This book presents the complete proceedings (written presentations as well as transcriptions of oral presentations and group discussions) of a national symposium on alternative assessment in the language arts. Oral presentation titles are: "Current Issues in Alternative Assessment" (Roger Farr); "Whole Language and Evaluation: Some Grounded Needs, Wants, and Desires" (Jerome Harste); "State Policy and Authentic Writing Assessment" (Diane S. Bloom); and "Alternative Assessment in Columbus, Ohio: What We're Doing Now (Not Much); What We're Going To Be Doing (A Lot More)" (Bert Wiser and Sharon Dorsey). Written presentation titles are: "Alternative Assessment in Language Arts" (Roger Farr and Kaye Lowe); "Assessing Whole Language: Issues and Concerns" (William P. Bintz and Jerome C. Harste); "State Policy and 'Authentic' Writing Assessment" (Diane S. Bloom); and "Alternative Assessment in Reading and Writing: What We're Doing and What We'd Like To Do in Columbus Public Schools" (Bert Wiser and Sharon Dorsey). Group session titles are "What Are the Implications for Instructional Materials in Alternative Assessment?"; "What Are the Connections between the Theory and Politics of Alternative Assessment?"; "What Are the Theoretical Issues Involved in Alternative Assessment? What Are the Practical Issues Involved? How Can These Issues Be Addressed Together?"; "What Are the Implications for Curriculum Planning When Implementing Alternative Assessment?"; and "How Do Societal Concerns Influence the Development of Alternative Assessment?" The book also includes transcriptions of the comments by six representatives of educational publishers concerning the future of assessment; and, from the concluding session, "Setting the Future Agenda" (Carl B. Smith); and "Apres Symposium: Thoughts on What Happened and Next Steps" (Marilyn R. Binkley). Four appendixes entitled: "Portfolio Assessment: A Survey among Professionals" (Jerry L. Johns and Peggy VanLeirsburg); "Literacy Portfolios: A Primer" (Jerry L. Johns); "How Professionals View Portfolio Assessment" (Jerry L. Johns and Peggy VanLeirsburg); and "Research and Progress in Informal Reading Inventories: An Annotated Bibliography" are attached. (RS)