It’s time for your district assessment, and whether it be in math, science, or language arts, you just can’t study for it. This year, however, Cherry Hill High School East students will be using Formative for their district assessments as opposed to Performance Matters. This presents an array of difficulties that using Performance Matters did not come with. 

Formative assessments are well-suited for tests and quizzes, but they are ill-fitted for district assessments, particularly those in language arts and history. On Performance Matters, when there is a writing task, the documents that students can use are above the prompt, so they can go back and easily reference them. Students could also copy and paste from the text, saving them time to focus on the bulk of the writing. On Formative, however, students have to go back to the question that contained the document, which uses up unnecessary time. Additionally, students cannot copy and paste, so after finding the document relevant to the prompt, they have to go back and manually write the text evidence. Typically, in a solid writing piece, there are two to three pieces of text evidence per paragraph. Now imagine doing that two more times for one paragraph, and then again for the next two. 

Another issue that arises is accessibility. Many students, regardless of which device they brought to school, could use Performance Matters. It was quick, easily accessible, and did not cause technological difficulties. Formative, on the other hand, uses a Lockdown Browser to ensure students cannot cheat with outside sources. Many students who bring their own devices are encouraged to download this browser the night before a district assessment. This is an unnecessary hurdle, and it is another reason why Performance Matters should be reinstated. 

Some may argue that the Lockdown Browser was introduced because students were cheating on Performance Matters. However, this is actually the opposite. Performance Matters had a feature that if a student spent more than three to five seconds outside of the test window, it would automatically exit them from the test. This made cheating extremely difficult or near impossible. Additionally, with new additions like Lightspeed, teachers can monitor student devices and ensure no one is on any other tabs. 

Another issue that arises with Formative is the overall design. The design is bubbly and contemporary, even in terms of the website layout. It is not very formal for a district assessment. Performance Matters was sleek, efficient, and not in the slightest way distracting. Some students may find Formative’s design distracting, and therefore not requiring their hardest work. Performative Matters felt official and attention-worthy.

Formative works better for smaller assessments, but it falls short when used for high-stakes assessments that demand efficiency, accessibility, and focus. Performance Matters eliminates unnecessary barriers and allows students to demonstrate their knowledge clearly and confidently. By reintroducing Performance Matters for district assessments, schools can create a testing environment that is more practical and better aligned with student interest and success.