The Open Curriculum: A Guide to Evaluating Student Portfolios

The Open Curriculum addresses the issue of testing in education and its negative effect on student engagement.

When curriculum becomes a tool that only measures extrinsic motivation, we ignore the intrinsic motivation students need to control their own learning. An open curriculum allows students to choose where and how they will engage with curriculum to demonstrate proficiency, what they "know and can do."

This book provides teachers with rubrics for documenting growth and development in student work, a more accurate indicator of success in school. The author challenges the use of standardized tests to fit kids into the curriculum, rather than shaping curriculum around the needs of individual students.