ASSESSMENT METHODS are strategies and techniques teachers use to acquire information from students about their progress toward attaining the skills, knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors to be learned.

STANDARDIZED TESTS determine how well students have acquired basic facts and compare how well students are performing in comparison to each other.

AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT is the process of gathering evidence and documenting a student's learning and growth. It is based on what the child actually does in a variety of contexts throughout the school year.

PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT is the systematic, purposeful, and meaningful collection of samples of student work over time to serve as indicators of the child's growth and progress. Different types of portfolios include COLLECTION PORTFOLIOS, SHOWCASE OR DISPLAY PORTFOLIOS, AND ASSESSMENT PORTFOLIOS.

OBSERVATION-BASED ASSESSMENT may be:

objective -- a record of what the teacher sees which is recorded by checking off observed skills or behaviors.

interpretive -- a description of what the teacher sees including evaluations and comments.

PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT allows students to demonstrate their understanding of concepts and to apply knowledge and skills which they have acquired.

CURRICULUM EMBEDDED ASSESSMENT is an instructional form of assessment in which the project or product is the outcome of some curricular activity.

PEER ASSESSMENT is assessment done by fellow students.