Assessment

Determining how, what and how well a student is learning – is an essential part of teaching. While assessment too often is reduced to standardized testing, teachers and researchers have created a wide range of powerful assessment tools and practices that are being used in schools across the nation.

FairTest has produced several publications about authentic performance assessment:

• Implementing Performance Assessment
• Principles and Indicators for Student Assessment Systems, and
• Annotated Bibliography on Performance Assessment
• Documents and articles by FairTest on Assessment
• FairTest Examiner articles
• Links to other sources' materials

We have also written articles for the FairTest Examiner and other publications; and we have strong relations with many other organizations which produce or evaluate performance assessments.

Accountability

Accountability means informing parents and the public about how well a school is educating its students and about the quality of the social and learning environment. Too often, accountability has been reduced to standardized tests that measure a limited range of academic skills, thereby narrowing curriculum and teaching. This approach has been used to attack rather than help educators, parents and students.

FairTest supports authentic accountability systems that provide a rich array of information on academic and social aspects of education to parents and the public, and use that information to improve schools.

Examples include:

• the Statewide Authentic Accountability System developed by the Massachusetts Coalition for Authentic Reform in Education(CARE) (and supported by the Massachusetts Teachers Association); and the related
• New ERA Plan proposed by reform groups in Chicago, Illinois.
• View September 2012 webinar on authentic performance assessment, featuring presenters from FairTest, Learning Record and NY Performance Standards Consortium.

Read more about:

• Authentic Accountability.
• Learning Record
  For materials and links for this excellent assessment process, click here.