What Every Teacher Needs To Know About Assessment

This is the second edition of a highly successful book, previously titled Better Instruction Through Assessment: What Your Students Are Trying to Tell You. The revision was undertaken to respond to the No Child Left Behind legislation, which has changed the way we must look at students’ achievement data. This book shows you how to get the most out of your state’s high stakes standardized tests, use test results to make the right decisions about how to teach the students in your class, avoid becoming a victim of accountability systems, infuse “test savvy” into everyday instruction. It covers a wide variety of types of assessments – from classroom-based, teacher created tests to state-mandated, high stakes standardized tests, both selected response and performance assessment. Unlike traditional “textbooks”, this book was written specifically for practicing teachers and administrators. It contains real-world examples which demonstrate the role of assessment in a teacher’s daily work. It is filled with actual student responses and scenarios based on real life situations faced by teachers.

Much of what we do in classrooms is intuitive, steered by what 'feels right', but all too often intuition proves a poor, sometimes treacherous guide. Although what we know about the workings of the human brain is still pitifully little, the science of psychology can and has revealed certain surprising findings that teachers would do well to heed. Over the past few decades, psychological research has made real strides into understanding how we learn, but it's only in the last few years that education has become aware of these insights. Part of the problem is a tendency amongst teachers to resist being told 'what works' if it conflicts with intuition. Whilst we cannot and should not relinquish our professional judgement in the face of outlandish claims, we should at least be aware of what scientists have discovered about learning, thinking, motivation, behaviour and assessment over the past few decades. This though is far easier said than done. Every year thousands of research papers are published, some of which contradict each other. How can busy teachers know which research is worth investing time in reading and understanding? Here, David Didau and Nick Rose attempt to lay out the evidence and theoretical perspectives on what they believe are the most important and useful psychological principles of which teachers ought to be aware. That is not to say this book contains everything you might ever need to know - there is no way it could - it is merely a primer. We hope that you are inspired to read and explore some of the sources for yourself and see what other principles can find a home in your classroom. Some of what we present may be surprising, some dubious, but some in danger of being dismissed as 'blindingly obvious'. Before embracing or dismissing any of these principles we urge you to interrogate the evidence and think carefully about the advice we offer. While nothing works everywhere and everything might work somewhere, this is a guide to what we consider the best bets from the realm of psychology.

The state-of-the-art guide to research-based student assessment How do teachers know that students know? Donna Tileston′s innovative guide to building brain-compatible assessments can help every teacher identify and enhance student understanding. Topics covered: Building and aligning standards-based assessment Test anxiety and the brain Teacher-made tests State and national assessments Tests for multiple intelligences Performance tasks Teacher observations and student self-assessment Building and using rubrics Building aligned assessments Assessing the assessments Vocabulary pre-test, post-test, and summary Bibliography and index

Gain a solid foundation for understanding the implications of standards-based instruction in the classroom and sharpen your skill in enhancing student understanding.

What Every Teacher Needs to Know is a must-have guide for both primary and secondary teachers that summarises key research papers, offers evidence-informed teaching and learning strategies, and explains how to disseminate this information across departments and schools. There is a growing thirst for evidence-informed teaching in the UK and beyond, in order to help ensure that schools have the biggest impact on student learning. In a concise, accessible manner, this book distils key educational research into clear, precise guidance that can be used immediately. It is ideal for any busy teacher or school leader looking to transform student outcomes through a research-informed approach. What Every Teacher Needs to Know is essential reading for research leads, heads of department, and teaching and learning leads. It offers: - summaries of 20 prominent research papers on effective teaching and learning - key takeaways for classroom practice - evidence-informed teaching and learning strategies - examples across a variety of phases and subjects - insightful case studies from practising teachers.

Formative assessment plays an important role in increasing teacher quality and student learning when it’s viewed as a process rather than a tool. Emphasizing the instructional side of formative assessment, this book explores in depth the use of classroom questioning, learning intentions and success criteria, feedback, collaborative and cooperative learning, and self-regulated learning to engineer effective learning environments for students.

Using clear explanations and cases, this must-have resource shows how formative assessment can improve student learning. Included are lesson plans and ideas for easy implementation.