The Essential Guide To Classroom Assessment

Demystifying current theories and debates about assessment, The Essential Guide to Assessment will be a practical guide to show trainees and teachers how to put certain strategies and models into practice in the classroom right away. How do I develop the best methods of assessment for my own learners? How can I effectively track the progress of different children in my class? What targets should I be setting? The Essential Guide to Assessment provides answers to these questions, plus countless others. Demystifying current theories and debate about assessment, this will be a practical guide to show trainees and teachers how to put certain strategies and models into practice in the classroom right away.

The Essential Guide to Classroom Practice has been written with two questions in mind. These are the questions that are most important to all practitioners who seek to improve the quality of learning in their classrooms – what strategies work? and, how do we implement them? Covering all the areas that are key to effective teaching and learning, this text consists of over 200 practical strategies that secondary teachers can adopt and apply within their classroom. These strategies range from simple tools to improve the quality of questioning, to principles that can shape the whole approach to learning. Key topics covered include: The five-part lesson plan Developing thinking skills How to engage learners Encouraging collaborative learning Challenging and supporting Feedback and assessment A key feature of this book is the handy collection of ‘Top 10s’ that appear in each chapter, such as 10 ways to use data in the classroom and 10 ways to streamline your marking. The book clearly explains the benefit of each approach described and offers additional guidance on using websites and digital tools effectively in the classroom. Packed full of ideas, the book offers a one stop shop for busy teachers.

A Teacher’s Guide to Classroom Assessment is a comprehensive guide that shows step-by-step how to effectively integrate assessment into the classroom. Written for both new and seasoned teachers, this important book offers a practical aid for developing assessment skills and strategies, building assessment literacy, and ultimately improving student learning. Based on extensive research, this book is filled with illustrative, down-to-earth examples of how classroom assessment works in classrooms where assessment drives the instruction. The authors present the Classroom Assessment Cycle—Clarifying learning targets, Collecting assessment evidence, Analyzing assessment data, and Modifying instruction based upon assessment data—that demonstrates how one assessment action must flow into the next to be effective. Each chapter details the kinds of assessment evidence that are the most useful for determining student achievement and provides instruction in the analysis of assessment data.

• Provides detailed information on · the functions of assessment; · how to construct, administer, and interpret the results of teacher-developed assessment techniques; and · how to interpret the results of externally developed instruments such as standardized tests. • Both traditional and newer, alternative assessment techniques are covered. • Advantages and disadvantages of each assessment technique are discussed. • A companion website helps both instructors and students obtain additional information on topics of special interest to them. • Numerous examples of the principles and procedures make it easy for students to understand the material. • The highly practical nature of this book stems from the focus on how assessment intertwines with other everyday activities in classrooms. • Measurement theory and computational procedures that are unlikely to be used by classroom teachers are de-emphasized, producing a textbook that provides comprehensive coverage without being unnecessarily technical.

The Essential Guide to Classroom Practice has been written with two questions in mind. These are the questions that are most important to all practitioners who seek to improve the quality of learning in their classrooms – what strategies work? and, how do we implement them? Covering all the areas that are key to effective teaching and learning, this text consists of over 200 practical strategies that secondary teachers can adopt and apply within their classroom. These strategies range from simple tools to improve the quality of questioning, to principles that can shape the whole approach to learning. Key topics covered include: The five-part lesson plan Developing thinking skills How to engage learners Encouraging collaborative learning Challenging and supporting Feedback and assessment A key feature of this book is the handy collection of ‘Top 10s’ that appear in each chapter, such as 10 ways to use data in the classroom and 10 ways to streamline your marking. The book clearly explains the benefit of each approach described and offers additional guidance on using websites and digital tools effectively in the classroom. Packed full of ideas, the book offers a one stop shop for busy teachers.

Formative assessment is one of the best ways to increase student learning and enhance teacher quality. But effective formative assessment is not part of most classrooms, largely because teachers misunderstand what it is and don't have the necessary skills to implement it. In the updated 2nd edition of this practical guide for school leaders, authors Connie M. Moss and Susan M. Brookhart define formative assessment as an active, continual process in which teachers and students work together—every day, every minute—to gather evidence of learning, always keeping in mind three guiding questions: Where am I going? Where am I now? What strategy or strategies can help me get to where I need to go? Chapters focus on the six interrelated elements of formative assessment: (1) shared learning targets and criteria for success, (2) feedback that feeds learning forward, (3) student self-assessment and peer assessment, (4) student goal setting, (5) strategic teacher questioning, and (6) student engagement in asking effective questions. Using specific examples based on their extensive work with teachers, the authors provide - Strategic talking points and conversation starters to address common misconceptions about formative assessment; - Practical classroom strategies to share with teachers that cultivate students as self-regulated, assessment-capable learners; - Ways to model the elements of formative assessment in conversations with teachers about their professional learning; - "What if" scenarios and advice for how to deal with them; and - Questions for reflection to gauge understanding and progress. As Moss and Brookhart emphasize, the goal is not to "do" formative assessment, but to embrace a major cultural change that moves away from teacher-led instruction to a partnership of intentional inquiry between student and teacher, with better teaching and learning as the outcome.