Assessment is an important factor in any educational setting. This paper explores current assessment practices in the English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) setting. Because assessment is an essential component of the decisionmaking process in ESL, a case for a more dynamic process is presented. Assessment in the case of the ESL learner becomes a case…

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…

The 1997 amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) required that states provide alternate assessments for students unable to participate in the statewide assessment systems (e.g., those with severe disabilities). IDEA mandated that alternate assessments access the general curriculum. This study examined the curricular…

This paper provides information on testing programs for elementary and secondary school students that are administered or coordinated by the Office of Educational Accountability within the Wisconsin State Department of Public Instruction. The first section provides background and definitions of assessment alternatives, including various types of…

Children go to school to learn, of course. But parents of children with disabilities often ask, "How will I know my child is learning and making progress?" Parents can answer that question by looking at a variety of data, including information from special education and general education sources and information from outside the school.…

This document is intended for use in conjunction with "Policies and Procedures for Accommodations and Alternate Assessment to the MEA," and both the "MEA Principal/Test Coordinator's Manual" and the "MEA Test Administrator's Manual." The first section, Enrollment, covers the following subjects: (1) Participation of Enrolled Students; (2) Students…

In September 2002, the Maine Department of Education began organizing an Exhibition Assessment Advisory Committee whose purpose it was to consider meaningful ways to include exhibition assessments in comprehensive local assessment systems. School administrators were invited to participate and/or nominate practitioners in their districts to become…

The Educational Policy Reform Research Institute (EPRRI) and the US Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) held a policy symposium entitled "Ensuring Accountability for All Children in an Era of Standards-Based Reform: Alternate Achievement Standards" February 4-6, 2004 at the Crystal City Marriott in Arlington,…

This article attempts to introduce parents of gifted students to the basics of performance-based assessment, authentic assessment, and portfolio assessment. A list of suggested questions is provided for parents to ask educators in the areas of alternative assessment measures, evaluation criteria, grading guidelines, and other problematic issues.…

Promotes the use of journals, laboratory reports, and portfolios in mathematics class to improve communication between teacher and student, to monitor student progress, to make instructional decisions, and to evaluate student achievement. (MKR)

Discusses the use of portfolios in mathematics education. Highlights self-assessment, portfolios in the hiring process, framework, possible contents, making selections, and evaluating portfolios. Concludes that portfolios are powerful assessment tools that can develop a student's reflection and responsibility for the learning process, augment…

Discusses the four-week summer Memphis (Tennessee) Urban Writing Institute, during which a furor erupted over the dilemma of grading. Provide a number of approaches to grading students' writing, including minimalist grading, cassette grading, collaborative grading, and portfolio grading. Suggests that teachers consider the grading dilemma and…

Explains a 4th grade lesson on oceans in which students create imaginary marine animals. Creatively assesses student understanding of habitat and adaptation. Overviews 14 lessons in the oceanography unit. (SOE)

Studied the relationship between classroom assessment and motivational goals in diverse class climates in two Israeli elementary schools those that mainly apply traditional assessment and two that mainly apply alternative assessment. Results for 261 sixth-grade students show distinct differences in student perceptions of assessment and perception…

Data collected from young adults in a life skills course with collage and stimulus instruments were classified as follows: reaction, remembering, learning, behavior change, and life philosophy. Pictorial stimuli proved effective in assessing affective goals and usefully supplemented other forms of assessment. (SK)