In addition to any discoveries that teachers might make about student learning while that learning is in progress, they must still assign grades. Consequently, educators need to develop and implement a system that supports both the formative and summative functions of assessment--formative, in that teachers can use evidence of student achievement…

Before designing an interdisciplinary portfolio project, educators at a Colorado middle school surveyed seventh- and eighth-grade students about their most memorable work. Students' most memorable work in school included hands-on science, independent research projects, speech making, research on foreign cultures, field trips, and art projects.…