This second level of a portfolio for learners with special needs is intended for grades 9-10. A discussion of its conceptual design describes the four educational content areas from which it was developed (career development assessment, curriculum-based vocational assessment, community-referenced assessment, and work habits assessment) and four…

This exploration of educational improvement through student assessment focuses on the Schoolyear 2000 (SY2000) program developed by the Center for Educational Technology at Florida State University in conjunction with the Florida Department of Education Planning Resources Committee. SY2000 consists of 10 functional subsystems that will operate in…

This instructional unit is aimed at Grade 4, limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, music, art, physical education, and drama. It uses the California "Gold Rush" historical time period to teach students English language, concentrating on pre-production, early production, speech…

Assessment of student learning, the measuring of students' progress and performance, is an important concern for library media specialists. Twelve articles are presented which address the issue of assessment of library media services. The titles are: "The Growth of Assessment" (George F. Madaus, Ann G. A. Tan); "Library Information…

Since 1988 the Vermont Department of Education has been developing an innovative statewide performance assessment program. In 1990, the RAND Corporation began evaluating the Vermont assessment program, focusing specifically on the portfolio component of its assessment system. This report presents results from the evaluation in the 1992-93 school…

At a small, northeastern suburban elementary school, the records used to characterize the skills and to anticipate the needs of the diverse students in transition (between grades, school levels, or special to regular education programs) did not provide receiving teachers an effective assessment of current performance levels; nor was there adequate…

This book documents the work of a master preschool teacher, her co-teachers, student teachers, and very young children as they explored the automotive laboratory adjacent to their early childhood classroom at a community college. In addition to introducing the project approach, the master teacher also introduced the staff and students to…

The purpose of this research is to determine whether we can use classroom artifacts as the basis for making valid judgments about the presence of reform-oriented teaching practices in middle-school mathematics classes. Our approach compares ratings based on collections of artifacts assembled by teachers according to our directions (the "Scoop…

This document contains a Handbook, a Guidebook, and an Implementation Guide. The Handbook, designed to complement the Guidebook, discusses topics such as: "What is an Educational Portfolio?"; "Types of Portfolios in the Teacher Preparation Program"; "Types of Artifacts for Documentation in the INTASC Standards";…

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…

This booklet presents results from four survey questions asked of the audience and papers presented at a 1995 teleconference on assessment issues with African American adolescents and adults with learning disabilities. An introductory paper, "Multiple Factors Impacting the Assessment and Instruction of African American Adolescents and Adults…

Instructional design is a critical factor in a successful distance education environment. An efficient design analyzes audience and needs, creates learning goals/objectives, develops materials, methods and media for content delivery, and plans for evaluation and feedback. Design implementation requires certain instructional criteria: (1)…

In an effort to help students on academic suspension achieve full academic status and succeed in college, New York's Bronx Community College developed the New Start program, a portfolio-based intervention strategy utilizing personal success contracts. Students participating in the program complete guided self-assessments, identify problem areas,…

This training module for inexperienced elementary classroom assistant teachers provides information on what their job consists of, what is occurring in American elementary schools, and possibilities for paraeducators. The 12 chapters are: (1) "Who Are You?"; (2) "Are You Qualified?"; (3) "What Can You Expect?"; (4) "What about Instruction?"; (5)…

This paper outlines how shared decision making among teacher education faculty, preK-12 educators, and the Science and Mathematics faculty at Wright State University successfully led to the preparation of quality educators. It offers a historical overview of the Wright State redesign efforts, then: examines the university's collaboration for…