Alternative assessments are ideal for students with disabilities who differ greatly in their ability to respond to stimuli, solve problems, and provide responses. The National Center on Educational Outcomes provides multiple articles on how alternative assessments help evaluate how a school, teacher, and individual student is performing when traditional testing isn’t an option.
Bloom’s mastery learning is a great concept. Each student masters a unit before moving on to the next. This allows a student to move at his/her own pace and the teacher a chance to provide individualized education. This type of learning caters to the various learning styles. With the use of technology, a student can have the entire lesson presented in text if that student responds to reading better than listening to a teacher lecture.
Alternative assessments will help eliminate test anxiety and the need to stop class in order to make time for standardized tests like the FCAT. The disadvantage to this type of assessment is some of the assessment is based on a teacher’s feelings and framework. If a parent feels his/her student is being treated unfairly and has questions about the assessment it may be more of a challenge to defend an option than a list of grades.
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