The challenge of drama performance assessment

As with any subject area, Drama’s inclusion in the secondary curriculum must conform to curriculum policies and procedures, including those related to assessment and certification. In Drama, students’ creative work is assessed formatively and summatively through a range of assessable instruments, including performance. However, the assessment of performances presents unique challenges, as the processes used are highly dependent on a wide range of interrelated contributions. This paper is a literature review which explores numerous challenges associated with drama performance assessment. These challenges include subjective judgments in the assessment environment; the departure from traditional assessment methods; the role of the teacher‐assessor in the performance assessment environment; the presence of the audience; and the appropriateness of criterion referenced assessment to performance assessment tasks. This paper responds to these challenges using literature that engages in deep discussion of the tensions, and considers approaches that address the tensions.