Traditional assessments in university courses led students to seek goals that current research reports as unacceptable since success had been based on knowledge acquisition rather than performance or ability to use this information in authentic situations. Assessment must require the performance of exemplary tasks. The purpose of this project was…

In at least one Oregon school system, student-led conferences have begun to replace traditional report cards. When conferences are well done, parents believe they have learned more about their child's learning and progress than they would through a traditional report card. There is an important additional benefit in that students can rise to the…

This booklet, second in a series on issues in assessment, seeks to describe an initiative supported by Finger Lakes Community College (New York) to use classroom assessment techniques (CATs) in different academic areas and to present an overview of some assessment approaches that have been used in the classroom. Papers include: (1) "Enhancing…

Anecdotal evidence from teachers who teach in bilingual or second language settings indicates that there is a potential for loss of subject matter. This loss is particularly troubling within the context of science learning. This article reviews several projects aimed at developing an understanding of the implications of bilingual instruction in…

Issues involved in the construction of alternative forms of assessment by mathematics teachers were studied through the case study of assessment development in three elementary schools. Three schools with 14 third-grade teachers were selected and matched with comparison schools. Data are presented about the mathematics part of the study, along…

The Arizona Student Assessment Program (ASAP) epitomizes the principle on which measurement-driven reform is based, "You get what you assess." This policy study examines the ideologies and intentions of groups instrumental in the creation and implementation of a performance-based assessment reform. The study was conducted by interviewing…

This report explores the application of cost analysis to testing and assessment in elementary and secondary schools. A case for economic analysis of testing is first outlined. The case rests on the importance on test information, the magnitude of resources devoted to testing, and the relevance of an economics of information model to testing…

Praxis III is an assessment procedure that provides information for making instructional and licensing decisions about beginning teachers. The Praxis III Assessor's job is to interview the beginning teacher, observe the teacher in the classroom, score the teacher's performance on 19 criteria, and summarize the evidence for each score. The Assessor…

A study examined Maryland high school teachers' attitudes toward specific individual characteristics of the Maryland Writing Test as well as their overall attitudes toward the test. Subjects, 538 English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies teachers in Maryland's 176 public high schools, responded to a survey designed to elicit…

This document, part of a series of papers which describe the assessment of student learning in various school curriculum areas from prekindergarten through grade 12, focuses on the assessment of student learning in fine arts education. After an overview of current curriculum goals in fine arts education, subsequent sections describe…

This guidebook is designed to help teachers think about the important role of assessment in guiding students' narrative writing, with an emphasis on the close connections among curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The assessments that are given as examples stem from a long-term collaboration between the Center for Research on Evaluation,…

The essays in this collection are the products of work by more than 100 teachers in the Hudson Valley Portfolio Assessment Project. Teachers spent 3 years learning about, experimenting with, and reflecting on their uses of assessment and its relations to student achievement. In the opening three essays, Giselle Martin-Kniep discusses what she…

This book reviews alternative assessment. Suggestions include portfolios, interviews, observations, journals, and tests utilizing various rubrics. This book contains suggestions and materials that teachers can use to assess students' progress in problem solving, reasoning, and communication. Many performance tasks and problem-specific rubrics for…

This book is designed to help teachers, especially secondary school teachers, create and use performance assessments. The basic concept is that teachers must plan backwards from outcomes of education to shift the paradigm of curriculum-instruction-testing to a new and more fluid design. The book presents a wide variety of assessment approaches…

This book is a guide to the development and use of performance tasks and rubrics in the upper elementary school mathematics classroom. It contains a rationale for, and a discussion of strengths and limitations of, performance tasks to assess student achievement and progress in mathematics. A field-tested process is offered for developing…