'pathetic.' photo (c) 2006, Ribzy Tron - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

I’ve been trying to identify the best articles/posts that describe alternative ways to assess student learning other than high-stakes testing, and would love suggestions from readers for others.

Here’s what I have so far:

The term “performance-based assessment” is a term used to describe one way to evaluate student achievement (the Consortium’s process would fit into this category). This basically means that students are evaluated on work they have “constructed” as opposed to choosing from a list of pre-determined answers. This could mean a writing assessment, similar to what is done in Vermont or Kentucky, or filling-in the blanks in a cloze (there are usually multiple appropriate responses), or describing how a student would develop a science experiment. The Stanford Center For Opportunity Policy In Education has developed a brief that lays-out the case for performance-based assessment and how it might be implemented.

The Other Kind of Testing is a good column by Walt Gardner in Education Week. It’s about “performance-based assessment” for students

Monty Neill from Fair Test has had a commentary published in Ed Week titled A Better Way to Assess Students and Evaluate Schools.

Teachers: How do We Propose to Measure Student Outcomes? by Anthony Cody

Bonnie Bc on Twitter suggested these:

A Child Is Not A Test Score by Monty Neill

Authentic Assessment and Accountability from Fair Test

The Case Against High Stakes Testing
from Fair Test

The Morningside Center recommends The Authentic Assessment Toolbox.

Arne Duncan Supports Using Student Portfolios To Evaluate Teachers?

An alternative to standardized testing for student assessment is from The Washington Post.

Time to Put Forward a New Reform Agenda is by Pedro Noguera. I think the part about student performance-based assessments is particularly interesting.

Tests Seen as Bar to Better Assessment is from Education Week.

Help Has Arrived!: Banishing NCLB’s Narrow Paradigm is from the National Education Policy Center.

Impressive PBS News Hour Report On Project-Based Learning

NEA Partners With Teach Plus & Creates Online Rating System For Student Assessments

Monty Neill: Authentic Assessment as Part of a Testing Reform Campaign is from Education Week.

What Should Schools Be Assessing – and How? is by Sam Chaltain.

Rethinking Assessment: Trusting Teachers to Evaluate Student Learning is from Mindshift.

The Most Important Info On The D.C. Test Score Increase

Tennessee Using Portfolios To Evaluate Teachers In Non-Tested Subjects – Why Not In ALL Subjects?

The New York Performance Standards Consortium has been recognized by The American Federation of Teachers by its prize for Solution-Driven Unionism.

Coalition wants the state to let more schools skip the Regents is an article about the New York Performance Standards Consortium.

How Schools Can Succeed Without Tests is from The Hechinger Report.

Testing On The Brain

In Kentucky, Students Succeed Without Tests is from NPR.

Here’s Why We Don’t Need Standardized Tests is from Ed Week.

What Schools Could Use Instead Of Standardized Tests is a short and sweet review of possible alternatives to using standardized tests in schools. It’s probably the best thing I’ve seen on this subject. I was familiar with all of them except I had never heard of “stealth assessment,” which sound intriguing and depressing at the same time.

Quote Of The Day: Teacher Gives Testimony To Senate Committee

Showing Student Growth Without The Test is from The Educator’s Room.

Schools in New Hampshire are creating alternatives to national standardized tests.

Statistic Of The Day: Alternatives To High-Stakes Testing

NYC schools that skip standardized tests have higher graduation rates is from The Hechinger Report.

Presentations, Projects and Portfolios Can Take Place of Tests is from U.S. News.

There are better ways to assess students than with high-stakes standardized tests. These schools are using them with success. is from The Washington Post.

The Feds Gave States the Chance to Create Better Standardized Tests. There Were Few Takers is from Ed Week.

Please leave other suggestions in the comments section of this post. Thanks!