Clarifies the term "emergent literacy" and reviews significant informal assessment techniques, record-keeping systems, and reporting measures appropriate for emergent literacy. Discusses guidelines for whole-language assessment. Suggests areas of evaluation to be considered for inclusion in a locally developed emergent literacy assessment system.…

Maintains that teacher-based assessment can be a powerful tool. Defines "informed" assessment, describes its features, and discusses conditions that must occur if teacher-based assessment is to reach its full potential. Discusses strategies that help teachers make day-to-day assessment more meaningful and credible. (SR)

Cites three objections to an article discouraging a checkmark system of grading, including the fact that at times student work should not be judged on the basis of how completely the ideas were developed and the necessity of having other grades in addition to checkmarks and no checkmarks. (DF)

Informal assessment ties evaluation and teaching together. Through systematic observation, teachers gather useful, instructional information as learners engage in the processes of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. Informal assessment measures suggested by researchers and language arts teachers include anecdotal records, informal…

Describes how the retelling of stories can reveal (1) the point or points students see in the stories they read and (2) the problems students have organizing the different elements of a story into a coherent whole. (HOD)

Low grades and papers overrun with corrections can discourage children from learning to write. Assuming children who write a great deal can become good writers, this article provides alternatives to grading: individual, weekly conferences; editing by peers; and use of an overhead projector. Praise and comments are considered a must. (DS)

Argues that teachers should be encouraged to use not just pencil-and-paper tests but also observations, interviews, and even students' journals to gather information on which to base their evaluations. (PK)

Maintains that continued over reliance on traditional skills-based assessment of reading abilities provides the whole-language teacher with little, if any, useful information for instructional planning. Suggests informal assessment procedures that focus on the language learner and provide a rich information source on which to base instructional…