To improve education, educators and policymakers must acknowledge the fact that often what happens in the classroom is governed by achievement tests, college entrance examinations, and other standardized tests. It is for this reason that many have begun to look at methods of assessment when considering the improvement of education. This document presents a discussion of performance based assessment. This method of assessment requires that students complete, demonstrate, or perform the actual behavior of interest. It is noted that the textbook is not to be used as a guide in creating high-stakes assessments for use in promotion/retention, program evaluation, or teacher evaluation; instead it is to be used as a tool for teachers to improve their classroom instruction. The book contains the following chapters: (1) "How Will This Book Help?"; (2) "What Is Performance-Based Assessment?"; (3) "Why Use Performance-Based Assessment in the Classroom?"; (4) "How Can Performance-Based Assessment Really Work?"; (5) "How Can Scoring Guides (Rubrics) Communicate Complex Information?"; (6) "How Can Teachers Be Informed Consumers?"; and (7) "What Are the Critical Questions About Performance-Based Assessment?" Also included is a brief guide to ERIC. (Contains 54 references.) (ZWH)