Author: Richard A. Lesh
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136489460
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 468
Book Description
This book is the result of a conference sponsored by the Educational Testing Service and the University of Wisconsin's National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education. The purpose of the conference was to facilitate the work of a group of scholars whose interests included the assessment of higher-order understandings and processes in foundation-level (pre-high school) mathematics. Discussions focused on such issues as the purposes of assessment, guidelines for producing and scoring "real-life" assessment activities, and the meanings of such terms as "deeper and higher-order understanding," "cognitive objectives," and "authentic mathematical activities." Assessment was viewed as a critical component of complex, dynamic, and continually adapting educational systems. During the time that the chapters in this book were being written, sweeping changes in mathematics education were being initiated in response to powerful recent advances in technology, cognitive psychology, and mathematics, as well as to numerous public demands for educational reform. These changes have already resulted in significant reappraisals of what it means to understand mathematics, of the nature of mathematics teaching and learning, and of the real-life situations in which mathematics is useful. The challenge was to pursue assessment-related initiatives that are systematically valid, in the sense that they work to complement and enhance other improvements in the educational system rather than act as an impediment to badly needed curriculum reforms. To address these issues, most chapters in this book focus on clarifying and articulating the goals of assessment and instruction, and they stress the content of assessment above its mode of delivery. Computer- or portfolio-based assessments are interpreted as means to ends, not as ends in themselves. Assessment is conceived as an ongoing documentation process, seamless with instruction, whose quality hinges upon its ability to provide complete and appropriate information as needed to inform priorities in instructional decision making. This book tackles some of the most complicated issues related to assessment, and it offers fresh perspectives from leaders in the field--with the hope that the ultimate consumer in the instruction/assessment enterprise, the individual student, will reclaim his or her potential for self-directed mathematics learning.
Assessment of Authentic Performance in School Mathematics
Author: Richard A. Lesh
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136489460
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 468
Book Description
This book is the result of a conference sponsored by the Educational Testing Service and the University of Wisconsin's National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education. The purpose of the conference was to facilitate the work of a group of scholars whose interests included the assessment of higher-order understandings and processes in foundation-level (pre-high school) mathematics. Discussions focused on such issues as the purposes of assessment, guidelines for producing and scoring "real-life" assessment activities, and the meanings of such terms as "deeper and higher-order understanding," "cognitive objectives," and "authentic mathematical activities." Assessment was viewed as a critical component of complex, dynamic, and continually adapting educational systems. During the time that the chapters in this book were being written, sweeping changes in mathematics education were being initiated in response to powerful recent advances in technology, cognitive psychology, and mathematics, as well as to numerous public demands for educational reform. These changes have already resulted in significant reappraisals of what it means to understand mathematics, of the nature of mathematics teaching and learning, and of the real-life situations in which mathematics is useful. The challenge was to pursue assessment-related initiatives that are systematically valid, in the sense that they work to complement and enhance other improvements in the educational system rather than act as an impediment to badly needed curriculum reforms. To address these issues, most chapters in this book focus on clarifying and articulating the goals of assessment and instruction, and they stress the content of assessment above its mode of delivery. Computer- or portfolio-based assessments are interpreted as means to ends, not as ends in themselves. Assessment is conceived as an ongoing documentation process, seamless with instruction, whose quality hinges upon its ability to provide complete and appropriate information as needed to inform priorities in instructional decision making. This book tackles some of the most complicated issues related to assessment, and it offers fresh perspectives from leaders in the field--with the hope that the ultimate consumer in the instruction/assessment enterprise, the individual student, will reclaim his or her potential for self-directed mathematics learning.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136489460
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 468
Book Description
