ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the most commonly used terms in the fields of alternative assessments and nonverbal assessments, as well as what the current research base indicates regarding both types of assessments. The ability to draw defensible conclusions from the research regarding the use of alternative assessment and nonverbal assessment is dependent upon the depth and quality of the research base. Assessment plays a major role in the held of gifted education when it comes to high-stakes decisions, unlike other educational areas. In general education, roots of the term alternative assessment can be traced back to the mid-1980s when alternatives to standardized educational assessment were being discussed due to the extreme focus on multiple-choice testing in the American educational system. The ideas in this chapter are culled from empirical work conducted within the US and with US student populations, focusing predominantly on the area of gifted education except when there is little to no research in the area.
