This study used a qualitative research methodology to examine how four primary teachers used a district literacy performance assessment. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and documents. Grounded theory and NUD*IST software were used for text analysis and theory building. Findings show that a theory-grounded teacher-empowered…

This guide shows organization managers how to use tests to assess skills and values in the workplace, as well as how to develop good, fair tests without needing any other resources. Part 1, chapters 1 through 5, presents basic information about tests and their practical applications. Part 2 describes the 15 steps of the testing process. The…

Alternative assessments have sometimes been used for such purposes as external control of schools. Equitable use of alternatives such as performance-based assessment depends on top-down support for bottom-up reform, careful design, and how well assessment is interwoven with the goals of authentic school reform and effective teaching. (SK)

Describes seven topics that should be included in a course for teachers on performance assessment and provides some ideas for teaching them. The topics range from assessment selection to recognizing inappropriate, unethical, or illegal assessment methods and uses. (SLD)

This paper reports the results of an analysis of the relationship between scorer behaviors and score variability. Thirty-six essay scorers were interviewed and asked to perform a think-aloud task as they scored 24 essays. Each comment made by a scorer was coded according to its content focus (i.e. appearance, assignment, mechanics, communication,…

This paper provides information on testing programs for elementary and secondary school students that are administered or coordinated by the Office of Educational Accountability within the Wisconsin State Department of Public Instruction. The first section provides background and definitions of assessment alternatives, including various types of…

Examines some of the policy implications for the proposed assessment systems to replace multiple-choice tests in education as part of educational reform movement. Notes that, like multiple-choice formats, the origins and assumptions of performance assessment methods have implications for the usefulness of the data that result. (Author/NB)

Reviews developments in educational assessment and in journals devoted to assessment during the editor's tenure with this journal, with a special focus on the place of performance assessment. Discusses the problem of generalizability in many new forms of assessment. (SLD)

A study was conducted to begin a process of validating hypothesized causes of local item dependence (LID) in large-scale performance assessments. Data for the study are item level scores from 26 science tasks from the 1993 edition of the Maryland School Performance Assessment Program. Causes of high LID were hypothesized from studies by Ferrara et…

The traditional concept of validity divides it into three separate types; content, criterion, and construct validities. This view is fragmented and incomplete, failing to take into account evidence of the value implications of score meaning as a basis for action and of the social consequences of score use. The new unified concept of validity…

This paper presents a study of primary and secondary mathematics teachers' changing assessment practices in the context of policy, stakeholder, and personal presses for change. Two cohorts of teachers, one of 35 elementary, middle school, and high school teachers and the other of 24 elementary and middle school teachers participated. Using survey…

This paper traces the origins of the portfolio movement, examines the treatment of portfolios in texts and other writings on classroom assessment, and poses several questions about the use of portfolios in classrooms. Interest in portfolios as assessment devices first emerged in the literature in the field of composition and writing, but interest…

This resource guide was published as part of the college-wide assessment and evaluation activities at Columbia Basin College (Washington) in 1997. The purpose in producing the document was to meet the need for some guidelines and written information about how to develop an assessment plan, the different ways to assess that plan, and how to use the…

To make the transition from traditional assessment, which was often counterproductive, to an array of assessment applications that will be more constructive for students, teachers must expand their vision of the relationship between assessment and effective schools. Assessment must be used to inform classroom decision making, and it must become…

The rise of criterion-referenced measurement from 1970 to 1984 was an important period in test development. Since 1984 there has been less research published on criterion-referenced measurement, but there is ample evidence that the concept remains important, especially in the authentic measurement and performance assessment movements. (SLD)