A study extended two earlier studies and collected additional information from educators regarding their perceptions about the use of portfolios to assess literacy development. Subjects, 140 elementary teachers, secondary teachers, administrators, and English-as-a-Second-Language teachers who participated in a week-long literacy workshop in the…

National educational reform presents an unprecedented opportunity to combine policy options, the best technological knowledge, and American concerns about equity and fairness. There are three principal concerns regarding equity in assessment of Limited-English-proficient (LEP) and other student populations: (1) if students are not assessed because…

Although portfolio evaluation is the key issue with which the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, currently struggles, the department has yet to develop a reliable quantitative method of assessing the portfolios. The department found itself ill-prepared to have the state immediately thrust it into new…

A qualitative study focused on the experiences of 20 teachers required to use portfolio assessment in a summer program for at-risk kindergarten and first-grade students. Three questions guided data collection: What types of information did the teachers aggregate?; What definition of literacy emerged from the acquired information?; and What guided…

Current educational theories emphasize assessment as a vital part of teaching-learning process. Alternative assessment techniques aim to expose and promote the process of the learning rather than the final outcome. Concept mapping is a technique for representing conceptual knowledge and relationships between concepts in a graphical form. Requiring…

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has focused attention on improving the academic achievement of all students, including more than 6 million students with disabilities and requires that all students be assessed. Students with disabilities may be included through accommodations, such as extended time, or alternate assessments, such as teacher…

This report describes the Body of Evidence approach taken in Wyoming to implement standards-based graduation. The Body of Evidence plan calls for more than a single test to justify issuing a high school diploma. Graduation requirement rules, known as Chapter 31 rules, establish the requirements for a diploma. The body of evidence is to be…

Continuing to respond to the increasing demand for the assessment of authentic language use, this book emphasizes that portfolios must first be useful and successful as part of instruction before they can be used effectively for assessment. Portfolios are presented as "working," not "show" portfolios, to promote the student's involvement in…

This paper explores issues related to alternative assessment approaches in language arts and social studies classrooms. A rationale for a more comprehensive assessment approach within a democratic framework is developed, and ideas for constructing rubrics in language arts and social studies classrooms are presented. Pedagogical implications for…

Ways in that to identify alternative assessment procedures that mirror actual performance are explored. The paper focuses on how high schools in three Texas school districts adopted alternative assessment methods and the variables which led to the actual implementation of these procedures by the classroom teachers. The information is intended to…

This report summarizes the eighth survey of state directors of special education by the National Center on Educational Outcomes at the University of Minnesota. Results include all 50 states and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, American Samoa, and Palau. State directors report increased participation rates of students with disabilities in state…

This paper describes a program designed to compare students' attitudes towards the use of traditional and alternative assessment practices. The targeted population consisted of a second and third grade general education class, a third grade physical education class, and an eighth grade applied technology class in three communities in northern…

This manual is intended to provide you with the most current materials and tools available for the development of Maine's Personalized Alternate Assessment Portfolio (PAAPs) during the 2004-05 school year. The PAAP process, while very similar to that used in 2003-04, has been updated based on input from teachers and other training participants.…

Discusses how one teacher encouraged students to communicate mathematically when discussing the lyrics to the song "Billy Boy." Students' problem solving was assessed by means of classroom discussion. (MKR)

Recent work with automotive e-commerce clients led to the development of a performance analysis methodology called the Seven Performance Drivers, including: standards, incentives, capacity, knowledge and skill, measurement, feedback, and analysis. This methodology has been highly effective in introducing and implementing performance improvement.…