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Appendix H: Alternate Assessment Approaches
| Portfolio | A portfolio is a collection of student work gathered to demonstrate student performance on specific skills and knowledge, generally linked to state content standards. Portfolio contents are individualized, and may include wide-ranging samples of student learning, including but not limited to actual student work, observations recorded by multiple persons on multiple occasions, test results, record reviews, or even video or audio records of student performance. |
| IEP-Linked Body of Evidence | An IEP-linked body of evidence is a collection of student work demonstrating student achievement on standards-based IEP goals and objectives, measured against pre-determined scoring criteria. This approach is similar to a portfolio assessment, but may contain more focused or fewer pieces of evidence, with IEP documentation available to support scoring processes. This evidence may meet dual purposes of documentation of IEP progress and of assessment. |
| Performance Assessment | A performance assessment is a direct measure of student skills or knowledge, usually in a one-on-one assessment. These can be highly structured, requiring a teacher or test administrator to give students specific items or tasks, similar to pencil-and-paper traditional tests, or it can be a more flexible item or task that can be adjusted based on student needs. |
| Checklist | A checklist is a list of skills, reviewed by persons familiar with a student who observe or recall whether students are able to perform the skills listed, and to what level of proficiency. |
| Traditional (pencil-and-paper or computer-based) test | A traditional test is a set of constructed items requiring student responses, typically with correct and incorrect forced-choice answer format. These can be completed independently by groups of students with teacher supervision, or they can be administered in one-on-one assessments with a teacher recording answers. |
Quenemoen, R.F., Thompson, S.J., & Thurlow, M. (2003). Measuring academic achievement of students with significant cognitive disabilities: building understanding of alternate assessment scoring criteria. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.
