Abuses and Misuses of Tests for Assessing Young Children The overuse and misuse of standardized tests has motivated teachers and parents to advocate other approaches to assessment that will provide more valid and reliable information on children's progress. Abuses and misuses of tests include employing tests that require children to respond in unfamiliar ways, so that their capabilities (what they know and can do) are confused with their performance (whether they can demon ...

Home Products Support News Information Downloads Pricing About Us About Alternative Assessment The Grady Profile provides the electronic tools you need to implement performance-based and collaborative-learning models for assessment. Here, we want to discuss the educational background behind what the program does, and provide sources of additional information. Definitions Characteristics References And for our perspectives on portfolios, please click here to download a brief article ...

From the ERIC database Alternative Assessment and Technology. ERIC Digest. INTRODUCTION Considerable attention is now being paid to the reform of testing in this country--going beyond multiple choice testing that emphasizes facts and small procedures, to the development of methods for assessing complex knowledge and performances. This is because goals for education have substantially changed during the last decade, and because changes in assessment are believed to directly influence changes ...

From the ERIC database Alternative Assessment: Implications for Social Studies. ERIC Digest. Nickell, Pat Alternative forms of evaluating student progress are changing testing or assessment in our schools. From the teacher-made to the standardized test, the familiar over-emphasis on multiple-choice items is giving way to expanded generative formats in which students are called upon to demonstrate mastery through applications in which they use complex processes and webs of knowledge and skill ...

From the ERIC database Alternatives to Standardized Educational Assessment. ERIC Digest Series Number EA 40. Bowers, Bruce C. An American educator who was examining the British educational system once asked a headmaster why so little standardized testing took place in British schools. "My dear fellow," came the reply, "In Britain we are of the belief that, when a child is hungry, he should be fed, not weighed." This anecdote suggests the complementary question: "Why is it that we do so much ...

From the ERIC database Alternatives to Standardized Tests. ERIC Digest. Wildemuth, Barbara M. The use of standardized tests by schools is commonly criticized. The tests do not necessarily test what students have learned. They do not reveal what the student has achieved. Critics have further suggested that alternatives to standardized tests be developed and used for more effective student evaluation. Such alternatives have included criterion-referenced tests, teacher-made tests, contract gr ...

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n Improving America's School: A Newsletter on Issues in School Reform - Spring 1996 Creating Better Student Assessments In the 1980s, as concern grew about the performance of public schools, statewide minimum competency testing programs proliferated and expectations for schools and students increased. Policymakers reasoned that if schools and students were held accountable for student achievement, with real consequences for those that didn't measure up, te ...

A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n Improving America's School: A Newsletter on Issues in School Reform - Spring 1996 What Are Promising Ways to Assess Student Learning? New forms of student assessment are designed to demonstrate what students are learning and what they can do with their knowledge. Known variously as "alternative" or "more authentic" measures, these assessments require students to "perform" in some way--by writing, demonstrating, explaining, or constructing a project or ex ...

From the ERIC database Assessing Civics Education. ERIC/TM Digest. Rudner, Lawrence M. Civics education provides a common cultural heritage that prepares students for their lives as American citizens (Callahan and Banaszak, 1990). Assessment can play a vital role in ensuring the success of citizenship education. Assessing students should be an on-going process which informs you about the progress and development of your students. Before you begin teaching, having accurate information about ...

The Assessment Web Page has moved. You can find us now at http://www.nwrel.org/assessment

The Assessment Web Page has moved. You can find us now at http://www.nwrel.org/assessment

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Critical Issue: Ensuring Equity with Alternative Assessments ISSUE: If American students are to be held responsible for achieving high educational standards, it is ethically imperative that educators develop assessment strategies that ensure equity in assessing and interpreting student performance. In order to protect students from unfair and damaging interpretations and to provide parents and communities with an accurate overall picture of student achievement, educators need t ...

Match Assessments to the Purposes for Assessment Sound assessment begins when you define the content of the assessment (the student standards or goals to be assessed) and the purpose for the assessment. Below are examples of how purpose can affect assessment design: A single multiple-choice or short answer multiplication test may be perfectly acceptable to determine whether or not third graders have learned their multiplication facts, but would not be appropriate for ma ...

Meaningful, Engaged Learning In recent years, researchers have formed a strong consensus on the importance of engaged learning in schools and classrooms. This consensus, together with a recognition of the changing needs of the 21st century, has stimulated the development of specific indicators of engaged learning. Jones, Valdez, Nowakowski, and Rasmussen (1994) developed the indicators described below. These indicators of engaged learning can act as a "compass" for reform i ...

Forms of Alternative Assessment Performance Based Assessment: This assessment is based on teacher observations on a student's performance or samples of various performance's done by the student. A criteria such as a rubic scale is usually established before the observations are done. Characteristics: Students and teachers know the requirements in advance and prepares for them. Going over the rubics scale with the student allows the student to know exactly what is required from the ...

Necessary Assessment Information Assessment of young children must be based on information adequate for all the major purposes of assessment (Dodge, Jablon, & Bickart, 1994; Hills, 1992). This means that the data collected must constitute an adequate basis for: Instructional planning and communicating with parents. Information for instructional planning and communicating with parents depends on a teacher's careful and frequent observation of children's behavior in the ...

From the ERIC database Portfolio and Test Essay: The Best of Both Writing Assessment Worlds at SUNY Brockport. ERIC Digest. Brand, Alice G. Now that the need for large-scale writing assessment is received wisdom across the nation (Ewell, 1985), the State University of New York system has mandated outcomes assessment across all disciplines. And SUNY Brockport is particularly serious about its writing assessment. ^SUNY Brockport is a comprehensive college situated on the outskirts of suburban ...

Self-evaluation This artifact demonstrates how students can become involved in self-evaluation. It is the responsibility of the students to reflect on their written work and select the two best works from their past assignments. They must provide a rationale for this selection, clarifying why it is their best work and commenting on the process they went through to complete those works. In addition, they must explain how these most effective pieces are different from their ...

BECOME A MEMBER NOW SIGN IN FAQ search HomeSubjectsLesson PlanningThemesClassroom ManagementNew ContentECardsNewsletters Lesson Plans Lesson Plan Resources Grades Printables Graphic Organizers Educator’s Calendar Assessment Sunflowers, Van Gogh, and You Objectives Students will learn about Vincent van Gogh's life and art. Students will create sunflower paintings. Students will taste sunflower seeds. Students will plant sunflower seeds. Materials ...