Instructional technology can help teachers formalize alternative methods of assessment. It allows them to record and report on student performance more fully and more dynamically. This paper discusses tools and methodologies used by a group called Teachers Using Technology to Measure Mathematics Meaningfully as they expanded their repertoire of…

This book is about the learning cycle that moves children through a scientific investigation by allowing them first to explore materials, then to construct a concept, and finally to apply this concept to new ideas. It includes integrated learning cycles and learning cycles across the disciplines, and the uses of various questioning strategies,…

Current conceptions of literacy and what being literate means are discussed, and the strengths and weaknesses of the standardized multiple-choice test as a tool for assessing literacy proficiency and a way to report learning progress are explored. The possible advantages of alternative assessment strategies are reviewed, and an assessment model is…

New methods are needed to judge the quality of alternative student assessment, methods which complement the philosophy underlying authentic assessments. This paper examines assumptions underlying validity, reliability, and objectivity, and why they are not matched to authentic assessment, concentrating on the constructivist paradigm of E. Guba and…

This research project was designed to help the faculty at a southwestern, urban elementary school better understand what parents thought about the school's alternative assessment methods and narrative reporting to communicate with parents. Assessment methods were defined as the ways teachers learn about students' understandings, and communication…

Focusing on literacy learning and instruction, the 44 papers in this yearbook highlight the increasing sense of responsibility of literacy teachers as learners themselves and to understand the nature and impact of teacher change on student learning. Papers in the yearbook include: "What Counts in Teacher Education? Dilemmas in Educating…

This report describes a program for improving students' depth of understanding through the use of alternative assessment. The targeted population consisted of students at one elementary, one junior high, and two high schools in two growing middle class communities in northern Illinois. Lack of student understanding was documented through teacher…

This study demonstrates that built environment education fits well into the existing curricula, meets objectives, and provides new directions for assessment in the classroom. The study examines what was happening in those classrooms using CUBE-produced curriculum materials. Sample assessment methods are provided for four differing educational…

The purpose of this practicum was to broaden and strengthen the classroom assessment of literacy development in a third grade. Goals were to implement authentic assessment techniques, to involve both students and parents in goal setting and ongoing evaluation processes, and to develop writing portfolios exhibiting a wide range of student…

Portfolio assessment is an effective means of evaluation that encompasses many products of the child. Portfolios can be used to form a total judgment of what is needed for the child's further growth, based on daily events of the classroom, without interrupting the class day. They also allow the teacher to know more about students, while developing…

Different viewpoints regarding educational testing are described. While some people advocate continuing reliance upon standardized tests, others favor the discontinuation of such achievement and intelligence tests. The author recommends a moderate view somewhere between these two extremes. Problems associated with standardized testing in the…

The PAAP Rubrics are designed for planning and implementation of the State's alternate assessment to the MEA, the PAAP. The PAAP has been designed to allow participation in the MEA for those students who require accommodations so significant that they would compromise the validity of the assessment (i.e., student would need accommodations that are…

This paper discusses recent developments in language testing. It begins with a review of the traditional criteria that are applied to all measurement and outlines recent emphases that derive from the expanding range of stakeholders. Drawing on Alderson's seminal work, criteria are presented for evaluating communicative language tests. Developments…

Setting unresolved technical issues aside, there are three other changes that are needed before e-learning realizes its fullest potential. First, the basic mental model of what e-learning is must be expanded. Second, the quality of assessment within e-learning products must be improved. Third, there must be rigorous evaluation of e-learning…

This paper summarizes a 4-month-long preparation process to implement an innovative English-as-a-Second-Language workplace program (ESLWP) at a large university with a sizable non-English speaking workforce in the United States. There is also a proposed plan of action for implementing a program guided by constructivist views of teaching and…