This is an age of backlash, as illustrated by many developments in the field of education. Backlash against performance assessment is very evident, but it must be remembered that backlash has its uses. It forces advocates to rethink, reformulate, and restate why they put so much faith in the program under attack. Events have pushed advocates to sharpen the case for the efficacy of performance assessment in educational reform. Performance assessment is defined as evaluation of educational progress that is standards or criterion referenced, and which requires direct demonstration of knowledge and skill. Educational factors that resist backlash include the recognition that performance assessment is a reform strategy intended to change curriculum and instruction as well as assessment. It also should be recognized that performance assessment is based on the constructivist theory of cognition and that it has been bolstered by the standards movement. The existence of the backlash is a testimony to effectiveness, because new assessments clearly threaten the status quo. (SLD)