Assessment

New Assessments May Drive Instruction in a New Direction
Changes are in store for how students are assessed and, therefore, how we teach them. This story ran in several major newspapers on September 3. The link to the NYTimes should work for you, but you might need to register. Registration is free. If the link no longer works, you can find the story on my blog at louann-multiliteracies.blogspot.com. []

How Do Other Countries Assess and What Could It Mean for Us?
Linda Darling-Hammond is a truly fine researcher and thinker. In this webinar, she discusses international standards and assessments. Why does this matter? Well, the Common Core Standards are purportedly based on international standards and much of the impetus for increased rigor in standards and assessments is a result of comparisons of U.S. students to those in other countries. http://www.edutopia.org/assessment-linda-darling-hammond-webinar

Assessments that Instruct in a Project-based School
YES Prep in Houston is featured in this video. After viewing what the students have to say, click on the resources link on the right of the page, then scroll down to curriculum and assessment for useful assignment ideas and rubrics. []

Performance-based Assessments
Comprehensive assessment is worth the time it takes, according to the educators in this video. See students engage in real-world tasks and develop work force skills: []

Formative Assessment
This NCTE policy brief speaks to some of the many myths about formative assessment in an effort to help us understand what it is and can be.