Study on the Design of Performance Assessment based on the Development of Higher-order Thinking Ability of High School Students in English Class

The evaluation directed to the development of higher-order thinking ability is the demand for cultivating students' thinking ability under the guidance of curriculum standards. However, the traditional paper-and-pencil test, which focuses on memory, still dominates the evaluation in actual English classroom in senior high school. Students always stay in a superficial and passive learning stage, and the cultivation of higher-order thinking ability is still in a vague state. The evaluation of higher-order thinking ability based on performance assessment has become an urgent need for high school English learning. Under the premise of pointing out the significance and dilemma of higher-order thinking ability, this paper analyzes the applicableness of performance assessment to evaluate and develop students’ higher-order thinking ability. However, the existing research has not provided a practical evaluation framework or norms for teaching. Therefore, this study is devoted to establishing a specific performance assessment framework. It will provide a new evaluation method for English teaching in senior high school.