This guide is a useful resource for educators who would like to begin using portfolios in the classroom. The three major types of portfolios are working portfolios (collections of work in progress), display portfolios (also called showcase or best works), and assessment portfolios. These types are distinct in theory, but tend to overlap in…

This workbook is designed to guide students aged 12 or older through the steps entailed in creating portfolios to showcase their efforts and experiences to various audiences, including teachers, prospective employers, college admissions boards, and bank loan officers. First, the workbook's organization and the purpose/value of portfolios are…

This activity-oriented book for preservice mathematics teachers who are taking methods courses or who have been student teaching offers a framework for teacher reflection and self- assessment. It supplies detailed observation instruments for observing other teachers, reflective activities, and guidelines and instruments for supervisors. There are…

Since its introduction in 1983, Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences has attracted widespread interest among educators. The chapters in this book describe alternative assessments that capture the range of intelligences, allow the intelligences to be given more equal weight, use intelligence-fair formats, and focus on student…

Ideas, shortcuts, and tips on discipline, portfolios, academics, and parent involvement are organized in a list format to help teachers work more efficiently. The six chapters include: (1) Academics (Reading, Writing, Spelling, Science, and Math Journals); (2) Portfolios; (3) Discipline; (4) Caring; (5) Parents (First Time Communication,…

This collection of 17 papers provides a blueprint for teachers who want increasingly sophisticated methods for monitoring student growth and can serve as a resource for in-service educators as literacy instruction changes. Papers in the first section of the book examine literacy assessment as it pertains to school-age children. Papers in the…

This collection provides a new perspective for understanding what assessment can do to promote continuous improvement in education. The concepts of systems thinking, continued learning, mental models, shared vision, and team building are highlighted in the selections, which include: (1) "A Systems Approach to Assessing School Culture"…

The perspectives in these essays present an examination of the Kentucky educational reform effort, with an examination of its rationale, various facets, and the reactions to its implementation. The ambitious assessment system includes multiple-choice and open-ended items, performance tasks, and portfolio assessments. The following are included:…

For over thirty years, portfolios have been used to help adult learners gain recognition for their prior learning and take greater control of their educational experiences. The portfolio has become a distinctive means of assessing such learning, serving as a meaningful alternative to conventional papers and standardized testing. This book provides…

This book is a guide to understanding and implementing portfolio assessment in schools and contains checklists, forms, sample letters, rubrics, and inventories. The chapters are: (1) "Defining a Portfolio"; (2) "Evolving Nature of Portfolios"; (3) "Getting Started"; (4) "Clarifying the Role of Self-Assessment"; (5) "Choosing from Multiple Sources…

Compiled to help staff developers, administrators, teachers, and policy makers reexamine current literacy practices and reimagine how they can work with each other and with parents and community members, this collection of 22 previously published articles from various professional journals and one new article offers examples of how educators can…

This book describes the efforts of teachers to develop new strategies for looking at children's work and learning in three schools that are involved in the radical restructuring of education in concert with networks of reformers (the Coalition of Essential Schools, Foxfire, and Project Zero). The assessment strategies that these teachers are…

This book offers successful classroom practices that encourage students to learn purposefully and constructively by reflecting on their own learning processes and by making connections between what they read (whether verbal or visual texts) and the lives they lead. Extending from middle and high school through college composition and English…

Students around the globe have unique first-year experiences but struggle with many of the same challenges. This monograph focuses on their journeys and provides insights for educators interested in learning about how institutions across the globe provide supports to students dealing with first-year transition issues. Based on the successful…

Many graduate students continue to be regarded as "apprentices" despite the fact that they are expected to design and teach their own classes, serve on university committees, and conference and publish regularly. "The Chronicle of Higher Education" reports that the attrition rate for American Ph.D. programs is at an all-time high, between 40% and…