Two cases are described in which alternative assessments have been successfully employed in college mathematics. Case 1 describes an alternative assessment applied in a class of 10 elementary school teachers studying Euclidean geometry as required by state teacher-certification requirements. One student asserted that he already had an adequate…

Great Britain's 1988 Education Reform Act demonstrates the prevailing political climate's commitment to market forces and competition as a means of increasing educational productivity. This paper presents findings of the Primary Assessment Curriculum and Experience (PACE) project, which investigated the effects of the policy change on English…

This updated annotated bibliography presents articles about portfolio assessment uses collected and reviewed by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NREL) Test Center to date. Documents have been obtained from a number of sources, including consortium efforts by the Northwest Evaluation Association and the Alaska State Department of…

The New Standards Project is a joint effort of the Learning Research and Development Center (LRDC) at the University of Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) and the National Center on Education and the Economy toward creation of a national examination system based on performance assessments. This study explored the feasibility of comparing performance on…

A recent court case, Sheff vs. O'Neill has centered Connecticut's attention on the fact that its public schools are largely segregated by race/ethnicity (80% of the state's minority student population are clustered in 18 of 166 school districts while 140 others are more than 90% white). This paper discusses financing the cost of higher standards…

As part of the educational reform movement, states and local districts have implemented outcomes-based accountability for student outcomes. Outcomes-based accountability systems are using results of both traditional assessments, such as norm-referenced tests, and authentic performance assessments in an effort to measure broad domains of student…

This document comprises the third annual Wyoming Education Progress Report, which measures the state's progress toward achieving the six National Education Goals by the year 2000. Three years of data indicate that parents, educators, and students are responding to the national and local education goals, and that more Wyoming students are preparing…

In 1991 the School District of Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) invited elementary and middle schools to participate in a pilot project to develop and implement portfolio and performance-based assessments. Twenty-five schools began work in winter 1992. Research for Better Schools, Inc. analyzed the progress reports submitted by the schools. The…

As part of a larger study of implementation of alternative assessment, a survey of parent opinions about standardized tests and performance assessments was conducted in three elementary schools. In the three participating schools, 3rd-grade teachers attended workshops on assessment development and implemented these practices in their classrooms.…

This book presents the results of a study of the factors contributing to a lack of academic success for Hispanic-American students. About 500 professionals and parents from 19 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, and Ecuador answered a 400-item questionnaire that explored cultural and contextual traits and suggestions of how…

The third year of the contract, 1993-94, was one of culminating activities for the Region F Technical Assistance Center (TAC), as well as a year for preparation for reauthorization. The TAC continued to provide assistance that focused on improving curriculum and instruction across all aspects of Chapter 1. A significant change was the increase in…

This document represents a plan for educational improvement within Alabama, and proposes the following four goals for higher education (2- and 4-year postsecondary institutions) in the state: collaboration, access, quality instruction, and research and economic development. Each goal is followed by specific, measurable objectives which serve as…

The outcome-based alternative assessment used in a two-semester Technology Communication Skills class is described. It provides an alternative activity for final examinations and is a way for students to express creativity and exercise critical thinking skills. Participants in the class are students in grades 9 through 12 (65 in this instance).…

An attempt is made to summarize the perspectives and relevant experience of state-level higher education leadership in responding to the proposals for national assessment resulting from Goal V, Objective 5, of the National Education Goals, which calls for improvement in the critical thinking, ability to communicate, and problem-solving ability of…

This guide to developing a prior learning portfolio was prepared to assist students in the Credit for Lifelong Learning Program (CLLP) at Sinclair Community College (SCC) in Dayton, Ohio, through the process of identifying college-level prior learning, matching their learning to specific courses, and articulating and documenting their learning.…