Design and utilization of performance assessment by vocational educators

This study sought to understand how vocational educators use performance assessments in their classrooms and to determine how they designed and utilized these performance assessments. Qualitative method was chosen in order to be able to elicit information from the educators as to how they design and use performance assessments. Twenty vocational educators in a New England state were selected using purposive sampling. Five vocational centers were chosen as sites for the interviews with the instructors from the same four programs in each center. The four programs were Automobile Technology, Building Construction, Childcare and Culinary Arts. Interviews were conducted and line-by-line coding of the interviews took place. Cross-case analysis was done with three primary themes emerging from the data.;The information gathered indicated vocational educators use performance assessments as their primary form of evaluation in their classrooms. The teachers felt this was the only way to assess skills attained by students. Industry standards were the driving force in the performance assessments and most teachers used the standards and materials provided by organizations in the industry. The industry standards allowed for the inclusion of knowledge, academics and skills to be integrated in order for the students to gain the most from the programs. The teachers also used the results of performance assessments to improve classroom practices. None of the teachers interviewed used any specific theory of performance assessments and almost none of the teachers knew what any of the theories were or what should be included in a well designed performance assessment.;The conclusions of this study indicate vocational educators may need additional training in how to design performance assessments. This training would need to include all of the necessary elements of a well designed performance assessment.