ABSTRACT
In the last section we discussed classroom testing-which included the four most common testing formats-how to go about building a test, and, finally, how to analyze a test. This section of the text contains three chapters on alternative assessment techniques. Chapter 12 discusses the details of informal assessment, which includes informal observations and questions. In many classrooms informal assessment is much more common than formal assessment. Chapter 13 discusses performance assessment. This involves any situation in which we ask students to demonstrate their competency by performing some task. Finally, Chapter 14 discusses portfolios. Although portfolios are actually a type of performance assessment, they are sufficiently different to deserve special attention.
