This paper presents a synthesis of research on teacher-constructed portfolios and a scan of the state of the art in using teacher-constructed portfolios in preservice teacher education and in inservice teacher development and assessment. It continues work begun in 1991 at the Far West Laboratory on the increased interest in using teacher…

Parent opinions about standardized tests and performance assessments were examined systematically. Mutually exclusive but randomly equivalent stratified samples from schools participating in a study of performance assessment and control schools were used to measure change in parent opinion over time. Approximately one-third of parents (n=105)…

Reports on the student assessment systems of states participating in the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory are presented. These reports were developed from the database of the Council of Chief State School Officers and the North Central Regional Educational Laboratory. Detailed information about each state's student assessment program…

Information was gathered to determine the extent to which more authentic education assessments, including whole language assessments, are being implemented, and to identify which organizations conduct authentic education assessments. Materials used by the surveyed organizations were collected and catalogued into a compendium of authentic…

Since its introduction in 1988 the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE), the main public examination for pupils at age 16 in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, has become an obvious area in which to investigate gender-related differences in performance. As a complex attainment test, the GCSE is largely made up of a coursework…

This document is a guide to the use of alternative assessments (surveys, interviews, observation measures, and performance samples) in a family literacy project. This resource guide focuses on using alternative approaches to identify learners' needs, determine learners' ongoing progress in meeting project objectives, ascertain overall success of…

Since 1988, Vermont has been developing a state assessment program, the centerpiece of which is the student portfolio and "best pieces" drawn from it. The state's use of portfolio results will be limited to reporting aggregates, but within schools, teachers and principals may use the portfolios as they choose. The assessment program,…