Insights on Using Assessments Thoughtfully — Whole Child Education

Insights on Using Assessments Thoughtfully — Whole Child Education:

THE WHOLE CHILD BLOG

Insights on Using Assessments Thoughtfully

March 6, 2014 by Klea Scharberg

Assessment is about more than numbers. It's about discerning where students are and planning accordingly. The March 2014 issue of Educational Leadership explores the many ways teachers can use assessments to help students learn. Articles in this issue look at how educators can use assessments thoughtfully to help students move forward.

In her "Perspectives" column, Editor-in-Chief Marge Scherer notes that it's not a revelation that teachers' daily assessment practices improve learning more than standardized tests. She writes

From building relationships to delivering a lesson that is challenging, engaging, and, sometimes, entertaining, teaching is very much a performance art that must be practiced on one's feet. Formative assessment presents another challenge—and requires sophisticated but quieter skills: observation, questioning, reflection. Teachers' daily ongoing practice puts the pieces together—and this practice has more potential to improve learning than all the high-stakes tests put together. It's no revelation, but something we have known all along.

Articles in the issue include

• "The Bridge Between Today's Lesson and Tomorrow's" by Carol Ann Tomlinson
  Ten principles for using formative assessments wisely.
• "The Right Questions, The Right Way" by Dylan Wiliam
  "No hands up" and other ideas to help you elicit evidence of students' thinking.
• "When Students Lead Their Learning" by Ron Berger
  Student-led conferences involve students in analyzing their own growth.
• "Helping Students Climb the Common Core Staircase" by Harvey F. Silver and Matthew J. Perini
  Strategies for preparing students to meet the challenges of the new assessments.
• "The Case for Confidence" by Tom Schimmer
  How to lessen anxiety and increase your students' willingness to try.

View the insights of these and other contributors to the issue in the infographic (PDF) below, and start a conversation with your professional learning community using the free study guide.

Bring Yourself to Work Every Day to Build Trust, Morale, and Culture — Whole Child Education

Bring Yourself to Work Every Day to Build Trust, Morale, and Culture — Whole Child Education: THE WHOLE CHILD BLOGBring Yourself to Work Every Day to Build Trust, Morale, and CultureFebruary 27, 2014 by Whole Child PodcastDownload Podcast Now [Right-Click to Save]Educators working in a positive school culture experience collegiality, trust, and tangible support as leaders and peers, creating an en

by mike simpson / 2h 

3-6-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet:

‘The drive to test, test, and re-test’ leads famous school board member to quit

Rick Roach, who is completing his fifth four-year term representing District 3 on the Board of Education in Orange County, Fla, may well be the most famous local school board member in the country.  In 2011, he made national news when he took a test with questions used on standardized tests given to students in Florida and flunked, becoming […]    

1 by Valerie Strauss / 1h 

Why a ‘Student Privacy Bill of Rights’ is desperately needed

The growing use of technology has allowed for the collection of mass amounts of data on students. Control over personal information has been lost by students and the risks to student privacy have risen dramatically. In this post, Khaliah Barnes,  director of the  Student Privacy Project and administrative law counsel for the non-profit Electronic Privacy Information Center, lays […]    

1 by Valerie Strauss / 15min 

Grieving mom takes on state education commissioner over testing disabled students

I recently wrote about a bizarre open letter to teachers that Education Commissioner Pam Stewart released that accused people who want a change in standardized testing requirements for severely disabled students of launching a political attack on the department. Stewart’s missive followed testimony before the Board of Education  by an Orange County, Fla., mother named Andrea […]    

1 by Valerie Strauss / 36min 

3-5-14 The Answer Sheet

The Answer Sheet: Parent to Obama: Why don’t private schools adopt your test-based school reforms?Bertis Downs is a parent who lives in Athens Ga., and the former legal counselor and manager of the band R.E.M.  He wrote the following letter to President Obama, inviting the president to visit a high school in Athens to see the impact of his administration’s standardized test-based policies there.  

by mike simpson / 9h 

3-6-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter:

Do we need the SAT?

