FTCE Professional Education Practice Exam 2025 - Free Professional Education Practice Questions and Study Guide

The correct answer is performance assessment. Performance assessments are designed to evaluate students' abilities by having them demonstrate their knowledge and skills through complex, real-world tasks. This type of evaluation allows students to engage in higher-order thinking as they create or perform a product or presentation that reflects their understanding of the material.

In performance assessments, students often have the flexibility to use various mediums to present their work, such as creating a project, delivering a presentation, or demonstrating a skill. This not only showcases their knowledge but also their creativity and ability to communicate effectively.

Other types of assessments, such as formative assessments, are typically more focused on ongoing feedback throughout the learning process rather than final demonstrations of mastery. Norm-referenced assessments compare a student's performance to a larger group, usually through standardized tests, rather than measuring individual skill application. Summative assessments, on the other hand, tend to evaluate student learning at the end of an instructional unit and may not involve the same level of active demonstration as performance assessments do. Thus, performance assessment stands out for its emphasis on the application of knowledge through challenging tasks across various presentation formats.