Don't Stop Believing That:

All types of assessment can be valid and reliable. Using multiple sources of data will provide a more balanced view of students’ skills and knowledge.

Formative assessment is the essential foundation (mother lode) of all assessment in that it makes learning visible and continually monitors progress- just like drilling for diamonds.

Assessments that engage students in actions and thoughts will result in better learning outcomes: Research shows that students shut down and lose focus during long selected choice tests or sitting for a long time doing anything for that matter.

Progress monitoring and scaffolding of learning is relevant for all learners: Does anyone become a great cook without the advice of experts?

Common Core Standards can be embedded in all types of assessment: It is essential to measure more than the Core. Pilots don’t get their license by passing only a written exam on the instrument panel.

High quality local assessment is just as important as annual large scale tests: Fill your toolbox with a variety of measures.

Growth is more important than the final score. Learning in the classrooms is not an Olympic sport. Even Olympians are given opportunities to improve.

Children are Not Widgets

A friend and I were comparing quality control in manufacturing to quality control in education. We were talking about a challenging class that I was teaching. The class had the lowest scores on the common pre-assessment and also had the lowest scores on the final assessment. I explained that this class also had the greatest growth of all the classes that took the same summative assessment. Yet, it was possible that I would be labeled a low performing teacher.

                                                   wikipediacommons: irina shutsky
He explained that as a quality control manager, it was essential that his department pick the best raw materials. To do this, they send out bids with exacting specifications, review the incoming goods, validate the materials through visits to the sending factory as well with in-house analysis and certification. Then the materials are arranged on an assembly line where the line workers remove those that are faulty before they are installed in the final product. 

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