Performance assessment offers an approach to assessment different from that of group-administered standardized tests by documenting activities in which children engage on a daily basis. Flexible enough to reflect individual academic achievement and designed to evaluate elements of learning not captured by standardized tests, the Work Sampling…

There are a plethora of ways which may be used to ascertain learner achievement in reading. This paper discusses such procedures. Comprehensive teacher observation of reading, using quality criteria, can be an excellent approach to assess reading progress. Selected criteria are discussed. Six categories of word recognition skills are important.…

The use of a portfolio approach to assessment for graduate students in a school-community relations course was studied. Twenty-eight graduate students constructed portfolios consisting of articles from the media, professional journals, and the Internet. These materials were organized into categories of "understanding the community,""administering…

This paper provides an overview of some recent work in automated essay scoring that focuses on writing improvement at the postsecondary level. The paper illustrates the Vantage Intellimetric (tm) automated essay scorer that is being used as part of a Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE) project that uses technology to grade…

Two assessment activities have been particularly useful at one urban university with an innovative general education curriculum: the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the use of rubrics to score student portfolios. This study analyzed NSSE data in relation to the portfolio scores on four general education learning goals in an…

This paper discusses the use of portfolios, performance assessments, and standards-based learning. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and other professional groups call for performance assessments that are as authentic as possible, and authenticity, in this context, means resembling real-world challenges. A portfolio is…

Young children have a natural interest and excitement about language and literacy. This book is designed to help teachers and caretakers nurture young children's literacy development in day care, preschools, kindergartens, and primary grade classrooms. The book's approach to young children's literacy development includes how to design and manage…

These 20 papers were selected from those presented at the 10th International Conference on College Teaching and Learning. Papers have the following titles and authors: (1) "Case It! A Project to Integrate Collaborative Case-Based Learning into International Undergraduate Biology Curricula" (Bergland, Klyczek, Lundeberg, Mogen, Johnson); (2) "The…

This portfolio book provides an actual step-by-step complete system of writing assessment from the ground up and across all grade levels. The book suggests that teachers purposefully gather student portfolios, reflect meaningfully on them, and then validly and reliably rate them with statistical success that will also feed meaningfully back into…

The testing and measurement movement has certainly become important in United States education. Test scores are looked upon as being quite valuable in ascertaining student achievement, especially in the reading curriculum. Percentiles, standard deviations, stanine scores, and other indicators are given to show objectively how well the reading…

This document summarizes sound ideas for teaching science, including developing thematic units of study; integrating subject matter; conducting embedded, ongoing assessments; using student input constructively; and grounding instruction in reliable learning theories. Four philosophies of education are mentioned to help in designing a science…

Portfolios have gained wide acceptance as a learning and assessment tool. Yet, little research has been reported on the practices of teachers who are actually using portfolios within their classrooms and how those practices are moderated by contextual variables. This research examined the instructional, learning, and assessment roles of student…

Portfolios are one of the assessment tools used in Pacesetter® Spanish. In Phase I of this study, conducted in 1995-96, a first attempt was made to develop a standardized portfolio assessment system. As part of this system, a set of guidelines and an assessment matrix were prepared. In Phase II of our research, in consultation with participating…

Describes how the author, a reading specialist, worked with a first grader who was struggling to read. Describes the use of portfolios as a place for students to see growth and a way to become an active and self-confident learner. (SR)

Reports on the interrater reliability of a language arts portfolio assessment in the primary grades of the Rochester (New York) school system. Results from approximately 400 primary grade portfolios rated by 2 raters show that teachers can assess their own students' work reliably. (SLD)