In a recent post on assessment, I spoke about feedback, a term we educators frequently invoke although not always with shared meaning. My point in that post was about the importance of feedback in relation to formative assessment and student growth. Students need an opportunity to respond to instruction through a demonstration of their learning […]
Which Assessments are Most Worthy of Class Time: Formative, Interim, Summative?
I’ve lately been surprised by the number of educators questioning the difference between formative, interim, and summative assessments. The difference is as clear as it is muddy! Not much help, huh? Well, the clear part is this: among the three types of assessment, formative assessment should be used most frequently and always followed up […]
Can PARCC Blueprints be the Stone Killing Two Birds?
If you are an educator, you are probably in one of the forty-three states that applied for and received a Federal waiver from certain NCLB provisions in exchange for adopting a student-growth model as part of educator evaluation. What does that look like in your state? In your school or district? Is this an “add on” and a […]
Common Core/PARCC Aligned Assessment Planning Mapper
In my most recent blog, Ticking Toward 2015 Assessment, I shared with readers performance tasks that have been added to PARCC’s assessment blueprints since spring field testing. In a much earlier post, I shared the heart of the Performance Task–whether talking PARCC or SBAC: the Constructed Response. In a blog blog entitled “Another PARCC […]
Another PARCC Acronym: The PCR or Prose Constructed Response…the essay
FOR LATEST UPDATES ON PARCC: Read “Ticking Toward 2015: PARCC Makes 10 PBA Additions” Another acronym!?! Just when you think you’ve begun to master educational jargon, another alphabetic abbreviation appears. As a teacher or administrator, you chose a profession that requires you keep educating yourself: KEY! That’s why you read books. That’s why you read blogs. […]