Abstract
Some teachers view assessment as a necessary evil. Some view assessment as their only real tool of discipline and power. Still other teachers view assessment as an integral part of C&I, and the pivotal practice around which teaching methods and communication turns. Most teachers appreciate local, teacher-controlled assessment and loathe the high stakes assessment that produces anxiety, fear, and competitive tactics. For many administrators, parents and politicians, assessment has its justifications in accountability to standards. Indeed, it is difficult to navigate through the various forms of assessment and perspectives on assessment that teachers face on a daily basis. Everyday assessment entails hundreds of observations that teachers make of their students. This involves informal discussions, feedback and deliberate, staged activities and performances. Assessment involves volumes of documentary evidence, from daily assignments, quizzes, and tests to observations, projects, and digital artifacts. In its most stereotypical form, assessment in technology studies simply meant putting a mark on a completed project, much like a merchant places a price on a product. By current standards, this was inauthentic assessment. Since the late 1980s and early 1990s, authentic assessment has transformed the way we think about and carry out assessments in the schools. Technologies of assessment had similar effects.