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The terms alternative assessments and alternate assessments are used to refer to two different but related categories. Types of assessment other than traditional paper-and-pencil tests are often called alternative assessments. While traditional tests are composed of items in various formats (e.g., multiple choice, true-false, or short answer), alternative assessments take a variety of forms and are in some cases closer to authentic work in the disciplines. Good alternative assessments provide sufficient structure to ensure that important learning targets are assessed; however, they also provide important flexibility and support for students to show what they know and can do. The term alternate assessments is used for assessments employed in place of standardized achievement tests to assess the same or modified learning outcomes for students with disabilities. Alternate assessments can also make use of a wide range of formats, but the most common are checklists, portfolios, and performance assessments. This entry describes common types of alternative and alternate assessments, reasons for using these assessments instead of traditional achievement tests, and cautions and pitfalls associated with the use of alternative and alternate assessments.

Common Forms of Alternative Assessment

Alternative assessments are defined in part by what they are not: traditional paper-and-pencil tests with discrete items measuring a variety of different knowledge and skills. The variety of alternative assessments is theoretically infinite, but some commonly used types of alternative assessment are described below. Further examples can be found in the book by Catherine Taylor and Susan Nolen, Classroom Assessment: Supporting Teaching and Learning in Real Classrooms.

Portfolio Assessments

Portfolios are samples of work in a discipline collected over time. Showcase portfolios contain work selected by students to represent their best work or to document the learning of particular skills or concepts. In physics, students might select work that shows their ability to design experiments, use particular physics concepts in multiple applications, or communicate clearly about physical phenomena and/or the results of investigations. Growth portfolios document a learner's development over time, particularly important for struggling learners or those new to a discipline. A growth portfolio related to scientific inquiry, for example, might show how a learner progressed from designing simple, single-variable experiments to more complex ones over time or might include write-ups from different time points to show improvement in documenting and communicating results. Process portfolios document the stages of work in a complex project or the development of a longer work over time. For example, a process portfolio for a research paper could include initial ideas, evidence of research skills (e.g., notes, an annotated bibliography), outlines, drafts, teacher or peer feedback, revisions, comments about why certain revisions were made, and other artifacts of the process, along with the finished product. All forms of portfolio assessment should include opportunities for reflection and self-evaluation by the student in terms of public criteria for the work.

Performance Assessments

Performance assessments are assessments of students' authentic work (work that is relevant in the world outside the classroom), including both products and live performances. Performances and products can range from a single poem to the creation, direction, and production of a play. Performance assessments are rooted in the authentic work in scholarly disciplines (e.g., developing a mathematical model of forces in a system) or in the everyday life and work of adults (e.g., developing a business plan for the school snack bar).

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