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As part of a series of documents on assessment of student learning in various school curriculum areas, this report describes assessment of student learning in the foreign language classroom in South Carolina. The report begins with an overview of current curriculum goals in foreign language education and the status of assessment practices in this area. Subsequent sections describe methods of assessing foreign language learning in the following five areas: (1) listening; (2) speaking; (3) reading; (4) writing; and (5) culture. The manner in which curriculum, instruction, and assessment are combined and the relative interest in each differ by grade level. In elementary school foreign language programs, class time is devoted to the development of listening, speaking, and culture skills, with few tests being given. Many current developments in foreign language assessment are taking place at the secondary school level or higher. Performance assessment approaches have already been established in foreign language education, while they are only beginning to have an impact in other fields. Educators with an interest in performance-based authentic assessment have much to gain from a careful study of foreign language assessment. Contains 48 references. (SLD)

This document, part of a series of papers which describe the assessment of student learning in various school curriculum areas from prekindergarten through grade 12, focuses on the assessment of student learning in fine arts education. After an overview of current curriculum goals in fine arts education, subsequent sections describe performance-based and self-assessment as they relate to the fine arts disciplines of dance, music, theater/drama, and the visual arts. State activities and guidelines and a brief summary of issues in fine arts education are also provided. Portfolio and performance-based assessment methods are well-established in the fine arts, where they have been field tested and documented. In contrast, in many fields authentic assessments of this sort are just emerging. The assessment strategies used in fine arts provide well-developed models that can be useful in other fields and disciplines. (SLD)