MUST INSTRUCTIONALLY USEFUL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT BE BASED IN THE CURRICULUM

The purpose of this article is to examine the importance of the most s alient feature of a performance-assessment approach known as curriculu m-based assessment: that testing material be drawn from the students' instructional curricula. First, we review the literature on (a) the ma tch between tests and curricula and (b) comparisons of measurement val idity and instructional utility when sampling student performance in a nd out of the instructional curriculum. Second, we discuss the potenti al advantages and disadvantages of sampling performance in the curricu lum. After concluding that sampling from the curriculum is not essenti al, we discuss three critical features to ensure the instructional uti lity of measurement.