ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the reader with a basic understanding of the assessment training institutes, including the goals and activities of the project. It focuses on the design and methodology used by the researchers and the local considerations that made each site unique. The chapter reports the Influences of content standards assessment practices, performance tasks, and scoring rubrics, including their links to artistic and cognitive development stage. It explains the Illinois project which focused on portfolio development. The portfolio assessment study sought more specifically to test the reliability of the instruments used, the procedures used to train the teachers in the assessment process, and the utility of the instruments in estimating student progress over time. The Federal Content Standards were originally developed to aid educational reform in American schools. In general, they reflect national educational concerns for knowledge transferability among disciplines, cultural diversity, and appropriate technologies, and they provide a foundation for student assessment.
