How To Look At Student Work To Uncover Student Thinking

Are you picking up all your students' work is trying to tell you? In this book, assessment expert Susan M. Brookhart and instructional coach Alice Oakley walk teachers through a better and more illuminating way to approach student work across grade levels and content areas. You’ll learn to view students' assignments not as a verdict on right or wrong but as a window into what students "got" and how they are thinking about it. The insight you'll gain will help you * Infer what students are thinking, * Provide effective feedback, * Decide on next instructional moves, and * Grow as a professional. Brookhart and Oakley then guide teachers through the next steps: clarify learning goals, increase the quality of classroom assessments, deepen your content and pedagogical knowledge, study student work with colleagues, and involve students in the formative learning cycle. The book's many authentic examples of student work and teacher insights, coaching tips, and reflection questions will help readers move from looking at student work for correctness to looking at student work as evidence of student thinking.

Get to the core of your students’ understanding of math! Back by popular demand, Cheryl Tobey and new coauthor Emily Fagan bring you 25 entirely new formative assessment probes—this time specifically for Grades K–2 and directly aligned to the Common Core. Thousands of teachers have already discovered that using probes may be the single-best way to identify students’ understandings and misunderstandings of key math concepts and then follow-up with the most appropriate instructional choices. Organized by strand, the probes will enable you to: Objectively evaluate each child’s prior basic numeracy and math knowledge Systematically address common mistakes and obstacles before they become long-term problems Help students integrate new mathematical ideas and immediately pinpoint areas of struggle Plan targeted instruction that builds on students’ current understandings while addressing their identified difficulties With the help of these probes, K–2 teachers will eliminate once and for all the perception "some kids just aren’t good at math" and put all students on the path of lifelong proficiency. "Tobey and Fagan provide both a roadmap and GPS for navigating the Common Core Standards for Mathematics. In a time when teachers are asked to do more and more, this is a fabulous resource to guide instruction that will meet the needs of individual students. I was so impressed with the content, I found myself taking copious notes as I read." —Roxie R. Ahlbrecht, Math Intervention Specialist Lowell MST, Sioux Falls, SD "These probes get to the heart of the Common Core Standards. The Teacher Notes provide valuable guidance on interpreting student results and using the information to inform instruction." —Donna Boucher, K–5 Math Instructional Coach Morton Ranch Elementary School, Katy ISD, Katy, TX

Take the guesswork out of grades 3-5 math assessment! Quickly pinpoint and reverse your students’ common math difficulties with this detailed and easy-to-follow resource from best-selling authors Cheryl Tobey and Carolyn Arline. Twenty research-based assessment probes help you ask the right questions to uncover just where your students get confused – while learning is already underway. These CCSM-aligned probes eliminate all guesswork and will help you: Systematically address conceptual and procedural mistakes Plan targeted instruction and remediation in multiplication and division, problem solving, the four operations, factorization, and beyond Master essential CCSM mathematical processes and proficiencies for Grades 3-5

A resource for elementary educators to improve mathematics instruction.

Discussing standards, research, and more, these 30 probes help secondary teachers assess students' grasp of core mathematics concepts and modify their instruction to improve student achievement.

A guide to quickly and reliably uncovering common math misconceptions in Grades 6-8 with convenient and easy-to-implement diagnostic tools.

Appropriate for all grade levels, these 25 field-tested, easy-to-use mathematics assessment probes help teachers modify instruction by determining students' understanding of core mathematical concepts.

The single greatest authority on student learning is the student doing the learning—but the right structures must be in place for students' voices to be clearly heard and truly valued. Conventional formative and summative assessment are most often conducted through one-size-fits-all quizzes and tests that yield narrow, predetermined categories of data about students' academic progress. But if we want a truly accurate look at what, how, and to what extent students are learning, who better to consult than the obvious experts on the matter: the students themselves. In this lively and comprehensive guide, veteran teacher and author Starr Sackstein provides the tools needed to help students compile and present evidence of learning through portfolios and student-led conferences—from templates and rubrics to personal testimonials, reflection questions, and activities. The book features * Forms—applicable across grade levels and content areas—for unpacking standards, co-constructing success criteria with students, evaluating current classroom practices, and more. * Real-life perspectives and scenarios from educators in the field who have embraced portfolios and student-led conferences over standardized tests and letter grades. * Practical, experience-based guidance for building classroom and schoolwide learning cultures that promote both learner agency and academic achievement. The resources, recommendations, and reflections in Student-Led Assessment allow educators at all levels to develop systems and protocols for ensuring student ownership of—and pride in—their own hard-won achievement.