This book is the result of a conference sponsored by the Educational Testing Service and the University of Wisconsin's National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education. The purpose of the conference was to facilitate the work of a group of scholars whose interests included the assessment of higher-order understandings and processes in foundation-level (pre-high school) mathematics. Discussions focused on such issues as the purposes of assessment, guidelines for producing and scoring "real-life" assessment activities, and the meanings of such terms as "deeper and higher-order understanding," "cognitive objectives," and "authentic mathematical activities." Assessment was viewed as a critical component of complex, dynamic, and continually adapting educational systems. During the time that the chapters in this book were being written, sweeping changes in mathematics education were being initiated in response to powerful recent advances in technology, cognitive psychology, and mathematics, as well as to numerous public demands for educational reform. These changes have already resulted in significant reappraisals of what it means to understand mathematics, of the nature of mathematics teaching and learning, and of the real-life situations in which mathematics is useful. The challenge was to pursue assessment-related initiatives that are systematically valid, in the sense that they work to complement and enhance other improvements in the educational system rather than act as an impediment to badly needed curriculum reforms. To address these issues, most chapters in this book focus on clarifying and articulating the goals of assessment and instruction, and they stress the content of assessment above its mode of delivery. Computer- or portfolio-based assessments are interpreted as means to ends, not as ends in themselves. Assessment is conceived as an ongoing documentation process, seamless with instruction, whose quality hinges upon its ability to provide complete and appropriate information as needed to inform priorities in instructional decision making. This book tackles some of the most complicated issues related to assessment, and it offers fresh perspectives from leaders in the field--with the hope that the ultimate consumer in the instruction/assessment enterprise, the individual student, will reclaim his or her potential for self-directed mathematics learning.
Mathematics Assessment and Evaluation
Author: Thomas A. Romberg
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791408995
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 380
Book Description
Are current testing practices consistent with the goals of the reform movement in school mathematics? If not, what are the alternatives? How can authentic performance in mathematics be assessed? These and similar questions about tests and their uses have forced those advocating change to examine the way in which mathematical performance data is gathered and used in American schools. This book provides recent views on the issues surrounding mathematics tests, such as the need for valid performance data, the implications of the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics for test development, the identification of valid items and tests in terms of the Standards, the procedures now being used to construct a sample of state assessment tests, gender differences in test taking, and methods of reporting student achievement.
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791408995
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 380
Book Description
Are current testing practices consistent with the goals of the reform movement in school mathematics? If not, what are the alternatives? How can authentic performance in mathematics be assessed? These and similar questions about tests and their uses have forced those advocating change to examine the way in which mathematical performance data is gathered and used in American schools. This book provides recent views on the issues surrounding mathematics tests, such as the need for valid performance data, the implications of the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards for School Mathematics for test development, the identification of valid items and tests in terms of the Standards, the procedures now being used to construct a sample of state assessment tests, gender differences in test taking, and methods of reporting student achievement.
Authentic Assessment and Evaluation Approaches and Practices in a Digital Era
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004501576
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 414
Book Description
This book expertly illustrates the important process of authentic assessment and evaluation in the construction and dissemination of educational knowledge. One of the key strengths of this book is the diversity of contexts in which the various aspects of assessment are evidenced and discussed.
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004501576
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 414
Book Description
This book expertly illustrates the important process of authentic assessment and evaluation in the construction and dissemination of educational knowledge. One of the key strengths of this book is the diversity of contexts in which the various aspects of assessment are evidenced and discussed.
