A science performance assessment is a

locally
globally
1

standardized

observational
classificatory
component-identification
comparative
other
2

investigation that requires

no
low
medium
high
3

 

 

level of inquiry that may be

embedded in
external but linked to
4

a curriculum and that contains:

no
one or more
5

prerequisite tasks,

no
one or more
6

 

preparatory tasks,

one
more than one
7

core task, and

one
8

integrative task that is

concrete
computer simulation
paper and pencil
9

and

 

purposively
randomly
exchangeably
10

sampled from activities

that are
like those
11

characteristically used by

teachers
curriculum developers
subject-matter experts
12

to teach a

purposively
randomly
exchangeably
13

 

sampled concept within a

 

purposively-
randomly-
exchangeably-
14

sampled big idea domain that elicits

planning
designing
investigating
analyzing
interpreting
applying
15

behavior from

 

individual
small groups of
16

assesses that

 

 

produce scores based on

 

direct observation
video observation
written responses
oral responses
17

that

 

are
are not
18

accompained by a concrete physical product that reflects both the processes used

 

 

 

 in carrying out the investigation and the outcomes of the investigation and are scored

analytically
holistically
19

by using a

compensatory
noncompensatory
20

scoring model.

 

 

Figure 2. Guttman-like mapping sentence that formalizes the complex types, uses, and characteristics of science performance assessments. A science performance assessment is defined in terms of various dimensions (indicated by numbers) that refer to issues relevant to performance assessment, such as curriculum, assessment structure, task sampling, knowledge domain specification, assessment administration, assessment method, and scoring approach. Bold letters indicate the categories selected by a team of researchers to construct shells for generating specific science performance assessments (see Solano-Flores, Jovanovic, Shavelson, & Bachman 1999; Stecher, Klein, Solano-Flores, McCaffrey, Robbyn, Shavelson, & Haertel, 1999).