The best performance assessments feel both rigorous and real. They ask learners to apply skills in authentic ways—whether through a debate, a lab report, or a community project. But designing tasks that are both meaningful and manageable can feel daunting. What makes a performance assessment “high quality”? How do we ensure it captures growth in competencies, not just completion of a project?

In this Zone, you will explore the essential elements of performance assessment, examine models and exemplars across subjects, and consider how formative checkpoints and rubrics make expectations transparent. You’ll investigate how performance assessments can become engines of equity, engagement, and deeper learning when designed with both learners and competencies at the center.