Assessment of Authentic Performance in School Mathematics
Author: Richard A. Lesh
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136489398
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 457
Book Description
This book is the result of a conference sponsored by the Educational Testing Service and the University of Wisconsin's National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education. The purpose of the conference was to facilitate the work of a group of scholars whose interests included the assessment of higher-order understandings and processes in foundation-level (pre-high school) mathematics. Discussions focused on such issues as the purposes of assessment, guidelines for producing and scoring "real-life" assessment activities, and the meanings of such terms as "deeper and higher-order understanding," "cognitive objectives," and "authentic mathematical activities." Assessment was viewed as a critical component of complex, dynamic, and continually adapting educational systems. During the time that the chapters in this book were being written, sweeping changes in mathematics education were being initiated in response to powerful recent advances in technology, cognitive psychology, and mathematics, as well as to numerous public demands for educational reform. These changes have already resulted in significant reappraisals of what it means to understand mathematics, of the nature of mathematics teaching and learning, and of the real-life situations in which mathematics is useful. The challenge was to pursue assessment-related initiatives that are systematically valid, in the sense that they work to complement and enhance other improvements in the educational system rather than act as an impediment to badly needed curriculum reforms. To address these issues, most chapters in this book focus on clarifying and articulating the goals of assessment and instruction, and they stress the content of assessment above its mode of delivery. Computer- or portfolio-based assessments are interpreted as means to ends, not as ends in themselves. Assessment is conceived as an ongoing documentation process, seamless with instruction, whose quality hinges upon its ability to provide complete and appropriate information as needed to inform priorities in instructional decision making. This book tackles some of the most complicated issues related to assessment, and it offers fresh perspectives from leaders in the field--with the hope that the ultimate consumer in the instruction/assessment enterprise, the individual student, will reclaim his or her potential for self-directed mathematics learning.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136489398
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 457
Book Description
This book is the result of a conference sponsored by the Educational Testing Service and the University of Wisconsin's National Center for Research in Mathematical Sciences Education. The purpose of the conference was to facilitate the work of a group of scholars whose interests included the assessment of higher-order understandings and processes in foundation-level (pre-high school) mathematics. Discussions focused on such issues as the purposes of assessment, guidelines for producing and scoring "real-life" assessment activities, and the meanings of such terms as "deeper and higher-order understanding," "cognitive objectives," and "authentic mathematical activities." Assessment was viewed as a critical component of complex, dynamic, and continually adapting educational systems. During the time that the chapters in this book were being written, sweeping changes in mathematics education were being initiated in response to powerful recent advances in technology, cognitive psychology, and mathematics, as well as to numerous public demands for educational reform. These changes have already resulted in significant reappraisals of what it means to understand mathematics, of the nature of mathematics teaching and learning, and of the real-life situations in which mathematics is useful. The challenge was to pursue assessment-related initiatives that are systematically valid, in the sense that they work to complement and enhance other improvements in the educational system rather than act as an impediment to badly needed curriculum reforms. To address these issues, most chapters in this book focus on clarifying and articulating the goals of assessment and instruction, and they stress the content of assessment above its mode of delivery. Computer- or portfolio-based assessments are interpreted as means to ends, not as ends in themselves. Assessment is conceived as an ongoing documentation process, seamless with instruction, whose quality hinges upon its ability to provide complete and appropriate information as needed to inform priorities in instructional decision making. This book tackles some of the most complicated issues related to assessment, and it offers fresh perspectives from leaders in the field--with the hope that the ultimate consumer in the instruction/assessment enterprise, the individual student, will reclaim his or her potential for self-directed mathematics learning.
Assessment of Authentic Performance in School Mathematics
Author: Richard A. Lesh
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 462
Book Description
