The guide, developed by the Secondary Transition and Employment Project (STEP) in Idaho, describes a rationale and model for implementing secondary/vocational assessment of students with disabilities that is integrated with curriculum and transition strategies. Assessment and curricular strategies are particularly intended for students in rural…

This study compared the effects of "instructor administered" versus "administrator administered" rating forms on student assessment of instruction given by faculty and graduate assistants. Twelve physical education instructors who taught "paired" sections, i.e., two sections of the same activity course, were studied. Each of the instructors…

The ways that Wisconsin colleges, technical institutes and high schools award credit for learning acquired through work experience are described. This guide was written after a statewide study of the policies and procedures of both postsecondary and secondary schools. Data were gathered in interviews with nearly every postsecondary school in…

Examined are the effects of motor skill development and impairment on the infant's and young child's overall functioning, and suggested are guidelines for assessing motor skills in multiply handicapped children. It is explained that motor delays and deficits limit a child's learning during critical developmental periods. Examples of delayed motor…

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)

Informal but frequent teacher evaluations of students' academic achievement are not standardized by official prescriptions dictating which reference system is to be used. Three reference norms used when evaluating achievement are: social, criterion-oriented, and individual reference norms. (PN)

Offers an annotated bibliography concerning practical and theoretical considerations for two types of alternative assessment in community colleges and higher education: portfolios and capstone courses. Portfolios provide representative samples of student work and capstone courses review core concepts in a field. Cites 10 sources. (AUTH/NB)

Describes different methods of evaluating the reading and language skills of students who are deaf or hard of hearing. Student activities include creating a slide show to illustrate a story, decorating paper bags with key scenes and placing items related to the story inside, and creating book jackets. (CR)

A literature review identified behaviors representative of the normal stages of communication, cognition, and vocalization in children's prelinguistic period. Results were organized as a checklist for assessment of at-risk infants. The checklist is recommended for monitoring infant development, supplementing formal screenings and diagnostic tools,…

The paper highlights the importance of professors of education being committed to using portfolio assessment of their students to teach those students appropriate educational behavior. One professor's variety of portfolio assessment techniques and related teaching methods are shared, emphasizing his use of ongoing teacher-student dialog. (SM)

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…

Explores the utility of an informal reading inventory for assessing the reading abilities of college students. Determines the amount and kinds of information that can be learned from an informal reading inventory. Determines whether information gained from the Advanced Reading Inventory differed qualitatively from that obtained from the Nelson…

In response to a recent shift toward informal measures of teaching/assessment in reading education, this study investigated types of assessments and instructional strategies being taught in teacher education programs in five midwestern states. Surveys of reading education professors at state universities indicated that direct, informed assessment…

This article begins with the state of assessment of young children with special needs in the 1960s and traces changes through the end of the century. The embrace of multiple assessment measures, including standardized, norm-referenced measures and informal, functional measures is discussed and development of ecologically valid assessments is…