An Analysis of the Current Policy on “Performance Assessment” in South Korea

In this paper, the performance assessment that has spread widely and that is being supported in South Korea was taken up mainly to study the theoretical transition and the circumstances of introduction in educational reform until now. As a result, the following has become clear. Because of the spread of performance assessment, the application not only to the reproduction of students' knowledge, but also to high-level academic ability, to the learning process, and to situations of real life and high authenticity has come to be evaluated at educational sites. As a result, a conversion has been brought from the learning theory that emphasizes whether teachers teach students uniformly so that they can acquire consequential knowledge. The new approach applies to learning and students’points of view that emphasize not only the acquisition of consequential knowledge, but also the procedures and processes to acquire knowledge in accordance with the individuality and characteristics of each student. Moreover, knowledge and function in performance subjects were required as a means of problem solving, and the“extension of problem-solving capability in actual situations”was emphasized