Sent to USA TodayNot mentioned in the discussion of changes in the SAT ("Sharpen those pencils: The SAT test is getting harder," March 6) is the question of whether we need SAT-type examinations. In two different studies, researchers from UC Berkeley, Harvard and Princeton reported that high school grades were a good predictor of college success, and that adding SAT scores did not improv

by skrashen / 40min 

 

3-5-14 Schools Matter

Schools Matter: NYS Test Refusals Hit Main Street1 by freetoteach / 6h 3-4-14 Schools MatterSchools Matter: Tennessee School Board Model for Resistance to CorpEdRESOLUTION OF THE RUTHERFORD COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATIONIN OPPOSITION TO  LEGISLATIONTHREATENING A FREE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEMWHEREAS, Rutherford County Schools are not for sale; andWHEREAS, a number of bills are being advanced before the S

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3-6-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement":

“Most States Lack Opt-Out Policies – But Parents Find A Way”

Most States Lack Opt-Out Policies – But Parents Find A Way is a very interesting and useful post by Alexander Russo. The post gives a very good overview of state laws on “opting out” of standardized tests. I’m adding it to The Best Posts On Parents “Opting-Out” Of Standardized Tests For Their Children.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9min hide  //  save

“Sign-Up Genius” Could Be A Helpful Parent Volunteer Tool

Bill Ferriter sent a tweet out about a site called Sign-Up Genius. It looks like a very easy tool to use to have volunteers sign-up for just about anything, including volunteering at school. I’m adding it to A Beginning List Of The Best Resources On Using Technology To Help Engage Parents.

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9min 

Video: “Cleveland Administrator Launches College Tours for Parents”

Cleveland Administrator Launches College Tours for Parents is the title of a pretty interesting Education Week article. It describes the work of the leader of parent engagement for the Cleveland school district. Here’s an excerpt: Among the administrator’s most successful parent-engagement undertakings are the Parent University College Tours, which provides parents a much-needed firsthand look at

by Larry Ferlazzo / 9min 

3-3-14 Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement"

Engaging Parents In School… | Going Beyond Parent "Involvement": Student-Led Conferences: “Instead of Mrs. Haug telling us what we learned, we tell her what we learned.”Teachers switching format of parent conferences is an article in St. Louis Today sharing how teachers in one school began moving their parent-teacher conferences into student-led ones. I’m adding it to The Best Resources

by mike simpson / 17min 

Innovation Takes Time | Connected Principals

Innovation Takes Time | Connected Principals:

Innovation Takes Time

by Travis McNaughton • March 6, 2014 • 0 Comments

I started this school year by participating in Educator’s Innovation Day. The day was dedicated for educators to work individually or in groups on anything they wanted to work on around the theme of improving education. I spent the day working with Jesse McLean around the idea of wanting to come up with a middle years entrepreneurial option. By the end of the day we had created the Becoming Tycoons Option and Student Business Planning Guide designed to allow for student choice, innovation, and introduce them to business concepts such as start-ups, management, marketing, and finances. Both Greystone Centennial Middle School and Muir Lake School students will be participating in this option at the same time so we are going to be setting up collaboration and sharing opportunities between our students with Google Hangouts and in person. We have not yet taught this option yet, but I am very excited to see what the students come up with for their businesses. Ultimately, my hope is that this will lay a foundation and open up possibilities for students in their future in the area of business and innovation.

Although, I am excited about this project that we came up with, the day in and of itself has bigger implications for educators. Taking the time to spend a day working on something that we have never done before and was completely brand new to us was extremely valuable. How often do we do that? It is so easy to fill up our days with the business of working and teaching in a school. Rarely, do we feel like we have the time to just sit, talk, and collaborate on working on something new with the aim to improve education. Yet, I would argue that this is some of the most valuable time that we 

Common Core Panel Discussion at the NPE Conference, March 2, 2014 on Vimeo

Common Core Panel Discussion at the NPE Conference, March 2, 2014 on Vimeo:

Common Core Panel Discussion at the NPE Conference, March 2, 2014

from Schoolhouse Live PRO 16 hours ago NOT YET RATED

Since No Child Left Behind, no national program has met more controversy than the Common Core. In this featured panel, educators will discuss the challenges we face with the Common Core. Should we embrace the standards but reject the high stakes tests? Or should we oppose the whole project? How can we offer a clear alternative to top down reform, and advocate clearly for our students in this context?

