This self-study explores an educational policy-making project initiated, facilitated, and implemented by direct stake-holders through a deliberative, intentional process involving teacher educators, policy-makers, and state regulators. As such, it serves as an example of a high-stakes political change process using principles of deliberative…

Some states have used new teacher performance assessments in an attempt to improve teacher quality for more than two decades. New teacher performance assessments include performance expectations, scoring rubrics, and writing prompts, which are organized into subject-specific handbooks. Teacher candidates completing performance assessments assemble…

Education has long been regarded as the foundation stone of national growth and international competitiveness. In the last three decades national educational reforms to improve access to higher education qualifications, individual higher education institutions' aggressive national and international marketing initiatives and improved information…

With the failure of the No Child Left Behind policies of the 1990's, educational reformers wished to establish a "new and improved" set of standards for the United States to follow. However, since their inception in 2006-2007, the new Common Core State Standards have become increasingly unpopular due to the fact that they remain largely…

If equitable achievement is one's goal, he or she must have authentic assessments that are reflective of the community's expectations and meaningful to the students and to him or her. Such assessments require a systemic commitment from which one starts with the school's mission and plans backwards to support and rethink curriculum, structures,…

What educators around the country are finding out as they work with portfolios is reviewed, focusing on the classroom. Portfolios are purposeful, collaborative, self-reflective collections of student work generated during the process of instruction. Although they can be used in any academic discipline, portfolios are widely used in English and…

Examines differences between tests and assessments, two incompatible models of education. Performance assessments make different demands on students than tests, with active application of knowledge and skill to problems. Assessment systems develop students' intellectual, social, and emotional abilities. They require a change in purpose and…

In a previous paper the authors presented a model of assessing portfolios, the Cognitive Model for Assessing Portfolios (CMAP), as a lens to view, think about, and make decisions about portfolio projects. Two projects in which the CMAP has been used are described. One is an authentic assessment project in mathematics and science by the Educational…

Presents a review of Joan Barickman's book, "Schoolwise: Teaching Academic Patterns of Mind," which emphasizes performance-based student evaluation and portfolio assessment. Concludes that the book can help provide concrete ideas for positively altering teaching processes and for making learning more engaging for students and teachers.…

Students' essays are increasingly being included in the assessment of their writing ability. One scholar feels that in contrast to more traditional tests of writing ability, the Written Language Assessment bases its assessment on whole pieces of text the students write. The essays represent three different types of writing: expressive,…

In recent years, various state education departments have recommended the use of portfolios, an alternative assessment measure, as a means by which teacher education programs focus, guide, and document teachers' progress toward specific standards for performance. This paper describes the design and development of a student assessment portfolio for…

Conceptual differences between two popular alternative assessment methods must be clearly differentiated. Portfolios reflect individual development, whereas performance-based assessments reflect curriculum mastery. In combination, these methods provide a complete picture of the student as a learner and constitute a rigorous alternative to…

This review of performance assessment and special education considers forces influencing assessment changes, performance-based assessment as an alternative to traditional assessment, current use of performance assessment, a critique of performance assessment, the future of performance assessment, and the role of curriculum and teachers. An action…

This article examines one of the challenges to the integration of classroom and large-scale portfolio assessment, a challenge posed by the use of a student's classroom portfolio for large-scale assessment of his or her individual competencies. When work is composed with the support of peers, teachers, and parents, whose work is being judged? The…

Education is presently undergoing a paradigm shift, with some teachers, parents, and administrators interested in new ways of thinking about teaching and learning, while others are skeptical or even resistant to new ideas in education. The Whole Language movement, and holistic education in general, is in danger of being tossed aside like the "New…