Standardized test An examination given to a large group of students to gauge performance against either a national average (called norm-referenced) or a breadth of subject material (called criterion-referenced).
Value-added test A standardized exam keyed to tracking gains in each student’s performance.
Authentic assessment Judging student performance using a student’s own work in math, writing, reading, social studies, science and art. Sometimes called direct or performance-based assessment.
Performance-based task An activity or project, from a science experiment to an exam with open-ended questions, that leads to authentic assessment.
Exhibition A show of student work.
Rubric A scoring guide, usually numerical, used in performance assessment.
Miscue analysis An assessment in which a child reads a story aloud, and a teacher checks for errors in word recognition and comprehension.