The Assessment Debate: A Reference Handbook (Contemporary Education Issues)

Assessment is education’s hottest topic. Previous methods of gauging and evaluating what students know have not served well. But now you can take advantage of the latest measuring and analytical tools that can help improve student performance. It allows you to: keep track of student growth and development with new, more effective techniques; gain valuable insights into student thinking and learning processes; gauge and analyze the capabilities and limitations of students; and find out how “portfolios” can dramatically improve student performance. Assessment is helpful in charting student growth and evolution. It provides a constant source of feedback to the learners, enabling them to demonstrate what they have absorbed. The book explains the difference between authentic assessment and performance assessment and describes how typical tests differ from the techniques of assessment. Included in the coverage are many resources on the topic in books, articles, videos and on the Internet.