A National Survey of Writing Portfolio Practice: What We Learned and What It Means

Alternative assessment of student achievement has arrived on the scene during the past decade as a paradigm shift, a fundamental change from earlier reliance on standardized testing techniques (Wiggins, 1993; Wolf, Bixby, Glenn, & Gardner, 1991). Several features distinguish the new alternatives (Calfee, 1992, 1995): production rather than recognition, projects rather than items, and teacher judgment rather than mechanical scoring.