Assessment
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Vanderbilt University: Student assessment is, arguably, the centerpiece of the teaching and learning process and therefore the subject of much discussion in the scholarship of teaching and learning.
Access: Assessing Student Learning
It’s never been more important to teach 21st century skills—the cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal competencies that students need to thrive in postsecondary education and the global workforce.
But teaching these skills—and assessing them—sparks a number of challenging issues. The Center for Assessment has produced an array of resources on defining, teaching and assessing 21st century skills, and has assembled them in this toolkit. We’ve also included key highlights of our work on assessing social and emotional learning (SEL).
Check out the blog posts and literature reviews from their series on 21st century skills.
Access: Assessing 21st Century Skills
Answers many questions and provides resources for assessment and evaluation.
- Results of student assessments are used by all stakeholders to make program, staffing, professional development, instructional, financial, and personal decisions. They are an important component of both the Collecting/Analyzing Student data step and the Ongoing Data Collection step in the Iowa Professional Development Model. Statewide and district-wide summative assessments are mandated by Iowa Code (Chapter 12) and used for district accreditation and federal reporting, as defined by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) legislation. Formative assessments are ongoing and are used to inform the instructional process and develop student learning goals.
Access: Assessment for Learning - PK-12: The Iowa Department of Education
Rick Stiggins leads this professional development in assessment for teachers and school leaders.
Assessment of student mastery of content takes many forms. This page by Kathy Schrock includes support materials for assessments that work with the Common Core State Standards and rubrics for many different assessment products. It also contains some information on the creation of rubrics and assessment in general.
Access: Assessments and Rubrics
This is Jon Mueller's toolbox. He is the author of Assessing Critical Skills.
Access: Authentic Assessment Toolbox
Differentiating instruction doesn’t always depend on the face-to-face instructor. We can also merge it with assessment tools in powerful ways that help kids learn on the spot. Remember that you don’t have to take a grade on every assessment. You can assess students as they learn by using formative assessment, which is often a valuable addition to summative assessment that takes place at the conclusion of a unit.
Access: Beyond Red Ink: 7 Ways to Differentiate Instruction through Assessment
Learning takes place in students’ heads where it is invisible to others. This means that learning must be assessed through performance: what students can do with their learning. Assessing students’ performance can involve assessments that are formal or informal, high- or low-stakes, anonymous or public, individual or collective.
Access: Carnegie Mellon University - The Why's and How's of Assessment
This site has multiple resources for assessment - both formative and summative.
Access: Cybrary Man's Assessment Webpage
Ohio State's Professor Hollie Nyseth Brehm addresses the design of student assessments, including purpose, tools, and tips.
Look beyond high-stakes testing to learn about different ways of assessing the full range of student ability -- social, emotional, and academic achievement.
Access: Edutopia - Assessment
Barbara R. Blackburn provides four examples of increasing rigor in assessments.
Cornell University addresses the why and how for measuring student learning.
Access: Measuring Student Learning
- Check out these websites to help you create performance criteria in your classroom.
This consortium has developed next-generation assessments that are aligned to the Common Core State Standards.
Provides several structures for students to assess their own critical thinking as well as speaking, writing, listening, and reading.
Access: Structures for Student Self-Assessment: The Critical Thinking Foundation