Performance-Based Assessment Demonstrating Technical Skills Attainment in Career and Technical Education ASHLEY BROWN, ROSLYN MILLER, & ANNE HIERHOLZER FEBRUARY 2016
Why PBA?
PBA PROCESS
In order to receive federal Complete Perform set of 1 funding, career and technical résumé and job tasks aligned education (CTE) programs must application demonstrate that students have to curriculum 2 attained technical skills in the funded courses. Traditionally, Discuss work with instructor and 3 student learning has been industry evaluator measured using multiple-choice tests (through the Mississippi Career Planning and Assessment System, Edition 2 [MS-CPAS2] in Mississippi). However, in 2010 Mississippi began the process of introducing performance-based assessments (PBAs) for students in selected CTE programs. PBAs are designed to allow students to demonstrate what they have learned in class through hands-on, scenario-based methods. CTE courses are centered on project-based learning where students apply what they are learning to real-world situations. PBAs attempt to capture a similar dynamic in the assessment process.
Piloting PBA in Mississippi In 2010, PBA was piloted in two Mississippi CTE programs. What began as a portfolio assessment was redesigned to be a performance scenario, the current format, by 2012. PBA for Mississippi’s CTE programs is a three-part process in which students create a résumé and use it to complete a job application (Part 1), perform a set of tasks aligned to the course curriculum (Part 2), and discuss their work with evaluators from the industry and their course instructor (Part 3). Part 1 of the exam is weighted at 5%, while Parts 2 and 3 are combined for the final 95% of a student’s total score. The course instructor and the two industry evaluators score students’ performance using a predetermined rubric.
PBA Results: Spring 2015 Student Scores In 2015, eight CTE programs across Mississippi administered PBAs, and 1,215 students in these eight programs completed PBAs. The mean score across programs was 80%, and the cut score for pass/fail was 60% (the same cut score as MS-CPAS2). Across all programs, average PBA pass rates were above 50%.