In this paper, Linda Darling-Hammond and other leading scholars in assessment describe a set of criteria for high-quality student assessments. These criteria can be used by assessment developers, policymakers, and educators.
The five criteria include:
1. Assessment of Higher-Order Cognitive Skills that allow students to transfer their learning to new situations and problems.
2. High-Fidelity Assessment of Critical Abilities as they will be used in the real world.
3. Assessments that are Internationally Benchmarked: Assessments should be evaluated against those of the leading education countries, in terms of the kinds of tasks they present as well as the level of performance they expect.
4. Use of Items that Are Instructionally Sensitive and Educationally Valuable: Tests should be designed so that the underlying concepts can be taught and learned, rather than depending mostly on test-taking skills or reflecting students’ out-of-school experiences.
5. Assessments that Are Valid, Reliable, and Fair should accurately evaluate students’ abilities, appropriately assess the knowledge and skills they intend to measure, be free from bias.
