Performance assessment offers an approach to assessment different from that of group-administered standardized tests by documenting activities in which children engage on a daily basis. Flexible enough to reflect individual academic achievement and designed to evaluate elements of learning not captured by standardized tests, the Work Sampling…

Not all schools and teachers maintain uniformly high expectations for all students. Evidence suggests that schools can improve student learning by encouraging teachers and students to set their sights high. This digest synthesizes recent research about teachers' expectations and the ways in which teachers' expectations affect student performance;…