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Q5: What is a Performance-Based Assessment System?

A performance-based assessment system is an integrated approach to education that underpins the culture of a school.

  • A performance-based assessment system links together:
    • curriculum
    • instruction
    • a variety of student work over time
    • continuous assessment
    • external oversight
    • high standards
    • professional development
By using a performance-based assessment system, we insist that assessment must not stand apart, but be continually incorporated into the day-to-day work, and schooling, of every student.

For this reason:

  • Our schools do not base assessment on any one single instrument or test.
  • We say "NO" to high-stakes tests.



At Beacon High School, "students and teachers aim to make sense of the complexity of the world and themselves. During the transformative years from fourteen to eighteen, human beings are full of vitality. We believe that educational expectations should not derive from arbitrary, preordained standards, but should be individualized to reflect student preference and ability. We seek to develop the creativity, strength, and integrity existing within each child."

Beacon HS is a member of the Coalition.