Assessment-Centered Teaching: A Reflective Practice - Softcover

DiRanna, Kathryn; Osmundson, Ellen; Topps, Jo; Barakos, Lynn; Gearhart, Maryl; Cerwin, Karen; Carnahan, Diane; Strang, Craig

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1412954630 ISBN 13: 9781412954631

Publisher: Corwin, 2008

Synopsis

"Valuable for practitioners who wish to improve their teaching and their students′ learning, and for researchers concerned with putting ideas of formative assessment into teaching practice."
―Richard J. Shavelson, Margaret Jack Professor of Education
Stanford University

"Drawing from conceptual principles and empirical findings that establish the crucial role of ongoing formative assessment, the authors describe a professional development framework and program that prepares teachers to adjust their teaching to student thinking in the moment and to refine assessments to better reveal students′ understandings throughout instruction."
―Joan I. Heller, Director
Heller Research Associates

A reflective process for integrating assessment and instruction!

Because assessment and instruction are two sides of the same coin, it is critical for teachers to not only assess what students understand, but also use that information to adjust their teaching. Assessment-Centered Teaching (ACT) is a unique practice that allows teachers to gather information during instruction to uncover learning gaps and guide students toward deeper understandings of complex ideas.

Suitable for all grade levels, this resource describes how reflective practitioners can use the ACT portfolio to reflect on, modify, and improve their curriculum and instruction. The forms included on the CD-ROM guide teachers through the process. This book encourages educators to:

• Reflect on their own practice
• Systematically examine student progress toward identified learning goals over time
• Monitor instruction and assessment for continuous improvement

Assessment-Centered Teaching helps teachers, professional developers, and school teams establish quality instructional goals and implement ongoing formative assessment to promote student success.

About this title

Review

"All assessment is formative―what a great idea! Here's a resource to take you from good assessment ideas to good assessment practices. Building on the work of many assessment and professional development experts, DiRanna and her colleagues have created a reasoned and realistic guide to assessment-centered teaching that is grounded in the realities of the classroom and that aspires to greater student learning." (Elizabeth K. Stage, Director, Lawrence Hall of Science 2007-08-20)

"An excellent and timely resource for administrators, teachers, teacher educators, and inservice professionals. This book sheds light on the all-too-often missing link in teaching and learning: formative assessment. Applicable across subject areas and grade levels, this resource provides a very helpful balance of educational vision and rationale, practical tools and procedural guidance, and compelling stories of transformed instruction in teachers’ own words." (Pamela Aschbacher, Director of Research and Evaluation 2007-08-20)

"Makes practical the notion that teaching, learning, and assessment go hand-in-hand. Good teaching activities make good assessment tasks and vice versa. The reflective practitioner, as envisioned in this book, uses assessment information to re-engage students and move them along a progression of learning. This is a valuable book for practitioners who wish to improve their teaching and their students’ learning, and for researchers concerned with putting ideas of formative assessment into teaching practice." (Richard J. Shavelson, Margaret Jack Professor of Education 2007-08-27)

"This ambitious work provides nothing short of a blueprint for raising teacher education programs to new standards for professional preparation, which in turn would improve student achievement levels. Drawing from conceptual principles and empirical findings that establish the crucial role of ongoing formative assessment, the authors describe a professional development framework and program that actually prepares teachers to adjust their teaching to student thinking in the moment and to refine assessments to better reveal students’ understandings throughout instruction. I highly recommend this book to scholars, practitioners, and interested stakeholders in teaching and teacher development." (Joan I. Heller, Director 2007-10-01)

Synopsis

"Using Reflective Practice to Build Assessment-Centered Teaching "presents strategies and tools that help K--12 teachers build their knowledge and practice in student assessment, and integrate assessment and instruction. Designed as a guide for professional developers, collaborative school teams, and individual teachers, this book describes how the use of the Assessment-Centered Teaching (ACT) portfolio contributes to school improvement. The ACT portfolio is a set of tasks that guide teachers through the steps of planning, using, and revising instruction and classroom assessments for an instructional unit. This book promotes a research-based process as educators: * Reflect on their own practice * Develop quality assessment systems for instructional units * Systematically examine student progress over time toward identified learning goals * Monitor and adjust instruction and assessment * Build community through the collaborative process

Edition details

• Publisher: Corwin
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1412954630
• ISBN 13: 9781412954631
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 224