Perspectives on Alternative Assessment Reform

This article examines classroom assessment reform from four perspectives: technological, cultural, political, and postmodern. Each perspective highlights different issues and problems in the phenomenon of classroom assessment. The technological perspective focuses on issues of organization, structure, strategy, and skill in developing new assessment techniques. The cultural per-spective examines how alternative assessments are interpreted and integrated into the social and cultural context of schools. The political perspective views assessment issues as being embedded in and resulting from the dynamics of power and control in human interaction. Here assessment problems are caused by inappropriate use, political and bureaucratic interference, or institutional priorities and requirements. Last, the postmodern perspective is based on the view that in today’s complex and uncertain world, human beings are not completely knowable and that “authentic ” experiences an