Portfolios Plus

A Critical Guide to Alternative Assessment

This is a courageous manuscript that challenges educators to examine their current thinking about assessment and what they believe about education." Paul Gathercoal, Associate Professor, School of Education, California Lutheran University Thousand Oaks, CA "Will appeal to all educators, particularly to classroom teachers who are searching for portfolio examples. Practitioners will find this book is an excellent guide." Robert B. Amenta, Professor of Education Administration, California Lutheran University, Thousand Oaks, California Are current assessment practices doing the majority of our students justice? Linda Mabry takes a long hard look at the reality of assessment in education today. Her book is a guide to help you bring your purposes and contexts into focus and design assessment to support and enhance student learning. Discover what kind of assessment is best for your students. This book will help you look at various methods of assessment and the consequences these practices have on your professional relationships with students and colleagues. Mabry makes a strong case for reconsideration of testing assumptions and approaches and their implications. She explores alternatives and compares them to current educational assessments, examining the importance of individualization versus standardized testing. You'll learn to match purpose to contexts, assessment to curriculum, and theory to practice. Design a custom assessment program individualized to fit your students, school, and community, one that will be enriched by your professional experience and ideas. Make assessment a positive part of the learning process. An excellent resource for students and faculty in school of educational administration, and for principals and administrators. A valuable asset for university, college, school district, and school libraries.