Based on experience with non-native English speaking students, this book connects classroom practice to critical theory and provides a clear vision of alternative classroom environments in action. In the form of letters from a teacher-educator to her students, the book urges teachers to review and reevaluate their classroom practices to create an…

Learning centers are special areas in the classroom where students can work independently or in small groups to build a concept, explore a topic, or refine a skill. Learning centers are a way to meet the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of elementary school students through active involvement in the learning process by enabling…

Portfolios represent the intersection of assessment and instruction, and they provide a framework for viewing evaluation as complex, multidimensional, and dynamic. This article describes the system of portfolio assessment adopted by the Department of Early Childhood and Family Studies at Kean College of New Jersey, which is based primarily on…

One component of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program (MSPAP) is the state's performance-based assessments, criterion-referenced tests that require students to apply what they know and can do to solve problems and display other higher-order thinking skills. This document helps parents, teachers, students, and other citizens…

A survey was conducted to establish the content validity of the material presented during a diagnostic and evaluative procedures course for elementary education majors. Although the content was consistent with information typical of the course, validation through the opinions of practicing teachers could strengthen its validity with the students.…

This brief reviews the concept of multiple intelligences (MI) and discusses the implementation of the theory of MI in the New City School, an independent school in St. Louis (Missouri). The theory of MI, as developed by Howard Gardner, says that there are at least seven different intelligences: linguistic, logical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic,…

This study describes an innovative alternative assessment program used in an undergraduate educational psychology course. Subjects were 60 undergraduate students enrolled in a teacher preparation program at a midwestern liberal arts college. Each student was required to demonstrate mastery of course objectives through a course portfolio. The study…

In designing the learning process for the comprehensive high school, close attention must be paid to curriculum development, instruction, and assessment. Curriculum theorists have identified definitions of curriculum, forces affecting curriculum adoption, and conceptions of curriculum that provide a framework for a definition of curriculum…

The perspectives in these essays present an examination of the Kentucky educational reform effort, with an examination of its rationale, various facets, and the reactions to its implementation. The ambitious assessment system includes multiple-choice and open-ended items, performance tasks, and portfolio assessments. The following are included:…

This study used three different differential item functioning (DIF) procedures to examine the extent to which items in a mathematics performance assessment functioned differently for matched gender groups. In addition to examining the appropriateness of individual items in terms of DIF with respect to gender, an attempt was made to identify…

A preliminary investigation has been made of some claims regarding alternative assessment. Using the California Learning Assessment System (CLAS)--Middle Grades Mathematics Performance Assessment as a platform, the study examined how alternative assessment operates in actual practice. Early findings are presented in the following areas: (1)…

Criteria for relevant classroom assessments are discussed, and a biofunctional model of learning assessment is presented. In classroom assessment, the following criteria must be considered: (1) assessment approach (process-oriented and outcome-oriented); (2) assessment context (knowledge and higher-order thinking skills); (3) assessment method…

Many educators are shifting their teaching strategies and approaches to include more emphasis on critical thinking skills, the communication of ideas, a variety of approaches to content emphasizing varied student learning styles, and the need to draw explicit connections among topics for retention of learning. Real-world assessment measures, then,…

Current national efforts to expand the role of educational assessment and radically change the nature of assessment are discussed. Rationales for expectations that a new national examination system would serve as a lever of educational reform are analyzed. Challenges posed for educational measurement by the proposed heavy reliance on complex,…

This report, part of a series of documents which describe assessment of student learning in various curriculum areas, focuses on assessment of student learning in the mathematics classroom, beginning with an overview of current curriculum goals in mathematics. The rationale for reforming the content, instructional practices, and assessment methods…