ABSTRACT
The troubling fact is that most teachers are unprepared to meet the increasingly complex assessment challenges they face in the classroom today. Teacher training programs have been notorious over the decades for their lack of relevant assessment training at both graduate and undergraduate levels. State certification standards typically do not require competence in assessment as a condition for teacher licensure. The commonly used certification examinations include virtually no exercises verifying assessment competence. Yet typical teachers can spend as much as a third to a half of their available professional time involved in assessment-related activities (Stiggins & Conklin, 1992). Thus, a fundamental mismatch is uncovered between professional competencies and the requirements of the job.