This book grew out of a conference sponsored by the Educational Testing Service and the University of Wisconsin's National Center for Research in Mathematical Science Education that focused on assessment issues in mathematics education. The book's 16 chapters focus on clarifying and articulating the goals of assessment and instruction. They are divided into five parts. Part I Assessment Objectives, contains the following chapters: (1) Trends, Goals, and Priorities in Mathematics Assessment (Richard Lesh and Susan Lamon); (2) Assessing Authentic Mathematical Performance (Richard Lesh and Susan Lamon); (3) Toward an Assessment Framework for School Mathematics (Gerald Goldin); and (4) Research and Classroom Assessment of Students' Verifying, Conjecturing, and Generalizing in Geometry (Daniel Chazan and Michal Yerushalmy). Chapters in part II, New Items and Assessment Procedures, are: (5) Balanced Assessment of Mathematical Performance (Alan Bell, Hugh Burkhardt, and Malcolm Swan); (6) Assessment of Extended Tasks (Alan Bell, Hugh Burkhardt, and Malcolm Swan); (7) Moving the System: The Contributions of Assessment (Alan Bell, Hugh Burkhardt, and Malcolm Swan); (8) Assessing Mathematical Skills, Understanding, and Thinking (Jan de Lange); and (9) Thinking Strategies in Mathematics Instruction: How Is It Possible? (Leen Streefland). Part III, New Perspectives on Classroom-based Assessment, contains chapters (10), A Teacher's Struggle to Assess Student Cognitive Growth (Carolyn Maher, Robert Davis, and Alice Alston), and (11), Assessing Understanding of Arithmetic (Herbert Ginsburg, Luz Lopez, Swapna Mukhopadhyay, Takashi Yamamoto, Megan Willis, and Mary Kelly). Chapters in part IV, New Types of Scoring and Reporting, are: (12) Toward a Test Theory for Assessing Student Understanding (Robert Mislevy, Kentaro Yamamoto, and Steven Anacker); (13) Interpreting Responses to Problems with Several Levels and Types of Correct Answers (Susan Lamon and Richard Lesh); and (14) Using Learning Progress Maps to Improve Educational Decision Making (Richard Lesh, Susan Lamon, Brian Gong, and Thomas Post). Part V on difficulties, opportunities, and future directions in assessment contains chapters (15), Future Directions for Mathematics Assessment (Richard Lesh, Susan Lamon, Frank Lester, and Merlyn Behr), and (16), The Intellectual Prices of Secrecy in Mathematics Assessment (Judah Schwartz). (MDH)
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 462
Book Description
This book grew out of a conference sponsored by the Educational Testing Service and the University of Wisconsin's National Center for Research in Mathematical Science Education that focused on assessment issues in mathematics education. The book's 16 chapters focus on clarifying and articulating the goals of assessment and instruction. They are divided into five parts. Part I Assessment Objectives, contains the following chapters: (1) Trends, Goals, and Priorities in Mathematics Assessment (Richard Lesh and Susan Lamon); (2) Assessing Authentic Mathematical Performance (Richard Lesh and Susan Lamon); (3) Toward an Assessment Framework for School Mathematics (Gerald Goldin); and (4) Research and Classroom Assessment of Students' Verifying, Conjecturing, and Generalizing in Geometry (Daniel Chazan and Michal Yerushalmy). Chapters in part II, New Items and Assessment Procedures, are: (5) Balanced Assessment of Mathematical Performance (Alan Bell, Hugh Burkhardt, and Malcolm Swan); (6) Assessment of Extended Tasks (Alan Bell, Hugh Burkhardt, and Malcolm Swan); (7) Moving the System: The Contributions of Assessment (Alan Bell, Hugh Burkhardt, and Malcolm Swan); (8) Assessing Mathematical Skills, Understanding, and Thinking (Jan de Lange); and (9) Thinking Strategies in Mathematics Instruction: How Is It Possible? (Leen Streefland). Part III, New Perspectives on Classroom-based Assessment, contains chapters (10), A Teacher's Struggle to Assess Student Cognitive Growth (Carolyn Maher, Robert Davis, and Alice Alston), and (11), Assessing Understanding of Arithmetic (Herbert Ginsburg, Luz Lopez, Swapna Mukhopadhyay, Takashi Yamamoto, Megan Willis, and Mary Kelly). Chapters in part IV, New Types of Scoring and Reporting, are: (12) Toward a Test Theory for Assessing Student Understanding (Robert Mislevy, Kentaro Yamamoto, and Steven Anacker); (13) Interpreting Responses to Problems with Several Levels and Types of Correct Answers (Susan Lamon and Richard Lesh); and (14) Using Learning Progress Maps to Improve Educational Decision Making (Richard Lesh, Susan Lamon, Brian Gong, and Thomas Post). Part V on difficulties, opportunities, and future directions in assessment contains chapters (15), Future Directions for Mathematics Assessment (Richard Lesh, Susan Lamon, Frank Lester, and Merlyn Behr), and (16), The Intellectual Prices of Secrecy in Mathematics Assessment (Judah Schwartz). (MDH)
Assessment Strategies for Math
Author: Walch Publishing
Publisher: Walch Publishing
ISBN: 9780825144929
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 90
Book Description
Builds solid skills in algebra, geometry, number sense, probability and statistics, and more Introduces a variety of test-taking tips and strategies. Helps students beat the test jitters and attack problems confidently. Offers questions that mirror actual tests.
