National Exhibition Month, May 2008: Information for Media
This May, students at over 100 schools across the nation will stand up to show what they know during National Exhibition Month, a campaign to promote and celebrate exhibitions. A form of performance-based assessment, exhibitions are an alternative to machine-graded standardized tests that have been shown not only to measure but to dramatically improve student achievement.
Rather than sitting down for static, fill-in-the bubble tests, students engaged in exhibitions stand up and demonstrate their learning to panels of expert judges and to community audiences.
Exhibitions require students to synthesize information, think critically and present publicly, skills required for 21st century success.
The following video clip from the CES EssentialVisions DVD series shows how students at Quest High School in Humble, Texas, prepare for and execute their Senior Exhibition.
The following schools have been selected as Demonstration Sites for their exemplary use of Exhibitions to assess student achievement and will host visitors on the dates indicated.
May 6
Francis W. Parker Charter Essential School
49 Antietam Street, Devens, MA 01434
Members of Parker’s Class of 2008 present their Graduation Exhibitions to panels of assessors from the school community and outside jurors to determine whether they have met proficiency requirements.
May 21
Clover Park High School
11023 Gravelly Lake Drive SW, Lakewood, WA 98499
12th graders present their senior project exhibitions and 10th graders present exhibitions on school-wide themes at each of three small schools at the Clover Park Campus.
May 23
Amy Biehl High School
123 Fourth Street SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102-3201
Sophomore students present their Humanities Exhibitions on the question, “What is Patriotism?” to panels of community members.
Other Activities
May 28
New England Symposium on Performance Assessment
Providence, RI
State policymakers and school officials from across New England will gather to learn about performance assessments and to explore Rhode Island’s inclusion of them in its Diploma System, with attention paid to the resulting impact throughout the region.
May 30, 2:00 pm Eastern, 11:00 am Pacific
Streaming Webcast of a Student's Graduation Exhibition
A student from the Francis Parker Charter Essential School in Devens, Massachusetts, presents her Graduation Exhibition to a panel of evaluators that determines whether she has met proficiency requirements (http://shows.implex.tv/Qwikcast/router.aspx?WebcastID=1281).
The National Exhibition Month Honorary Committee is a group of educators, policy makers, academics, and community leaders who support CES’s agenda to promote exhibitions as a preferred form of student assessment.
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