tasks, requiring a single response, could not form valid measures of the complex thinking and application of skills that are valued as the goals of education. Nor could they measure the constructive approach to knowledge that is seen as the key to learning. In the words of Frederickson and Collins (1989), multiple-choice tests lacked “systemic validity.” They did not reflect the processes and outcomes of education, as we would wish them to be. In contrast, performance tests, with their emphasis on complexity and application, were seen to have the capability of measuring what the educational system should be striving to achieve: critical and creative thinking applied to the kinds of problems that challenge us in everyday life. In addition, performance tests were thought to be inherently more equitable through their link to educational standards. If standards are based on educational goals which are directly linked to the experience of the classroom, then all students are potentially capable of achieving them.