Publisher: Walch Publishing
ISBN: 9780825144929
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 90
Book Description
Builds solid skills in algebra, geometry, number sense, probability and statistics, and more Introduces a variety of test-taking tips and strategies. Helps students beat the test jitters and attack problems confidently. Offers questions that mirror actual tests.
Reform in School Mathematics and Authentic Assessment
Author: Thomas A. Romberg
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791421611
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Book Description
Today new ways of thinking about learning call for new ways for monitoring learning. Reform in School Mathematics builds from the vision that assessment can become the bridge for instructional activity, accountability, and teacher development. It places teachers in key roles while developing the theme that we cannot reform the way in which school mathematics is taught without radically reforming the ways the effects of that teaching are monitored. Among others, this volume addresses the issues of the specification of performance standards, the development of authentic tasks, the measure of status and growth or a combination, the development of psychometric models, and the development of scoring rubrics. The new models proposed in this book give teachers a wealth of nontraditional assessment strategies and concrete ways to obtain measures of both group and individual differences in growth.
Publisher: SUNY Press
ISBN: 9780791421611
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 312
Book Description
Today new ways of thinking about learning call for new ways for monitoring learning. Reform in School Mathematics builds from the vision that assessment can become the bridge for instructional activity, accountability, and teacher development. It places teachers in key roles while developing the theme that we cannot reform the way in which school mathematics is taught without radically reforming the ways the effects of that teaching are monitored. Among others, this volume addresses the issues of the specification of performance standards, the development of authentic tasks, the measure of status and growth or a combination, the development of psychometric models, and the development of scoring rubrics. The new models proposed in this book give teachers a wealth of nontraditional assessment strategies and concrete ways to obtain measures of both group and individual differences in growth.
Designing Authentic Performance Tasks and Projects
Author: Jay McTighe
Publisher: ASCD
ISBN: 1416628878
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 266
Book Description
Aimed at the growing number of educators who are looking to move beyond covering the curriculum, Designing Authentic Performance Tasks and Projects provides a comprehensive guide to ensuring students' deeper learning—in which they can transfer their knowledge, skills, and understandings to the world beyond the classroom. Readers will learn how to * Create authentic tasks and projects to address both academic standards and 21st century skills. * Apply task frames to design performance tasks that allow voice and choice for students. * Design and use criterion-based evaluation tools and rubrics for assessment, including those for students to use in self-assessment and peer assessment. * Incorporate performance-based instructional strategies needed to prepare students for authentic performance. * Differentiate tasks and projects for all students, including those needing additional support or challenge. * Effectively manage the logistics of a performance-based classroom. * Use project management approaches to facilitate successful implementation of tasks and projects. * Develop performance-based curriculum at the program, school, and district levels. Authors Jay McTighe, Kristina J. Doubet, and Eric M. Carbaugh provide examples and resources across all grade levels and subject areas. Teachers can use this practical guidance to transform their classrooms into vibrant centers of learning, where students are motivated and engaged and see relevance in the work they are doing.
Publisher: ASCD
ISBN: 1416628878
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 266
Book Description
Aimed at the growing number of educators who are looking to move beyond covering the curriculum, Designing Authentic Performance Tasks and Projects provides a comprehensive guide to ensuring students' deeper learning—in which they can transfer their knowledge, skills, and understandings to the world beyond the classroom. Readers will learn how to * Create authentic tasks and projects to address both academic standards and 21st century skills. * Apply task frames to design performance tasks that allow voice and choice for students. * Design and use criterion-based evaluation tools and rubrics for assessment, including those for students to use in self-assessment and peer assessment. * Incorporate performance-based instructional strategies needed to prepare students for authentic performance. * Differentiate tasks and projects for all students, including those needing additional support or challenge. * Effectively manage the logistics of a performance-based classroom. * Use project management approaches to facilitate successful implementation of tasks and projects. * Develop performance-based curriculum at the program, school, and district levels. Authors Jay McTighe, Kristina J. Doubet, and Eric M. Carbaugh provide examples and resources across all grade levels and subject areas. Teachers can use this practical guidance to transform their classrooms into vibrant centers of learning, where students are motivated and engaged and see relevance in the work they are doing.
