What makes a high-quality performance assessment? Insights from a systematic review

Performance assessments (PAs) are widely used in K-12 education to elicit evidence of students’ higher-order thinking, disciplinary competencies, and complex learning outcomes. However, the design of high-quality PAs is conceptually and technically complex, which may undermine their validity when key characteristics are insufficiently evident. This configurative systematic review examined peer-reviewed literature to identify characteristics of high-quality PA in K-12 education. A systematic search of five databases was conducted for English-language, peer-reviewed articles published 1997–2023, which yielded 223 records for screening. Following full-text review and qualitative coding, 83 studies met inclusion criteria. Descriptive evidence related to PA characteristics was extracted and synthesized. Risk of bias was not formally assessed because the review focused on conceptual descriptions rather than study outcomes. Across the included studies, 261 descriptions of PA characteristics were coded into 78 nodes and synthesized into 28 distinctive characteristics. Although limited by the scope of the review and the absence of analysis of empirical outcomes, findings suggest that high-quality PA in K-12 education is characterized by a coherent set of design and implementation features spanning curriculum, instructional practice, assessment design, student engagement, and contextual responsiveness. The identified characteristics may inform researchers, assessment designers, and teachers seeking to design, critique, or refine PAs that support complex learning.