Students need far more than traditional academic skills to succeed in school, work and civic life. Decades of discussion about the knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors that facilitate success in the information age have produced consensus that students should learn 21st century competencies. However, many schools struggle to meaningfully…

This guide contains practical steps for integrating portfolios into any K-12 classroom and tips for effective classroom management of portfolios. It also contains actual examples of portfolios in action in a variety of subject areas. The chapters are: (1) "Starting Out: Designing Your Portfolio" (James Barton and Angelo Collins); (2) "Preparing…

A direct assessment analyzes the task to be learned in such a way that the steps required to learn the skills are specified and the child's level within the task is determined. This assessment takes into consideration that the child's immediate environment can make a difference in performance. (Author/SBH)

This compilation of articles from "The Reading Teacher" contrasts old and new approaches to reading assessment and offers methods that teachers can use in the classroom to build better readers. The articles suggest that in order to effectively assess young readers, one must integrate assessment with instruction, which requires new forms of…

This book is designed to help teachers: clarify the targets of instruction, especially for hard-to-define problem solving; provide valid and reliable assessment of student learning; and improve student motivation and achievement by helping students understand the nature of quality for performances and products. Each chapter is framed by an…

This article outlines differences between traditional assessment and authentic assessment procedures, discusses problems with each type of assessment in relation to special learners, and offers certain cautions that must be observed when implementing authentic assessment. (JDD)

Provides information for constructing two-dimensional performance graphs for students to assess their competencies and to diagnose difficulties in the important area of problem solving. (ASK)

Discusses the nature and sources of test bias in measuring communication skills. Recommends structured performance assessment to reduce bias, contending that performance tests, if carefully administered, can be valid, unbiased methods of assessing communication skills. (PD)

This introduction to authentic assessment portfolios for special needs children considers the purpose of the portfolio, types of items appropriate for the portfolio content, and criteria for evaluating the portfolio. (DB)

Performance-based assessment is recommended for gifted students. In this approach, the students participate in planning the assessment and establishing the criteria by which their work is judged. Guidelines for implementing performance-based assessment and classroom examples are offered. (DB)

This digest offers principles of performance assessment as an alternative to norm-referenced tests. The definition of performance assessment developed by the U.S. Congress's Office of Technology and Assessment is given, common features are listed, and the terms "performance" and "authentic" are defined. Suggested guidelines for…

The last decade has been marked by experimentation with various methods of assessing teaching knowledge, skills, and abilities that are alternatives to the multiple-choice tests and loosely-structured observations commonly used. While there exists a large body of literature on multiple choice tests as a methodology, less technical information is…

This publication argues for a tripartite policy in higher education that integrates presidential and board reviews and sets out assessment policies that recognize that finding and retaining executive leadership is the board's first responsibility, that integrate presidential and board performance reviews, that make clear that the governing board…

A series of articles explores the role and activities of school librarians, especially focusing on evaluation procedures. The topics discussed include librarians' and evaluators' perceptions of important evaluative criteria and a description of a performance based evaluation model. The last article describes working in an international school…

This book is a guide to help teachers develop performance-based curriculum projects that include authentic assessments. Section 1, Project-Based (or Performance-Based) Learning and Performance Assessment, describes and gives a rationale for this type of learning and assessment and project-based classrooms. It also notes the role of teachers and…