The Policy and the Higher Literacies project reviewed state and local "thoughtfulness" mandates, interviewed appropriate administrators, and visited schools and classrooms boasting higher literacy activities. While most interviewees believed in commercial test validity, those engaged in higher literacy activities largely ignored such tests as…

In their search for alternatives to standardized assessment, a consortium of Pittsburgh administrators, teachers, and researchers discovered the value of portfolios gathered by artists, musicians, and writers. Now their students gather portfolios consisting of biographies of works, a range of works, and their own reflections. Includes five…

Instead of being devices for measuring what students have learned, tests should be instructional--the central vehicle for clarifying and setting intellectual standards. To regain control over testing and instruction, schools need to rethink their diploma requirements and grading systems. Then school transcripts will become trustworthy again.…

Despite their richness, student portfolios and other assessment records see little use beyond the individual teacher. The current system also limits use of teacher-gathered assessments by other interested parties. For school-related decisions, standardized test scores should be considered in conjunction with teachers' assessments. (MLH)

Since the media seldom feature good news about education, principals need to highlight elementary school children's reading and writing accomplishments. Principals can hear students read aloud in the hallway, send interesting compositions to the superintendent's office, and post creative writing efforts on the walls of local banks, pizza parlors,…

Instead of decoding sentences, good readers build meaning by integrating their knowledge with the text. Reading assessment must shift from traditional quantifiable tests to a portfolio system incorporating multiple measures and indicators of expertise. Michigan and Illinois efforts to translate interactive reading theory into assessment practices…

The Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) has developed both formal and informal reading assessments reflecting current reading theory. A test development committee created a MEAP blueprint of four elements: constructing meaning, knowledge about reading, attitudes and self-perceptions, and topic familiarity. Includes two references. (MLH)

Teachers in Iowa's North Scott School District have become writers helping their students learn through the writing process approach. The district's reading assessment is based on student writing samples, cumulative writing folders, and a holistic evaluation system. Includes two references. (MLH)

Describes the essential elements of a new generation of tests, shows how they might promote learning, and indicates what it will take to create them. Mastery systems envisioned by the Educational Testing Service will provide immediate, elaborate feedback; express learning progress via mapping; and present "real world" test questions. Includes…

To deal with the rapidly germinating technosocial climates of the twentieth century, educators must develop "educational foresight." Schools' challenges will include changes in structural organization and staff deployment, a reformulated curriculum and schedule, and new "waves" of microelectronics and information to help process and apply the…

Based on societal, economic, and demographic trends (summarized in sidebars), this article forecasts an educational "ideascape" stressing active and service learning, higher cognitive skills, a past/present/future curriculum focus, lifelong learning, whole-person and transdisciplinary education, personalized learning, early childhood education,…

Outlines the 10 most significant trends to affect twenty-first century schools, including changes in work, lifestyles, technology, school demographics, international relations, the American family, locus of control in education, teacher training and recruitment, public education alternatives, and social values. The larger report predicts…

According to the "Megatrends" expert, the 1990s will feature a cultural and spiritual renaissance, the demise of socialism, the predominance of English, an emergent Age of Biology, a cultural shift from the Atlantic to Pacific, the decline of cities and growth of an electronic heartland, worldwide free trade, "unlimited" growth, a globalization…

To help future graduates cope with a twenty-first century era dominated by computers, worldwide communication, and a global economy, mathematics teachers must change their curricula, teaching methods, and assessment techniques. Students must learn to value mathematics, reason and communicate mathematically, solve problems, and develop confidence.…

As jobs change, schools must shift in response to evolving information technologies. The concept of "cognition enhancers" can teach us how to use these emerging technologies. School curricula will need to emphasize higher order thinking skills, learning while doing, collaboration, interconnected research capabilities, and interdisciplinarity.…