This paper discusses the new Individuals with Disabilities Education Act 1997 amendments that require states to develop alternate assessments and reviews state practices in Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, and Tennessee. These states were selected because they had either been implementing, were piloting, or had made decisions about the type of alternate assessment instrument to be used. Results of the review found that seven of the states have selected some form of portfolio as their primary assessment instrument. Most of the states using portfolios indicate that they chose the portfolio system because it afforded the opportunity to document not only student performance but also the supports provided by the school to promote student achievement. Six of the states surveyed are using parent surveys/interviews either as validation measures of student performance in portfolio entries or as evidence that skills learned in school are transferred outside the classroom to the home and community. Four states have chosen direct observation as the mode of assessment and two of these include on-demand tasks. Individualized Education Program and other record reviews are included as a part of the assessment or included in portfolios in five states. (Contains 11 references.) (CR)