The article discussed in this paper is called "The National Standards and Assessment: Implications for California Schools". Even though this article mainly focuses on schools in California, I felt that the information contained in it should apply to all schools throughout the country. The basic idea of this article is that if we have challenging and comprehensive standards for our students then the assessments we use should also be challenging and comprehensive.

The beginning of this article sums up an argument that I have had with many people in regard to assessing students. It says that using comprehensive standards "means moving assessment beyond minimum competency testing and toward testing students' mastery of conceptually rich knowledge and their ability to apply it in diverse situations." The article says that it is acceptable to use multiple choice type questioning when there is only one correct answer. However, multiple choice questions are not adequate enough when measuring complex thinking skills. Teachers should ask open-ended questions and questions that have no "right" answer when assessing in areas that require complex thinking from the students. There are situations in which a student merely selecting a correct response will not be indicative of whether the student has learned the information. In the area of civics, for example, a student might have to take a position and be willing to defend that position. This type of assessment will allow the teacher a broader and more specific view of exactly what information the student has retained.

This article lists a few guidelines for developing assessment to meet challenging standards and they include:

• Assess how well students can apply what they learned in one situation by asking them to apply similar knowledge and skills in other, similar situations.
• Assess the process and the quality of performance or product. Stress the thinking and reasoning that support a quality performance or product.
• Provide the criteria for successful performance in advance and make sure that they are clearly understood. When possible provide models of exemplary performance.
• Structure opportunities for students to assess their own progress, to judge for themselves when they have or have not done well. This will help them internalize high standards and learn to judge for themselves when they measure up.
• Offer plenty of opportunities for students to receive feedback from the teacher, their peers, and community resource people who participate in activities with the class.