Assessment in Mathematics Education
Author: Christine Suurtamm
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319323946
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 46
Book Description
This book provides an overview of current research on a variety of topics related to both large-scale and classroom assessment. First, the purposes, traditions and principles of assessment are considered, with particular attention to those common to all levels of assessment and those more connected with either classroom or large-scale assessment. Assessment design based on sound assessment principles is discussed, differentiating between large-scale and classroom assessment, but also examining how the design principles overlap. The focus then shifts to classroom assessment and provides specific examples of assessment strategies, before examining the impact of large-scale assessment on curriculum, policy, instruction, and classroom assessment. The book concludes by discussing the challenges that teachers currently face, as well as ways to support them. The book offers a common language for researchers in assessment, as well as a primer for those interested in understanding current work in the area of assessment. In summary, it provides the opportunity to discuss large-scale and classroom assessment by addressing the following main themes: ·Purposes, Traditions and Principles of Assessment ·Design of Assessment Tasks ·Classroom Assessment in Action ·Interactions of Large-Scale and Classroom Assessment ·Enhancing Sound Assessment Knowledge and Practices It also suggests areas for future research in assessment in mathematics education.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319323946
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 46
Book Description
This book provides an overview of current research on a variety of topics related to both large-scale and classroom assessment. First, the purposes, traditions and principles of assessment are considered, with particular attention to those common to all levels of assessment and those more connected with either classroom or large-scale assessment. Assessment design based on sound assessment principles is discussed, differentiating between large-scale and classroom assessment, but also examining how the design principles overlap. The focus then shifts to classroom assessment and provides specific examples of assessment strategies, before examining the impact of large-scale assessment on curriculum, policy, instruction, and classroom assessment. The book concludes by discussing the challenges that teachers currently face, as well as ways to support them. The book offers a common language for researchers in assessment, as well as a primer for those interested in understanding current work in the area of assessment. In summary, it provides the opportunity to discuss large-scale and classroom assessment by addressing the following main themes: ·Purposes, Traditions and Principles of Assessment ·Design of Assessment Tasks ·Classroom Assessment in Action ·Interactions of Large-Scale and Classroom Assessment ·Enhancing Sound Assessment Knowledge and Practices It also suggests areas for future research in assessment in mathematics education.
Authentic Assessment in Action
Author: Linda Darling-Hammond
Publisher: Teachers College Press
ISBN: 080777636X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
This book examines, through case studies of elementary and secondary schools, how five schools have developed “authentic,” performance-based assessments of students’ learning, and how this work has interacted with and influenced the teaching and learning experiences students encounter in school. This important and timely book reveals the changing dynamics of classroom life as it moves from more traditional pedagogy to one that asks students to master intellectual and practical skills that are eminently transferable to “real-life” social settings and workplaces. “The issue of assessment comes first, but we see in the following case studies how it becomes powerfully enveloped in the processes of learning and teaching, of informing students, teachers, parents, and others of ‘how the children are doing.’ The portraits explicitly and implicitly suggest a deep, fair, and defensible way to answer the question ‘How’m I doing?’ in a manner that helps this child and eventually every child.” —From the Foreword by Theodore R. Sizer “Informative and thought provoking.” —American Journal of Education
Publisher: Teachers College Press
ISBN: 080777636X
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 304
Book Description
This book examines, through case studies of elementary and secondary schools, how five schools have developed “authentic,” performance-based assessments of students’ learning, and how this work has interacted with and influenced the teaching and learning experiences students encounter in school. This important and timely book reveals the changing dynamics of classroom life as it moves from more traditional pedagogy to one that asks students to master intellectual and practical skills that are eminently transferable to “real-life” social settings and workplaces. “The issue of assessment comes first, but we see in the following case studies how it becomes powerfully enveloped in the processes of learning and teaching, of informing students, teachers, parents, and others of ‘how the children are doing.’ The portraits explicitly and implicitly suggest a deep, fair, and defensible way to answer the question ‘How’m I doing?’ in a manner that helps this child and eventually every child.” —From the Foreword by Theodore R. Sizer “Informative and thought provoking.” —American Journal of Education