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Explore guides, research papers, policy briefs, and tools to aid decisions on standards and assessments.
Curriculum-Embedded Performance Assessments (CEPAs): Policy Considerations for Meaningful Accountability
Curriculum-Embedded Performance Assessments (CEPAs) are instructional content-area units designed for consistency between what is taught, assessed, and how teachers are prepared. CEPAs combine elements of formative assessment and performance assessments to promote deeper learning outcomes. CEPAs are generally designed, implemented, and scored at the local level, and performance assessments usually are composed of a task, rubric, and administration guidelines. This brief provides an overview of the benefits of CEPAs, examples from states and districts using CEPAs to measure student learning, and policy considerations and recommendations.
Written for education policymakers, this brief describes how CEPAs can promote deeper learning in students, improve teacher quality, create student performance data, and foster collaboration and capacity building in K-12 environments. The authors provide a decent amount of research backing these claims. This brief provides helpful, but introductory, policy guidance for education leaders who are looking to implement CEPAs (or other similar performance assessments) in schools and districts.