Discusses how a chemistry curriculum can be designed using traditional classroom activities and assessments along with alternative and authentic approaches. Presents a variety of assessment and learning experiences for a first-year course in chemistry. (JRH)

Explains that evaluating student work in the arts must be balanced between student engagement in creation and quality of the finished product or performance, noting that art teachers must be ready with creative and effective means of evaluation. The paper defines performance assessment, examines the many forms of assessment used in art education,…

Argues that assessment practices need to change in mathematics classrooms and describes an assessment system that focuses on broad learning outcomes, uses tasks that are aligned with instructional practices, actively involves students, and informs teachers' instructional and curricular decisions. The standards for assessment practices adopted by…

Discusses the identification of relevant and accurately defined competencies for job descriptions and suggests a performance-based approach. Builds a job model for a generic manager position; attaches skills, knowledge, and activities to the model; and selects competencies based on behavior plus attributes, standards, work support, and human…

Assessment is an essential, ongoing instructional component that guides the learning process. Ongoing assessment uses exhibitions, student explanations of concepts, the writing of a poem or song, or other thought-demanding performances to evaluate and reflect on students' work. This article uses a high school literature and justice unit to…

Addresses the challenge of finding or creating alternatives to tests and traditional grading systems. Reflects on and describes the experience of creating an assessment tool and cautions against choosing alternatives that merely camouflage the grades. Encourages educators to find authentic alternatives to describe children's growth. (BAC)

Proposes authentic assessment and pragmatic instruction as two strategies for closing the literacy gap for African Americans. (PRA)

Discusses recommendations of the Kentucky Department of Education's Task Force of High School Restructuring, and notes how some of its recommendations recall W. H. Kilpatrick's "project method" from the early 20th century. (SR)

Investigates HyperCard as a tool for assessment in science education and determines whether or not a HyperCard assessment instrument could differentiate between expert and novice student performance on balancing stoichiometric equations in science education. (ZWH)

Offers a complete, thorough, all-inclusive, demanding-but-fair, easy-to-use drama performance evaluation method. Lists eight categories to evaluate for each performance, and suggests questions for each category. (PRA)

Authentic assessment in elementary school technology education is linked to a continuum of teacher behavior: nondirective, mediating, directive, and concurrent with teaching. It should be a two-way process between the students and the activity. (JOW)

Presents an early stage evaluation model that was used to provide a framework to assess the effectiveness of three comprehensive community initiative projects that were put in place in Nebraska in 1996. Discusses challenges of evaluating these broadbased initiatives and pitfalls in using result-based performance evaluation. (SLD)

Reviews the literature and outlines a framework for performance measurement and evaluation within post-secondary continuing education. In the framework, performance measurement serves as ongoing data collection and decision support, placing outputs, outcomes, and ratios as performance indicators in a matrix. (SLD)

Performance assessment in vocational education should be realistic and multidimensional, involve products and/or process, range from simple to complex, be open ended, and involve human judgment. Key issues include validity, reliability, costs, and consequences. (SK)

Introduces the articles of this theme issue focusing on performance assessment methodology. Papers address: (1) merging item formats; (2) scoring models; (3) equating and linking; (4) generalizability theory; (5) standard setting methods; and (6) validity issues and methods. (SLD)