The purpose of this study was to determine whether a teacher can use one type of assessment to evaluate students' abilities fairly. The question is whether or not alternative assessment strategies are necessary to meet students' individual needs. The research, conducted with 28 fifth-grade students, compared their traditional and alternative reading and mathematics scores. Surveys were also distributed to 20 teachers and 100 students. The results indicate that the two types of testing cannot be compared a majority of the time, indicating a need for both types of assessment. The survey findings suggest that teachers and students are individuals who all need various types of assessment. The findings support the hypothesis. Six appendixes contain the teacher and student surveys, traditional scoring grade books, and the mathematics and reading rubrics. (Contains 7 tables and 25 references.) (Author/SLD)