Criteria: the essential components that demonstrate successful accomplishment of learning objectives Formative assessment: evaluation that occurs throughout a unit of study to let teachers know how well students are learning what has been taught so far Informal observations: teacher-conducted observations or recordings of a whole group, a small group, or individual learner performances Performance tasks: activities that allow the learner to demonstrate his understandings through a scenario, employing a goal and a role to create a product or performance for a given audience Reflection: the opportunity for learners to think about previous learning and how it affected their understanding and decisionmaking; it can be expressed in verbal or written form Rubric: a scoring guide that includes all criteria for a range of levels of achievement; it is provided to learners prior to learning activities and uses clear and concise language Summative assessment: an evaluation conducted at the end of a lesson or unit of study to measure accomplishment of a completed process or product