Assessment in Action in the Primary School


Book Description

Assessment has become one of the key issues in primary education over the past 10 years. This edited volume of essays brings together perspectives from all the significant participants involved in assessment in the primary school: teachers, headteachers, LEA advisors, inspectors, pupils, academics and researchers. The contributions illustrate effective assessment, and examine how it is, and can be, achieved. It will be of interest to school assessment co-ordinators, deputies and heads following NPQH courses, and lecturers on IE courses.




Authentic Assessment in Action


Book Description

This book examines, through case studies of elementary and secondary schools, how five schools have developed “authentic,” performance-based assessments of students’ learning, and how this work has interacted with and influenced the teaching and learning experiences students encounter in school. This important and timely book reveals the changing dynamics of classroom life as it moves from more traditional pedagogy to one that asks students to master intellectual and practical skills that are eminently transferable to “real-life” social settings and workplaces. “The issue of assessment comes first, but we see in the following case studies how it becomes powerfully enveloped in the processes of learning and teaching, of informing students, teachers, parents, and others of ‘how the children are doing.’ The portraits explicitly and implicitly suggest a deep, fair, and defensible way to answer the question ‘How’m I doing?’ in a manner that helps this child and eventually every child.” —From the Foreword by Theodore R. Sizer “Informative and thought provoking.” —American Journal of Education




Wiliam & Leahy's Five Formative Assessment Strategies in Action


Book Description

Written under the guidance and with the support of Dylan Wiliam, Kate Jones writes about five formative assessment strategies in action in the classroom, with a foreword from Professor John Hattie. Building on the highly successful work of Wiliam and Siobhan Leahy, ideas are shared and misconceptions with formative assessment are addressed with lots of practical advice. Formative assessment in action focuses on five evidence-informed strategies that the teacher can use to support their learners to make progress. Formative assessment can help both the teacher and student understand what needs to be learned and how this can be achieved. During the learning process, formative assessment can identify students' progress as well as highlighting gaps in their knowledge and understanding, therefore giving the teacher useful insight as to what feedback and instruction can be provided to continue to move learners forward. Formative assessment takes place during the learning process. It continually informs the teacher and student as to how learning can move forward as it is happening. This is different to summative assessment, which focuses on the evaluation of student learning at the end of the process. There's a range of case studies from different subjects and key stages to show how formative assessment can be embedded across a curriculum successfully.




Assessment And Testing In The Primary School


Book Description

First Published in 2004. The terms ‘assessment’ and ‘testing’ conjure up all sorts of images in most people’s minds. Rows of desks in quiet halls, working to the clock, trying to remember the answers to obscure and sometimes irrelevant questions. Recent invitations to teachers to reflect upon an occasion when they remember being assessed or tested drew up long-forgotten memories of the 11-plus or taking a first driving test. Often these were memories tinged with unhappiness, sadness and a feeling of failure. Assessment for many of us has been an emotional experience and it is not surprising that we should reject facing children with such experiences too early in their lives. This book looks at assessment as a positive experience in the primary classroom, as a fundamental feature of teaching and successful learning




The Formative Assessment Action Plan


Book Description

Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher reveal how to create a failsafe assessment system that leads to purposeful lessons, clear indicators of student understanding, and forms of feedback that improve student performance. --from publisher description.




Balanced Assessment Systems


Book Description

Build a balanced assessment system and support ESSA requirements! The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) increases assessment flexibility and responsibilities for states and districts, and this comprehensive guide helps leaders meet and succeed that challenge. Authors Chappuis, Commodore and Stiggins have helped thousands of teachers, principals and other educational leaders in becoming assessment-literate and developing assessment systems built on quality assessment. Readers will learn how to: Develop balance in an assessment system by combining formative and summative approaches, providing insight on students’ progress Strengthen classroom-based assessment and involve students in self-assessment




Leaders of Their Own Learning


Book Description

From EL Education comes a proven approach to student assessment Leaders of Their Own Learning offers a new way of thinking about assessment based on the celebrated work of EL Education schools across the country. Student-Engaged Assessment is not a single practice but an approach to teaching and learning that equips and compels students to understand goals for their learning and growth, track their progress toward those goals, and take responsibility for reaching them. This requires a set of interrelated strategies and structures and a whole-school culture in which students are given the respect and responsibility to be meaningfully engaged in their own learning. Includes everything teachers and school leaders need to implement a successful Student-Engaged Assessment system in their schools Outlines the practices that will engage students in making academic progress, improve achievement, and involve families and communities in the life of the school Describes each of the book's eight key practices, gives advice on how to begin, and explains what teachers and school leaders need to put into practice in their own classrooms Ron Berger is Chief Program Officer for EL Education and a former public school teacher Leaders of Their Own Learning shows educators how to ignite the capacity of students to take responsibility for their own learning, meet Common Core and state standards, and reach higher levels of achievement. DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of the e-book file, but are available for download after purchase.




Classroom Assessment and the National Science Education Standards


Book Description

The National Science Education Standards address not only what students should learn about science but also how their learning should be assessed. How do we know what they know? This accompanying volume to the Standards focuses on a key kind of assessment: the evaluation that occurs regularly in the classroom, by the teacher and his or her students as interacting participants. As students conduct experiments, for example, the teacher circulates around the room and asks individuals about their findings, using the feedback to adjust lessons plans and take other actions to boost learning. Focusing on the teacher as the primary player in assessment, the book offers assessment guidelines and explores how they can be adapted to the individual classroom. It features examples, definitions, illustrative vignettes, and practical suggestions to help teachers obtain the greatest benefit from this daily evaluation and tailoring process. The volume discusses how classroom assessment differs from conventional testing and grading-and how it fits into the larger, comprehensive assessment system.




Understanding Assessment in Primary Education


Book Description

Understanding assessment and being able to use it effectively is at the heart of successful primary teaching. Aware of current policy and research, this book looks at the role and purpose of assessment within education, as well as providing detailed practical guidance on the main types of classroom assessment, including formative, summative, formal and informal methods. Real classroom examples and activities illustrate the practical uses, benefits, and limitations of each form of assessment, enabling you to feel confident about implementing these strategies in your own teaching. Coverage includes: The assessment planning cycle Innovative forms of assessment, including portfolios, debates, role play and mind mapping Assessment of learners with diverse needs, including SEN and EAL The use of technology in assessment Engaging children through self-assessment and peer-assessment This is essential reading for all primary initial teacher education courses, including university-based (PGCE, PGDE, BA QTS, BEd), school-based (SCITT, School Direct, Teach First) and employment-based routes into teaching, and beginning teachers. Sue Faragher is Head of Al Basma British School, a large private school in Abu Dhabi.




Inside the black box


Book Description

Offers practical advice on using and improving assessment for learning in the classroom.