Communicating Student Learning

New technologies and the increasing public demand for information about how well our students are learning have made old "report cards" obsolete. What are educators doing today to provide information to students, parents, and community members? Are we using computers and other educational technology in optimum ways to enhance reporting? Are we getting a fair, accurate picture of students' accomplishments and knowledge? How do we combine reports of standardized tests and performance-based assessments? How can parents be sure their children are learning what they should for their age or grade level? What about gifted and special education students? Should we report students' progress in relation to that of other students, or should we relate how students are doing according to objective "rubrics" of achievement? These questions and many others are addressed in this 1996 ASCD Yearbook. Editor Thomas R. Guskey has collected and presented the latest and best reporting systems across the United States and Canada, and the contributors discuss how to make them work in elementary, middle, and high schools. Forms, checklists, assessment reports, teacher comments, and lists of achievement rubrics are provided to help school personnel construct their own systems for communicating student learning.