The Examination where the Student Asks the Questions is a system-oriented teaching/evaluation strategy initially implemented in freshman chemistry which includes a prearranged oral examination whereby the course professor is examined by students using home-prepared, written questions. (11 references) (Author/MKR)

Describes a vision of the use of mathematics portfolios for mathematics majors, how to organize the portfolio, items that might be included, and portfolio evaluation. (MKR)

Reports on the work of the International Language Testing Association's (ILTA) Task Force on Testing Standards, which has compiled 109 bibliographic records from 24 countries on existing standards documents and solicits feedback for the development of an ILTA code of practice. (MDM)

Discusses the use of alternative assessment procedures in English-as-a-Second-Language classrooms, focusing on three issues: (1) definitions of alternative assessment; (2) issues related to validity, reliability, and objectivity that are often raised as objections to alternative assessment; and (3) the power of alternative assessment to provide…

Proposes that the value of open-ended questions to enhance learning rests not only with the format and content of the questions themselves but also with the settings in which teachers pose such questions and the procedures used to evaluate students' responses to them. (MKR)

Describes systematic assessment procedures as alternatives to standardized testing which yield more descriptive records of children's reading abilities. Notes that the assessment procedures are consistent with the contemporary understanding of reading which indicates that prior knowledge and the ability to use predictive skills greatly influence…

Lists 10 conditions essential to a school's readiness to explore alternative assessment methods, including desire for better assessment information, insufficiency of current assessment method, staff and parent openness to innovation, conceptual clarity, assessment "literacy," clarity about desired student outcomes, unsuitability of present…

Reviews background information about portfolio assessment. Describes the experiences of the faculty in one school with a schoolwide portfolio assessment system. Shares struggles and solutions which may be valuable to others seeking to develop alternative assessment programs. (MG)

The term "alternative assessment" has become commonplace in the field of adult English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) literacy. Just what it means and how to practice it are discussed. (Contains 14 references.) (LB)

Appraises the assumptions that drive standard evaluation methods and compares them to those assumptions that undergird more critical approaches to teaching. Presents an alternative teacher evaluation instrument and explains how it more accurately measures what is said and believed to be effective teaching. Offers statistical evidence supporting…

Describes how the teacher education program at the University of Queensland has modeled key aspects of secondary school teaching practice by working collaboratively to design and implement assessment practices which are consistent both with school-based assessment systems and newly adopted university policies. (EV)

Suggests self-assessment assignments which ask students to report on their own learning. Provides methods for building class, teaching, or student portfolios from this information. Assignments include sharing preconceptions about teaching and learning, comparing goals, creating a community of learners, generating student explanations and improving…

The purpose of this article is to share classroom action research studying the perception of students to a differentiated, alternative assessment model in a secondary science classroom. Results of the study indicated the majority of the students preferred the differentiated, alternative assessment model to solely traditional assessment. The…

This article describes the use of poster preparation and display as an assessment tool and includes feedback from the students and academics concerned. This alternative approach has been used for four years since 2000 for biological science students studying biochemistry. The object of this approach was to get away from traditional teaching…

In addition to the potential that computer-based testing (CBT) offers, empirical evidence has found that identical computerized and paper-and-pencil tests have not produced equivalent test-taker performance. Referred to as the "mode effect," previous literature has identified many factors that may be responsible for such differential performance.…