This book gives middle school and secondary school teachers a comprehensive look at assessment, from definitions and history to practical suggestions and political implications. It explores the theory behind student-centered assessment and examines practical strategies teachers can use to bring about student-centered assessment in an educational system still based on behaviorist principles. Classroom examples are integrated throughout to help teachers in teaching, grading, communication with parents, and presentations of ideas to other teachers and school boards. These examples show teachers who use a variety of strategies to drive curriculum and achievement while still assessing and evaluating within the constraints of district and state mandates and grading students in a way that is consistently with student-centered. The following chapters are included: (1) "Introduction"; (2) "Assessment Drives Instruction" (3) "Strategies for Assessment and Evaluation"; (4) "Portfolios"; (5) "Grading: The Square Peg in the Round Hole"; (6) "Teachers Aren't the Only Players"; and (7) "Standards and Standardization: The Politics of Assessment and Evaluation." (Contains 27 figures and 111 references.) (SLD)