Assessment

Concept
Essential Questions

Pre-Assessment

Validity of Grades

Sources
Wilhelm, J. D. (2012). Essential
questions. Instructor, 122(3), 24-
27.

McTighe, J. and Wiggins, G.
(2013). Essential questions:
Opening doors to student
understanding. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision &
Curriculum Development.
McTighe, J., & OConnor, K.
(2005). Seven practices for
effective learning. Educational
Leadership, 63(3), 10-17.

Tomlinson, C. A. (2007). Learning
to love assessment. Educational
Leadership, 64(4), 8-13.

Summary
Students become more engaged when an essential question is posed
and they can inquire about a matter that would be encountered
outside of the classroom (Wilhelm, 2012). McTighe and Wiggings
(2013) confirm that essential questions make learning of the typical
content far more relevant, timely, and acceptable to the learners
and studies show the impact is that essential questions allow students
to have significantly outperformed other students.

OConnor, K. (2010). Grades:

When, why, what impact, and
how? Education Canada, 50(2),
38-41.

OConner (2010) emphasizes that all teachers understand that quality

assessments requires target-method match and are well written,
well sampled, and free of bias or distortion (p.39). Winger (2009)
agrees with OConner and states that we must ensure we are not
grading non-academic factors and that in order to keep the focus on
learning we must carefully reconsider what we are measuring (p. 174)

Winger, T. (2009). Grading what
matters. Educational Leadership,
67(3), 173-75.
Differentiation

McTighe, J., & OConnor, K.

(2005). Seven practices for
effective learning. Educational
Leadership, 63(3), 10-17.
Tomlinson, C. A. (2007). Learning
to love assessment. Educational
Leadership, 64(4), 8-13.

Ongoing Formative
Assessment

Burke, K. (2010). Balanced

assessment: From formative to
summative. Bloomington, IN:
Solution Tree Press.

McTighe, J., & OConnor, K.
(2005). Seven practices for
effective learning. Educational
Leadership, 63(3), 10-17.

Student Directed

Stiggins, R. (2007). Assessment

through the students eyes.
Educational Leadership, 64(8),
22-26.

Dueck, M. (2014). Grading
smarter, not harder: Assessment
strategies that motivate kids
and help them learn. Alexandria,
VA: ASCD.

Pre-assessments are a form of diagnostic information that are

important to implement at the outset of any unit of study because
certain students are likely to have already mastered some of the skills
that the teacher is about to introduce or are likely to be deficient
in prerequisite skills or harbor misconceptions (McTighe and
OConnor, 2005, p.16). Tomlinson (2007) also recommends pre-
assessments prior to starting a unit in order to check the prerequisites
needed for knowledge, skills, and understanding that are about to be
taught.

Differentiation in assessment is key because teachers are best able to

form valid inferences about a students learning if students are given
the opportunity to demonstrate it in a way that they best understand
(McTighe & OConnor, 2005). Studies show that when assessment has
been attached to what students cared about, they learned more
readily and more durably, and when options were provided learning
improved (Tomlinson, 2007, p. 11).

Burke is a proponent for ongoing formative assessment because it is
more accurate than one assessment alone (2010). McTighe and
OConner too encourage ongoing assessments because it provide(s)
specific feedback [and] improve(s) learning (p.10).

Assessment for learning begins when teachers share achievement

targets with students, presenting those expectations in student-
friendly language accompanied by examples of exemplary student
work (Stiggings, 2007, p.23). This includes targets as I can
statement(s), as this makes it easier for students to take ownership of
the targets (Duek, 2014).