Validity of performance assessment in mathematics for early adolescents

This study reports validity evidence for a large-scale and "low-stakes" per formance assessment involving 905 Grade 8 students. A subsample of 198 stud ents was used to study the relationship of performance measures with conven tional achievement and affective measures. Confirmatory factor analysis ind icated that the eight math performance tasks were unidimensional. Generaliz ability and dependability coefficients were .72 and .68, respectively. Also provided is other empirical validity evidence. Performance scores produced large and significant correlations with the achievement variables. Gender differences were significant for the total performance score as well as for the two components: concepts, procedures, and relationships, and applicati ons and problem solving. Results are related to theory and practice.