This report describes a plan for using student portfolios as a tool for authentic assessment. The targeted population was classes of 5th, 8th, and 12th graders in 3 urban school settings. The three teachers involved felt that current assessment methods were inadequate for measuring student learning. Analysis of the data showed that current traditional assessment methods focused on memorization rather than the acquisition of knowledge. Test scores often did not correspond to the teacher's and parents' perceptions of the student's achievements. Reviews of the literature indicated that current assessments test narrowly and did not meet the needs of students of varied learning styles in any classroom. A review of the solution strategies used by knowledgeable others documented the validity of portfolios as a more balanced and valid assessment tool. Portfolios coincided more accurately with the teaching strategies used in the classroom. The teachers found that, although the implementation of portfolio assessments involved major investments in time, money, storage, and indoctrination for the teachers and their schools, they proved to be valuable tools for individualizing the learning process and in documenting student progress over time. Portfolios did give a better understanding of student progress than tests did. Fifty-six attachments contain supplemental information, including student and parent surveys about portfolio use. (Contains 2 tables, 40 figures, and 61 references.) (Author/SLD)