Six cases are studied to give some idea of the range of performance assessments in use in the United States. Contrast and comparison are made possible through the study of the following: (1) the South Brunswick (New Jersey) Public Schools Observational Portfolio for kindergarten through grade 12; (2) the Arizona Student Assessment Program (not yet operational); (3) the California Assessment Program as it relates to the San Diego City Schools; (4) the College Board's Advanced Placement (AP) Studio Art Portfolio Assessment; (5) the Longfellow Elementary School Art Assessment in Bozeman (Montana); and (6) the "We the People..." Competition, a national social studies-history and oral discourse performance assessment organized by the Center for Civic Education (CCE) in Calabasas (California). Each study contains: (1) an introduction; (2) a statement of purpose and rationale; (3) the experience of program implementation; (4) a description of the impacts on teachers; (5) comments on scoring; (6) cost issues; (7) a discussion of impacts on minorities; and (8) a discussion of the lessons from each case study. Two general lessons are that the purpose of the assessment must be clear before decisions are made about form, and that the variety of performance assessments causes many psychometric complications. A 57-item bibliography is included. (SLD)