Learning Opportunities

In the absence of good assessment practices, even the best curriculum and instruction is diminished. For this and other reasons, assessment cannot be treated as an afterthought, but rather as a key element of an overall teaching strategy.  

The learning series “Assessment 101” is designed to provide practical strategies and approaches to making the best quality assessment instruments. The series will include discussion on how to most effectively use information gathered through assessing, to provide achievement information to students, parents, and other audiences.  This session emphasizes the “practical” rather than the  “theoretical” so that you will take home some tangible means to affect change in how you asses on a day-to-day basis.

Each session will include hands-on activities and time for you to discuss assessment issues and how such issues may be best resolved. Time will also be provided for you to apply learning to refine and improve current assessment materials.

Some of the topics that may be addressed are:

• Understanding program standards
• Assessing for the big ideas
• Applying the principles of fair assessment
• Making the best use of formative assessment
• Constructing rubrics and other scoring methods
• Making high quality multiple choice and other selected-response items
• Crafting appropriate constructed responses and performance assessments
• Providing effective exemplars of student work
• Offering meaningful feedback
• Understanding standardized assessments