"As a new teacher, I am always looking for ideas that will make me feel more confident. Using a portfolio will help me show evidence that the students are making progress toward meeting state standards." —Stephanie Jones, Teacher Forrest City High School, AR "A good overview of the entire portfolio process, from its philosophical foundations to the celebration of student achievement." —Michael F. Dwyer, English Department Chair Otter Valley Union High School, Brandon, VT Encourage student creativity and academic growth through portfolios and authentic assessment! Research and practice show that portfolios are powerful tools for assessing students authentically, communicating with parents about the learning process, and helping learners across all grade levels and content areas record their successes and take ownership of their learning. The third edition of The Portfolio Connection offers practical advice and reader-friendly strategies for implementing student portfolios in the classroom. Through step-by-step procedures, the authors help teachers incorporate standards into the portfolio process by providing expanded checklists and rubrics to monitor student progress. The updated edition also includes: Additional information on e-portfolios and integrating technology Steps for conducting student-led conferences Portfolio examples for children with special needs Guidance on increasing parent involvement Information on the impact of NCLB on student assessment Discover how you can use portfolios to heighten students′ self-reflection while expanding their critical and creative thinking skills.

Implement standards-based grading practices that help students succeed! Classroom assessment methods should help students develop to their full potential, but meshing traditional grading practices with students’ achievement on standards has been difficult. Making lasting changes to grading practices requires both knowledge and willpower. Discover eight guidelines for good grading, recommendations for practical applications, and suggestions for implementing new grading practices as well as: ? The why’s and the how-to’s of implementing standards-based grading practices ? Tips from 48 nationally and internationally known authors and consultants ? Additional information on utilizing level scores rather than percentages ? Reflective exercises ? Techniques for managing grading more efficiently

"Burke has challenged teachers everywhere to raise their standards and design classroom assessments that show evidence of understanding and performance on complex tasks. The expert examples in this book provide teachers with a complete road map so that assessment is truly at the heart of instruction." —Diane Ray, Assistant Director for Teacher Leader Development Professional Association of Georgia Educators Create assessments that meet state standards and target students′ learning needs! For many years, assessment was relegated to a secondary role in the educational process. But with the increased emphasis on high-stakes testing, effective assessment has emerged as one of the major factors in raising student achievement. In this latest edition of her bestseller, renowned educator Kay Burke provides a wide range of updated, easy-to-implement alternative assessments that address today′s accountability requirements and focus on improving learning. Designed for use across all content areas, these formative assessments are rooted in the language of state standards and emphasize differentiating instruction to meet students′ individual learning needs. Revised throughout with updated research, this new edition helps K–12 teachers: Build Response to Intervention checklists for struggling students Develop unit plans using differentiated learning and assessment strategies Create portfolios that emphasize metacognition Design performance tasks that motivate and engage students Construct rubrics that describe indicators of quality work Create tests that focus on higher-order thinking skills Offering numerous applications and examples, How to Assess Authentic Learning guides teachers in developing the assessment tools needed to help all students meet or exceed mandated academic standards.

Differentiated instruction refers to adjusting instruction to fit the skills and experience level of each student in a classroom. Teachers face significant differences in learning styles, skill and ability levels, and linguistic and cultural backgrounds among their students. These differences make a "one size fits all" principle inoperative. The author discusses strategies and how to assess whether differentiation is successful.

This book takes a developmental perspective at the use of scoring rubrics to assess student work. Citing developmental characteristics of each age, the author presents examples and adaptations of assessment rubrics on a variety of subjects for teachers from kindergarten through adult/college. After a presentation of foundation information on rubrics, separate chapters are devoted to each grade level from primary through adult. Written so that each chapter can be addressed independently, the book provides additional chapters devoted to assessing technological topics and using rubrics with students with special needs. The final chapters provide practical information to help teachers to create their own rubrics and to covert rubric scores to letter grades. An updated annotated listing of recommended rubric websites is included.