QPA Framework Elements:

Aligned instruction—To gain knowledge and skills, all students need instruction based on college-and-career readiness standards that are accessible to their learning strengths and needs.

Task design—Valid assessment tasks include determining appropriate levels of content and cognitive complexity, setting clear criteria for success, and ensuring accessibility to all students.

Data Analysis—By examining student work and score data, practitioners infer important information for planning future instruction and assessment.

Authentic Student Learning

Authentic student learning is the goal of this iterative cycle.  QPA defines authentic student learning as learning that is meaningful to students in which complex skills are embedded and transferable to new situations. Such learning can be assessed in multiple modes. Authentic learning engages students and provides opportunities for ownership and decision-making in real world situations.  Because practitioner-developed performance assessments are created by those closest to the learner, they effectively guide and assess authentic learning.

Teacher Learning in Communities of Practice

Teacher learning occurs when teachers engage with the three elements of quality assessment at the vertices of the triangle--aligning instruction, designing assessments and analyzing performance data.  To implement performance assessments effectively, teachers must collaborate closely with colleagues to learn how students best learn content and skills aligned to the standards, how to design assessments to elicit evidence of student competency, and how to interpret the work students produce. Engaging in professional dialogue about aligned instruction, task design, and collaborative analysis of student work creates a synergy and ensures the level of quality required for authentic learning through performance assessment.

Leadership and Policy Support

Leadership at the school and district levels is essential to student and teacher learning. Leaders must create and document policies that support performance assessment such as including these assessments as measures in promotion and graduation requirements. For these policies to be implemented with technical quality, leaders must devote professional development time to building teachers’ capacity to align, design, and analyze performance assessments. Furthermore, engaging families and the community in discussions of the value of practitioner-developed performance assessments builds political support for assessment policies that include authentic learning

Contact us for a more copy of the complete QPA Framework or information about how to implement the QPA Framework.