One constructivist approach to assessing student learning is the use of portfolios. The contents of a portfolio demonstrate what a student knows and can do. The portfolio indicates actual products and processes a student has developed, as exemplified in the description of the contents of a student portfolio in a teaching methods course. Portfolios…

Students individually or in committees with teacher guidance need to develop a portfolio to indicate the quality of school work that has been accomplished. Student portfolios are a purposeful collection of work that illustrates the students' efforts, progress, and achievement in given areas. Portfolios provide ongoing and authentic records of…

Suggestions are given for evaluation of school principals by teachers. In developing an evaluation instrument to appraise principal performance, one need not start from scratch. The Organizational Climate and Description Questionnaire (OCDQ) of Halpin and Crofts (1963) is a useful tool for pinpointing areas of strength and weakness. Four subtests…

Materials to use in geography instruction and ways to evaluate student learning in geography are described. Portfolios are a good way to determine whether students have achieved the desired objectives in geography. Portfolios also require that the student be involved in both learning and assessment. For learning to use maps and globes, student…

Achieving a fair and objective evaluation of teacher performance is not easy. Student test results have been used to assess teacher performance, but this approach has many weaknesses, especially because students differ from school to school and standardized tests are open to questions about their fairness. Criterion-referenced tests have been…

The testing and measurement movement has certainly become important in United States education. Test scores are looked upon as being quite valuable in ascertaining student achievement, especially in the reading curriculum. Percentiles, standard deviations, stanine scores, and other indicators are given to show objectively how well the reading…

Explores numerous procedures to evaluate a pupil's reading achievement. Discusses different evaluation methods including criterion-referenced tests; contextualism in reading; discussions in the reading curriculum; conferences with pupils; and using portfolios. Concludes that the best objectives, learning opportunities, appraisal procedures, and an…

The assessment of student achievement in mathematics is discussed. Different approaches should be used to ascertain student achievement of objectives in the mathematics curriculum. Some methods are subjective, such as rating scales, and these can be very useful. Among more objective approaches is the use of standardized tests. There is a number of…

The use of portfolios in assessing student achievement is contrasted with the use of standardized tests. Portfolios are considered more subjective than scores from standardized tests, and they present different issues in assessing and reporting student progress. Interscorer reliability may be a problem because of a lack of agreement about the…

This paper discusses some of the ways to assess learner achievement in history. Standardized tests are used frequently by states to measure learner achievement. There are many weaknesses inherent in using standardized tests to measure student achievement in history, especially the fact that the test may not be valid for the local classroom since…

There is currently much interest in the assessment of student achievement in public schools. This guide to forms of assessment discusses some of the most common tests and their uses. Standardized tests are described, and some of their limitations are outlined. State-mandated tests are common, and, because the creators of such tests are removed…

Three commonly used means of assessment of student achievement are discussed. First, standardized tests are often used to assess student achievement. These tests are developed by professional testing and measurement specialists who are completely removed from the local student and classroom. There are many objections to the use of standardized…

Many changes have occurred in techniques used to appraise student achievement in social studies, and these new approaches may put teachers in a better position to notice the progress of individual students and then plan for sequential learning. Some of the deficiencies of traditionally used standardized tests have been overcome through the use of…

This paper discusses diverse approaches to be used in assessing student achievement in geography. Criterion-referenced tests (CRT) are generally developed at the state level, and 48 of the 50 states have some form of CRT. As a result, objectives for teachers to use in teaching geography have been written at the state level, and the CRT is aligned…

There are many procedures to use in the evaluation of student achievement in reading. Each has its pros and cons. No single approach will be perfect, but with a variety of approaches a teacher may determine how much progress each student has made. Standardized, norm-referenced tests, once so popular, have come into disfavor as reading evaluation…