How teachers methodically construct report card comments into organized social features is addressed through an examination of negotiation structures which organize anecdotes. Anecdotal comments are key communication devices which teachers employ for reporting. Four hundred and fifty anecdotal comments teachers wrote about students were collected…

The article describes four schools that use a continuous progress or nongraded approach to pace gifted elementary students. Article inserts present information on the Richardson Study (a national study of gifted education) and guidelines for developing continuous progress and nongraded models. (SW)

Presents suggestions for using math performance assessments in elementary classrooms to help students develop mathematical thinking skills. The article lists National Council of Teachers of Mathematics evaluation standards for mathematics assessment and describes a number of problem-solving activities for students. (SM)

Questions grading elementary pupils' art work as experiments and teacher experience indicate non-graded pupils fare better. (DS)

Describes a Dutch study of the daily evaluation procedures and instructional decisions of 50 regular and special education teachers over six weeks. Teachers evaluated virtually all the tasks assigned to students, most informally, but did not deviate from their instructional plans on the basis of evaluation results. (DMM)

Cultural inclusion is more than equal access to learning. It also involves recognizing and valuing the unique cultural capital that students of diverse ethnicity bring to the learning environment. Native American students in reservation schools have experiences that differ from the mainstream, experiences that are rarely reflected in text material…

This book discusses the anachronistic nature of the graded school structure and the practices that accompany it and proposes the alternative of a nongraded structure. The incompatibility of the graded system with present insights into child development are the the emphasis of the first chapter. Chapter 2 examines the effectiveness of nonpromotion…

Educational Assessment is at the cornerstone of education in the 1990s. Advocates for alternative assessment believe that the new tasks should be redesigned to more closely resemble real learning tasks. Portfolio assessment encourages an integration between assessment and instruction and results in several positive educational outcomes. Portfolios…