Describes 11 educational World Wide Web sites associated with 5 articles in this journal issue. Topics include homeless persons, aging and grandparents, Native American stories, portfolios, and the American presidency. Links are geared toward students, teachers, or parents and can be used independently, in small groups, or as a whole class…

Describes a survey of faculty members at the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa) which investigated the extent of support for use of teaching portfolios, in addition to student evaluations, as a method for evaluating faculty for promotion, and based on responses, development of a profile of portfolio content and procedures for its review.…

Current issues in the assessment of students with learning disabilities are identified, including use of physiological and neuropsychological measures, discrepancy criteria, curriculum-based measurement, dynamic assessment, performance and portfolio assessment, and assessment of learning disabilities in bilingual and multicultural contexts.…

Maintains that three curriculum goals (understanding, appreciation, and life application) lie at the core of constructivist teaching and should guide methods of assessment. Authentic assessment techniques could include the evaluation of students' written positions on important issues, descriptions of what they have learned, and student portfolios.…

Highlights specific questions, concerns, and challenges faced by educators, parents, and students concerning assessment, accountability, accommodations, and alternate assessment. Examples of state assessment-accommodation policies are provided and reasons for providing test accommodations, requirements of Individualized Education Programs,…

A high-school English teacher explains how she transformed her listless, "drive-thru" classes into "partnership" classes with highly motivated students eager to demonstrate and evaluate their skills. Students could work at their own best pace so long as the work got done and had acceptable quality. (MLH)

The New Standards Project, attempting to create an assessment system comprised of performance exams, portfolios and projects, may not have fulfilled its promise to create a national system of tests worth teaching to. However, NSP did deliver high- quality professional-development opportunities for hundreds of teachers across the nation. (Contains…

Explores issues of whose work is actually being evaluated when raters outside the classroom context make judgments about students based on work composed with the support of peers, teachers, and parents. Data from an evaluation of a statewide assessment and a study of scoring elementary school writing portfolios illustrate the issues. (SLD)

Describes the experiences of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university professors who investigated reflective teaching and professional development by practicing what they preached. Over one academic year they taught their EFL classes utilizing three professional development procedures (journal writing, videotaping, and teaching portfolios).…

This article explains principles of using a structured portfolio framework with elementary education majors in a special education survey course. Emphasis is on using portfolios to build positive attitudes toward working constructively with families of children with disabilities. Portfolio components are explained, students' opinions on portfolios…

Advocates using portfolio assessment in music education, more as a teaching tool than a final evaluative instrument. Explains those advantages and disadvantages of portfolio assessment that are peculiar to music education. Discusses materials for inclusion. (MJP)

This paper demonstrates how to guide the responsible construction of individual student teacher portfolios, including examples of how students integrate their understandings of learning, teaching, and schools as they are coached through the portfolio creation process. The need for student control of content is emphasized. (Author/SM)

An action research group for Israeli English-language teachers helped them learn from and support one another while introducing portfolio assessment as an integral part of their teaching. Using portfolios for foreign language teaching, learning, and assessment increased learners' responsibility and improved classroom work. The action-research…

Summarizes documents and journal articles from the ERIC database discussing topics related to parent-teacher conferences at the elementary and middle levels, including alternative activities such as student-led conferences. (Author)

This article sketches the historical context for the development of alternate assessment for students with disabilities, describes alternate assessment, and identifies some of the potential benefits of including students with significant disabilities in large-scale assessment. The correlation between alternate assessment scores and the…