This book focuses on interim and formative assessments as distinguished from the more usual interest in summative assessment. I was particularly interested in seeing what the experts have to say about a full system of assessment. This book has particular interest in what information a teacher, a school or even a state could collect that monitors the progress of a student as he or she learns. The authors were asked to think about assessing the effects of teaching and learning throughout the student’s participation in the curriculum. This book is the product of a conference by the Maryland Assessment Research Center for Education Success (MARCES) with funding from the Maryland State Department of Education.

Offers a practical guide for improving schools dramatically that will enable all students from all backgrounds to achieve at high levels. Includes assessment forms, an index, and a DVD.

The Handbook of Formative Assessment comprehensively profiles this burgeoning field of study. Written by leading international scholars and practitioners, each chapter discusses key issues in formative assessment policy and practice.

In How to Make Decisions with Different Kinds of Student Assessment Data, best-selling author Susan M. Brookhart helps teachers and administrators understand the critical elements and nuances of assessment data and how that information can best be used to inform improvement efforts in the school or district. Readers will learn-- * What different kinds of data can--and cannot--tell us about student learning; * What different analyses reveal about changes in student achievement; * How to interpret, use, and share relevant data; and * How to create a model to go from problem to solution in a data-based decision-making process. With easy-to-understand explanations, supplemented by examples and scenarios from actual schools, this book offers a path to better understanding, more accurate interpretation of assessment results, and--most important--more effective use of data to improve teaching and learning.

Under No Child Left Behind, urban school districts have increasingly turned to interim assessments, administered at regular intervals, to help gauge student progress in advance of annual state exams. These assessments have spawned growing debate among educators, assessment experts, and the testing industry: are they worth the significant investment of money and time? In Making the Most of Interim Assessment Data: Lessons from Philadelphia, Research for Action (RFA) weighs in on this issue. The School District of Philadelphia (SDP) was an early adopter of interim assessments, implementing the exams in 2003. Unlike teachers in some other regions, Philadelphia elementary and middle grades teachers rated these 'Benchmark' assessments highly. However, the study found that enthusiasm did not necessarily correlate with higher rates of student achievement. What did predict student success were three factors--instructional leadership, collective responsibility, and use of the SDP's Core Curriculum. The report underscores the value of investment in ongoing data interpretation that emphasizes teachers' learning within formal instructional communities, such as grade groups of teachers. This research was funded by the Spencer Foundation and the William Penn Foundation. Five appendices are included: (1) Phase One Qualitative Research--School Characteristics 2006-07 Data; (2) Benchmark Item Analysis Form; (3) List of Topics Covered in Interviews; (4) Technical Details on Data and Methods; and (5) Technical Detail on Scales Used in Chapter 3. (Contains 8 figures and 56 footnotes.) [The Consortium for Chicago School Research provided technical assistance for the statistical analyses.].

Educators and policy makers in the United States have relied on tests to measure educational progress for more than 150 years. During the twentieth century, technical advances, such as machines for automatic scoring and computer-based scoring and reporting, have supported states in a growing reliance on standardized tests for statewide accountability. State assessment data have been cited as evidence for claims about many achievements of public education, and the tests have also been blamed for significant failings. As standards come under new scrutiny, so, too, do the assessments that measure their results. The goal for this workshop, the first of two, was to collect information and perspectives on assessment that could be of use to state officials and others as they review current assessment practices and consider improvements.

Graduates undertaking the RICS Assessment of Professional Competence (APC) often find that, in addition to the general information provided by the RICS, guidance is needed on specific areas of their work as general practice surveyors. How to Pass the APC: Essential Advice for General Practice Surveyors has been built around the needs of general practice surveyors, and guides you through the APC process in line with your own competencies – including valuation, marketing, landlord and tenant, estate management, rating, and planning and development work, together with more specialist areas. The author highlights the essentials, showing you how to approach the presentation and interview, providing a bank of examples of real APC questions, together with illustrative responses to demonstrate how the interview process works. Accessible and easy to use, this book gives you comprehensive coverage of the fundamental elements and is a must read for anyone taking the APC.

The bestselling guide for school leaders—updated in a new edition Data-driven instruction is the philosophy that schools should focus on two simple questions: how do you know if are students learning? And when they are not, what do you do about it? Driven by Data 2.0 is a practical guide that answers these questions to empower schools to achieve significant gains in student achievement. Rooted in a proven framework that has been implemented in thousands of schools, the book presents what makes schools successful along with tools to put the framework into place to make data work for your schools: Assess—set the roadmap for learning Analyze—identify why students struggle Act—teach more effectively what students need Build the culture—train and develop your staff so that data-driven instruction can thrive If you’re a K – 12 leader, coach, or teacher looking to implement data-driven instruction in your school district, Driven by Data 2.0 has the tools to train your staff: PD materials, videos of exemplar practice and all the resources you need to achieve remarkable results.

This book introduces theories and practices for using assessment data to enhance learning and instruction. Topics include reshaping the homework review process, iterative learning engineering, learning progressions, learning maps, score report designing, the use of psychosocial data, and the combination of adaptive testing and adaptive learning. In addition, studies proposing new methods and strategies, technical details about the collection and maintenance of process data, and examples illustrating proposed methods and software are included. Chapters 1, 4, 6, 8, and 9 discuss how to make valid interpretations of results and achieve more efficient instructions from various sources of data. Chapters 3 and 7 propose and evaluate new methods to promote students’ learning by using evidence-based iterative learning engineering and supporting the teachers’ use of assessment data, respectively. Chapter 2 provides technical details on the collection, storage, and security protection of process data. Chapter 5 introduces software for automating some aspects of developmental education and the use of predictive modeling. Chapter 10 describes the barriers to using psychosocial data for formative assessment purposes. Chapter 11 describes a conceptual framework for adaptive learning and testing and gives an example of a functional learning and assessment system. In summary, the book includes comprehensive perspectives of the recent development and challenges of using test data for formative assessment purposes. The chapters provide innovative theoretical frameworks, new perspectives on the use of data with technology, and how to build new methods based on existing theories. This book is a useful resource to researchers who are interested in using data and technology to inform decision making, facilitate instructional utility, and achieve better learning outcomes.