This study focuses on teachers' use of informal formative assessments (IFAs) aimed at improving students' learning and teachers' recognition of students' learning processes. The study was designed as an explorative case study of four middle school teachers and their students at a charter school in the northeastern U.S.A. The data collected for the…

Drawing on sociocultural approaches to literacy and literature on the communal spaces of teaching and learning of Latino/as, I share one Mexican border women's life story and analyze her literacies and ways of knowing in relation to the literacy event of giving "consejo." Using data gathered through individual interviews and…

Informal Assessment sometimes interprets enthusiasm and confidence in mathematics for cognitive competence. Presented are two case studies of interviews conducted to study the affective and reflective capacities underlying children's mathematical thinking during a nonroutine problem-solving task. (MDH)

Case studies of a third grader, sixth grader, and college student demonstrate differences in literacy problems among the gifted/learning disabled. An informal tool to diagnose writing problems is demonstrated. An instructional approach which considers developmental, remedial, and adaptive student needs is examined along with three sample…

In this theoretical paper the informal assessment practices of two experienced teachers are used as cases for generating questions about future developments in formative assessment practice. Both teachers maintain a consistent formative assessment focus on the development of their students as enquirers, and one of them supplements this with…

Case study recordings of a science lesson are assessed to examine the role of talk in the learning process. Implications are raised for similar informal assessments by practicing teachers. (Author)

Reports on a case study designed to determine whether marking standards and reliability of assessments change significantly from one occasion to another. Finds a sex bias occurs with both men and women judges, leading to significant changes in the measures for girls, but not for boys. (KO)

A framework is presented for applying error analysis of oral reading to decisions about placement and instruction. The focus is on assessment practices that rely on the stimulus material of daily instruction and that facilitate decision making on both what and how to teach reading. A case study illustrates application of the procedure. (JDD)