Teachers today are expected to assess students at an unprecedented level, note authors Judy Arter and Bill Nutting. Increasingly, they are being asked to keep track of student progress toward complex learning outcomes, such as critical thinking, writing, group collaboration, visual communication, and lifelong learning.
| "Learning about student assessment shouldn't be about fulfilling mandates." |  |
“Teachers need to not only know how to assess these things well, but also how to manage the information that is being generated, how to communicate student achievement to others, and how to improve student achievement by involving students in the assessment process,” write the authors.
The mini-lessons are designed to address common teacher questions and concerns related to assessment and to pique their interest in assessment as a topic for further study. Most of the activities fit into a one-hour staff meeting, although they can complement other workshops, collaborative learning groups, and self-study as part of a comprehensive professional development plan. The goal, say the authors, is to build student assessment proficiency in teaching staffs.
Arter and Nutting begin by outlining the five keys to quality student assessment, which define what educators need to know and be able to do with respect to assessment. Quality assessments:
Arise from clear and appropriate learning targets. What are we trying to assess? Achievement expectations must be clearly defined and must reflect the best current understanding of each discipline. Student learning targets must also be enduring and essential.
Serve a focused and appropriate purpose. Why are these targets being assessed? Who will use the results and what will they be used for? Because assessments can have focused purposes that aren’t necessarily good—such as assessing for the sole purpose of tracking students—be sure that purposes are also appropriate.
Rely on an appropriate method. How will the achievement targets be assessed? Will these methods accurately reflect the achievement targets and purposes? When is the best time to use multiple-choice, essay, performance assessments, or portfolios?
Sample student achievement appropriately. How much will be collected? Do the results really reflect what a student knows and can do?
Eliminate possible sources of bias and distortion. How accurate is the information obtained? Is there anything in the manner in which an achievement target is assessed that masks the true ability of a student or group of students? Do the results really reflect what a student knows and can do?
The activities in the book—such as “Quality Assessment Jigsaw,” “Connecting Assessment With Reporting,” “Do We Know Our Target?,” “Here Are the Assessment Results … What Do We Do Next?," and "Hey, These Targets Aren't as Clear as We Thought"— provide fun, fast ways to build the skills emphasized in each of the five key areas. By tying each activity to one or more of the keys, the authors make clear which teacher skills or knowledge are being developed through each mini-lesson and how it fits into an overall plan for enhancing assessment proficiency.
Because one part of assessment proficiency is becoming familiar with local large-scale assessments, several of the mini-lessons have this focus. Other lessons focus on improving grading and day-to-day assessments in the classroom. For each mini-lesson, the authors include the purpose, rationale, prerequisites, time required, focus, and materials needed. A facilitator’s outline provides a suggested script to kick off the activity and describes how to complete each step. All necessary handouts and overheads accompany most of the activities; sometimes local content standards, assessments, score reports, or other materials are needed as well. Tips for navigating the mini-lessons and tailoring them for teachers with varying degrees of assessment experience are also provided.
To help teachers track their learning progress, the book also includes learning journals, self-ratings, and procedures for evaluating the quality of classroom assessment products. The appendices further clarify the skills educators need to assess students well by providing rubrics for, and scored samples of, classroom assessments.
“Learning about student assessment shouldn’t be about fulfilling mandates,” conclude Arter and Nutting. “It should be about increasing teacher comfort and confidence, improving student achievement, and enhancing the positive—rather than the negative—effects that assessing can have on students.”
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Date of Last Update: 9/28/01 
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