This book introduces the issues involved in the education of bilingual students and the role that classroom assessment plays in their school experiences. After summarizing what research tells educators, the book provides case studies of a group of highly skilled teachers assessing bilingual children. These stories capture the intricacies of classroom assessment and provide examples of what effective teachers know about informally assessing students on a day-to-day basis. The sociocultural framework for the discussion takes into account the social, cultural, and linguistic issues involved in learning. The following chapters are included: (1) "Whose Judgment Counts When Assessing Bilingual Children? Why Study Teachers?"; (2) "What Research Suggests about Assessing Bilingual Children"; (3) "Teachers Preparing Themselves To Assess Bilingual Children"; (4) "How Teachers Do Classroom Assessments: Noting Struggles and Breakthroughs, Discovering Strengths"; (5) "Portrait of Kathy: Kids Helping Kids"; (6) "Portrait of Manuel: Creating Lifelong Learners"; and (7) "Conclusions and Implications." A discussion of the research methodology follows the text. Two appendixes contain a documentation and assessment plan and a chart of the educational implications of formal assessments. (Contains 7 figures and 132 references.) (SLD)