The purpose of this review is to briefly summarize the state of authentic assessment as it evolves theoretically and then integrates itself into educational practice. Some of the questions it seeks to answer from the literature include: how did it begin; what were the circumstances surrounding its inception; how does it relate to performance and…

This paper describes a research study that assessed young children with a low incidence disability, specifically Cri-du-Chat Syndrome (CDSC). A description of the concerns of assessing individuals with low incidence disabilities is described. Parent reports (using the Development Observation Checklist System) on the functioning of their children…

The Virginia Alternate Assessment Program (VAAP) is the assessment tool that Virginia uses to measure the progress of students with significant cognitive disabilities on the state's Aligned Standards of Learning (ASOL). The VAAP was developed in order to comply with No Child Left Behind's (2001) requirement of educational accountability for all…

Annual standardized testing lies at the heart of the accountability system that American education reformers and policymakers have established during the past decade in an effort to ensure equal opportunity for all students, no matter their race, ethnicity or wealth. The new testing regime has brought national attention to the schooling of…

Since the 2001-02 school year, the accountability provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) have shaped much of the work of public school teachers and administrators in the United States. NCLB explicitly prohibits schools from excluding students with disabilities from the accountability system and requires not only participation of…

Since Federal regulations have given states the option to implement alternate assessments based on modified academic achievement standards (AA-MAS) as part of their accountability systems for a small group of students with disabilities, a number of states have made decisions about whether or not to develop and implement such an assessment.…

This article, which draws heavily on the Sutherland Inquiry report into the delivery of National Curriculum testing in 2008, outlines important aspects of the failure that year to report test-scores on time, considers the extent to which ministers might have been held more accountable and reviews the state of the long struggle to replace the…

Although summative assessment is indispensable for determining whether or not students meet the content standards, it alone is insufficient for providing teachers and administrators with the information necessary to make ongoing decisions about instruction. This article looks at the motivational impact of the assessment on students' achievement…

Washback refers to both positive and negative influences of testing on teaching and learning. While washback studies abound in the literature, most of them deal with high-stakes, standardized tests or large-scale entrance examinations. Scant efforts have been made to uncover washback effects in alternative assessments. This study implemented an…

Students who are deaf or hard of hearing are a low-incidence population with diverse linguistic characteristics and levels of academic achievement. This article presents findings on teacher recommendations of assessment practices for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. A total of 372 educational professionals responded to a set of three…

With electronic technologies, differentiated instruction has the same meaning as in traditional instruction, but different tools are available for teachers to help students learn. Electronic technologies for differentiated instruction can add powerful new types of media inclusion, levels of interactivity, and response actions. This rapidly…

This study is examining student eligibility for and participation in alternate assessments, the technical quality of the alternate assessment instruments and implementation procedures, the alignment of assessments with content and achievement standards, and the use and effectiveness of alternate assessments in measuring student outcomes. The…

The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, passed in 2001, amended the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and required states to adopt challenging academic content standards that specify what all students are expected to know and be able to do. The act also required states to assess all students annually in mathematics and reading/language…

In this article, the author argues that educational policymaking, teaching, and assessment are most effective and ethical when they are carried out with attention to local contexts. He explores this concept through a consideration of Nebraska's unique School-based, Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System (STARS), which created a statewide…

This article evaluates an initiative to introduce assessment choice within a taught unit on an undergraduate healthcare programme as a means of addressing poor performance, especially for those students diagnosed with dyslexia. Students' perceptions of the assessment experience were sought via the use of two focus group interviews (n = 16). The…