Discusses the educational possibilities of a new form of educational contract previously unique to business and industry: the performance contract. (AN)

Offers some proven design tips, tools, and criteria for fashioning assessment tasks that are more enticing, feasible, and defensible. Typical tests tend to overassess student "knowledge" and underassess student "know-how with knowledge." Test designers should create authentic simulations rich in contextual detail, devise meaningful tasks, and…

Dissatisfied with mandated standardized assessment modes, an Illinois elementary school began an alternative assessment program incorporating Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. The assessment process became more meaningful through using learning experience forms and "portfolio evenings," in which children present their…

Assisted by a state grant, teachers and students at a rural Wyoming elementary school are using a laser disc portfolio assessment system. Recognizing that child development requires more than cognitive growth, students, staff, and parents will use the new system to determine children's growth in verbal ability, physical accomplishment, artistic…

Instead of being devices for measuring what students have learned, tests should be instructional--the central vehicle for clarifying and setting intellectual standards. To regain control over testing and instruction, schools need to rethink their diploma requirements and grading systems. Then school transcripts will become trustworthy again.…

Mathematics portfolios need not be limited to problem-solving efforts. When California algebra teacher asked students what portfolio contents would show their effort and learning, they suggested daily notes, personal budget and lottery projects, scale drawing, their best and worst tests, weekly problems, daily class notes, and homework. Students…

As schools develop new curriculum and assessment models, they will need to answer four questions: What do we want students to know and be able to do? What will count as acceptable performance? How can we ensure expert judgments? How can we provide feedback? Answering these questions will help schools and teachers connect teaching, learning,…

Students generally do better on outcome-based performance tasks than on domain-specific tasks. Results on performance tasks must be interpreted in the context of instruction or guidance provided before or during their administration. Reliability is sometimes questionable, since teachers are highly influenced by students' overall academic…

An Oregon elementary teacher encouraged a group of fourth grade students in a writing pullout program to share their writings in a portfolio she was assembling for an education class. The kids all volunteered their writing, learned to express themselves better, and asked to create their own portfolios. The experience fostered student ownership,…

With a computer's assistance, a Missouri school is assessing its fifth graders' reading progress by recording their voices as they read aloud, then saving the students' self-evaluations along with the recordings in a computer portfolio. Program aims to involve students in self-evaluation and critical thinking, promote student ownership of reading…

Staff at a Sandy Hook, Connecticut high school agreed that content standards are fixed learning goals specifying what a student should know and accomplish; performance standards describe student work products (criteria) to meet these goals. Forthright expectations increased students' accountability for quality work, improved grading objectivity,…

In 1990, the California Assessment Collaborative was created to support development and implementation of teacher-designed performance assessments. Four key practices help ensure that assessment serves instruction: articulating standards and assessment design; building teacher capacity for using assessment to improve instruction; building student…

A recent study compared hands-on scientific inquiry assessment to assessments involving lab notebooks, computer simulations, short-answer paper-and-pencil problems, and multiple-choice questions. Creating high quality performance assessments is a costly, time-consuming process requiring considerable scientific and technological know-how. Improved…

Teachers must learn to distinguish among performance assessments of different quality and appropriateness. Design criteria (cognitive complexity, linguistic appropriateness, content quality and coverage, and meaningfulness) are judged by examining assessment tasks and scoring rubrics. Effects criteria (transfer, generalizability, instructional…