Discusses connections between global education and interdisciplinary teaching and learning, cooperative learning, active learning, and authentic assessment at the middle school level. Considers differences between multicultural education and the broader scope of global education to include international events and interactions among cultures…

Describes an outcomes assessment plan developed by the Lake Land College (Illinois) nursing program, which is organized around formative and summative evaluations of twelve graduate program outcomes. Quantitative and qualitative data collected by students are submitted in a portfolio format. The faculty tool for assessing the portfolios is…

Examines attitudes and concerns related to the use of alternative assessments in literacy education courses. Notes that the results were significant for Self-Evaluation and Peer Evaluation and the results for Instructor Modeling did not reach significance but were generally positive in support of modeling alternative assessment in education…

Based on Habermas (1971), asserts that knowledge about teaching can be communicative and emancipatory as well as instrumental; these aspects of teaching therefore call for interpretive and critical evaluation. Offers a range of relevant strategies. (EV)

The consequential validity of assessment was explored through a qualitative study of the impacts of assessment practices on student perceptions of learning and their learning behavior. Results from 13 case studies over two and a half academic years show that students experiencing a variety of types of alternative assessment did perceive many of…

Investigated changes in teachers' assessment practices after implementing New American Schools (NAS) restructuring models. Questionnaires and teacher focus groups indicated significant increases in the frequency with which teachers used alternative assessment and in the level of processing demanded by their assessments. There were no changes in…

Advocates use of portfolios as an alternative assessment in teacher education classes. Presents a preservice methods class special project that engages teacher-trainees in reflections related to teaching writing in a mainstreamed classroom. Discusses the role of writing in reflective portfolios and changing needs in the preparation of general…

Discusses using two alternative assessment methods, journals and portfolios, with preservice teachers in an elementary mathematics methods course. (Contains 13 references.) (ASK)

Anthony Bruton comments on Brown and Hudson's article "The Alternatives in Language Assessment," (v32 n4 Win 1998). Raises questions about some of their definitions and categories and suggests additional items that need to be considered by test takers. Brown and Hudson reply with clarifications of terms and definition of the scope of their paper.…

In a large general education class where students demonstrate their personal creativity, a self-grading system was used during one semester and a conventional teacher-evaluation system was used during the second semester. The purpose was to gauge whether the self-grading system was appropriate. Students adapted well to the procedures used, and…

There are many ways of assessing students and the work they do, and many ways of getting them ready for those assessments. Special needs students provide an extra challenge to educators because they have difficulty preparing for assessment and often more difficulty communicating what they know. It is not enough to be a thoughtful, lab-focused…

Sometimes a radical shift in assessment procedures may uncover a whole new set of objectives that neither the students nor the instructor expected. Such an experience is described in the context of freshman mathematics. (Contains 1 table.)

Can students with learning and attention difficulties in school actually be talented scientists in disguise? This article presents a model that was highly successful in identifying and developing scientific talent in these special students. The factors that contributed to the success of the model were the following: The emphasis was on helping…

The current preference for alternative assessment has been partly stimulated by recent evidence on learning which points to the importance of students' active engagement in the learning process. While alternative assessment may well fulfill the aims of formative assessment, its value in the summative assessment required in higher education is more…

Traditional standardized, norm-referenced assessments are used most often to determine children's eligibility for specialized services. These traditional tests have at least two drawbacks: (a) test items and activities often do not reflect children's functional repertoires; and (b) outcomes are difficult to link directly to goal development,…