Next Generation Assessment examines performance assessment as an alternative to the current high-stakes standardized testing system. This important resource provides a thorough analysis of the prospects and challenges of sustaining performance assessments on a large scale. Linda Darling-Hammond, with a team of leading scholars, describes the history and current uses of performance assessments in the United States and abroad and summarizes the latest findings in the field. The experts determine that large-scale testing in the United States may be dramatically improved by the thoughtful incorporation of well-constructed performance assessments that can represent higher-order, cognitively demanding standards. This summary volume to Beyond the Bubble Test is designed for the busy practitioner and all who are interested in how schools can successfully supplement traditional tests with something that works better. Next Generation Assessment offers an accurate evaluation of the benefits and possibilities for adopting better performance assessments nationally. Praise for Next Generation Assessment: "Pointing to current policies and practice, this book is an excellent guide directing educators on how to transition to an assessment system that genuinely shapes, informs, and improves learning for all students and teachers." (Governor Bob Wise, president, Alliance for Excellent Education; author of Raising the Grade). "This book helps us to think strategically about accountability and assessment in our public schools and to understand how performance-based approaches instead of rote memorization can allow schools to support both deeper learning and higher standards." (Randi Weingarten, president, American Federation of Teachers).