Moderator: Anthony Cody Panelists: Paul Horton, Geralyn Bywater McLaughlin, Mercedes Schneider, Jose Luis Vilson, Randi Weingarten

Common Core Panel Discussion at the NPE Conference, March 2, 2014 from Schoolhouse Live on Vimeo.

Equipping Florida Parents to Expose Jeb Bush’s Florida Education “Miracle” | deutsch29

Equipping Florida Parents to Expose Jeb Bush’s Florida Education “Miracle” | deutsch29:

Equipping Florida Parents to Expose Jeb Bush’s Florida Education “Miracle”

March 6, 2014

The purpose of this post is to provide a brief summary for Florida parents regarding the failure of the spectrum of so-called education “reforms” introduced and advanced by former Governor Jeb Bush (1999 – 2007).

I have written this brief, two-page “talking points” Word doc to complement the contents of this post. Thus, parents can use the “talking points” as a quick reference in school board meetings and legislative hearings and use the contents of this post for a more detailed explanation of the talking points (complete with links to references supporting each point).

In this post, I address the spectrum of Florida education “reform,” including school letter grades; graduation rates; charters, vouchers, and virtual schools; teacher evaluation; third-grade retention, and “declaring” Florida high school graduates as “college ready.”

A – F School Letter Grades

A major problem with the school letter grades is their susceptibility to manipulation. In fact, former Florida Superintendent Tony Bennett was forced to resign in August 2013 after emails implicated him in fixing a charter school letter grade during his time as superintendent in Indiana.

Letter grade formulas are also endlessly manipulated. Politico notes, “In Florida, for instance, the legislature has tinkered with the A-F school grading formula at least two dozen times in recent years. … Last year, alarmed that so many Florida students failed a new writing exam, the state board of education quickly lowered the passing 

3-6-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District):

Vergara witness says state laws governing teachers work

Cal-Berkeley professor Jesse Rothstein The battle of the experts continued today in Vergara vs. California as an expert in labor economics and public policy called by the defense provided rationales for keeping in place the state laws governing teachers that are under challenge in the case. Jesse Rothstein, a professor at Cal-Berkeley and a former senior economist on the U.S. Council of Economic A

3 by Mark Harris / 2h 

Quietly, LA Unified gets a voice in place for District 1

Sylvia Rousseau After school board member Marguerite LaMotte died, her district — which stretches from Palms to Central Los Angeles — went without a voice for 89 days. That ended Tuesday, when the Los Angeles Unified School Board hired Sylvia Rousseau as a temporary “liaison” for the community. The appointment approved by unanimous consent after little fanfare and no public debate. Rousseau, who w

2 by Vanessa Romo / 1h 

E4E poses questions, 10 candidates for union chief answer

Educators 4 Excellence, a teacher advocacy group comprised of members of the Los Angeles teachers union, UTLA, has developed an interactive election guide focusing on the 10 candidates running for UTLA president. The guide poses four questions and provides audio responses from each candidate. The interviews were conducted earlier this week and are included in a larger package of information about

2 12min hide  //  save

Morning Read: LA schools welcome sweeping changes to the SAT

Students, area school staff embrace changes to SAT Pablo Muñoz is no stranger to academic rigor. And don’t expect him to shirk additional work. As many cheered sweeping changes to the SAT — such as the optional essay — the 15-year-old Loyola High School sophomore is likely not to skip that portion. “I would probably do the essay because I think it could give me a slight edge over test takers,” he

2 12min 

3-5-14 LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD

LA School Report - What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District): LA Unified board votes to pay Deasy for unused vacationSuperintendent John Deasy: Little time for vacation Superintendent John Deasy works too much. So much so, that he rarely takes time off for vacation. As a result, the Los Angeles Unified School board voted at its monthly meeting yesterday to pay him f

by mike simpson / 21h