Provides information useful to educators who are rethinking their current approach to assessment and identifies characteristics of each assessment that seem particularly noteworthy. Concludes by raising a number of questions that should be considered before deciding whether or not to use these new performance-based assessments. (MG)

This article discusses implications of educational reform movements for improving the educational well-being of gifted students, in general, and gifted African-American students, in particular. Recommendations for educational improvements are offered in the areas of performance assessment, primary preschool programs, extended school services,…

Describes the development of an authentic assessment model identifying 14 complex thinking processes. Two teachers designed a task allowing high school students to demonstrate their biotechnological knowledge and simultaneously deploy a complex thinking process (decision making). This model required students to synthesize and integrate what they…

Given a Masters partial credit item with n known step difficulties, conditions are stated for the existence of a set of (locally) independent Rasch binary items such that their raw score and the partial credit raw score have identical probability density functions. (Author/SLD)

Examines the trend toward outcome-based assessment that demonstrates what children have really learned by evaluating what they can do in actual or simulated applied situations. Discusses theories of performance assessment, the qualities of good authentic performance assessment, and ways of integrating authentic assessment with traditional…

This book is a collection of nine commissioned papers that consider the educational reform represented by performance assessments, their advantages and disadvantages, and the challenges of successful implementation. Both theoretical and practical issues are addressed. (SLD)

Investigated item-by-item, holistic, and "trait" scoring with three mathematics performance-based tasks completed by 53 to 79 junior high and senior high school students per task. Results suggest that holistic scoring and item-by-item scoring methods provide similar information, but that trait score tapped into different aspects of…

Describes the implementation plans, experience, and results of incorporating performance measurement into the accreditation process of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Traces the evolution of standardized core measures known to be valid and reliable, noting political and technical problems in measure…

Describes a pilot project in the state of Alaska and one mathematics teacher's experiences in this project studying and using performance-based assessment techniques and developing a scoring guide for performance-based assessments. (ASK)

Studied two schools that adopted the Authentic Teaching, Learning, and Assessment for All Students (ATLAS) school-reform design, focusing on the link between school management and instructional change. These case studies support the usefulness of the ATLAS model and show that instruction and management must work together for successful reform.…

Describes and evaluates a holistic resocialization program used by the Texas Youth Commission that has been integrated into the state's education, treatment, and correctional programs for incarcerated youth. Goals of the program are to help ensure that the youth can generalize the skills they gain through these processes to situations outside the…

Discusses the transformation from traditional evaluation practices to those associated with authentic assessment at Georgia's Augusta State University, focusing on the negotiation of shifting boundaries. One former student shares the philosophical background that she developed prior to entering a middle-grades reading class, elaborating on how the…

Presents an instrument for measuring, comparing, and evaluating public relations internship programs consisting of a series of 10 value judgments as to what is optimal in public relations internships: student autonomy; public relations broadly defined; student responsibility; flexibility; limited faculty involvement; appropriate credit; internship…

Evaluated the effect of the League of Professional Schools, a democratic reform in Georgia, using performance measures from the state's educational performance measurement system. Performance of League schools was positive relative to several performance standards, but it was not possible to demonstrate that the League was a necessary component of…

The phasing out of the Teacher Performance Assessment Instrument (TPAI) in Georgia is described, with particular attention to litigation involving a teacher who lost her certificate after failing the TPAI. Other reasons for phasing out the TPAI are discussed. (SLD)