Category Archive: Formative Assessment
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Teaching: When Collaboration Simplifies a Highly Complex Profession
Teaching is highly complex, sophisticated, and rewarding work …We are very proud of the effort and energy our teachers devote to serving our students well.
These words, from the University of Washington’s Center for Educational Leadership, greet students, teachers, parents, and guests upon entry to our school. I never want anyone …
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Friday Forum – Any Helpful Resources for Questioning Strategies?
Help! I’m coaching three new teachers this year, and we’re focusing on questioning strategies as a way to draw out what their students understand and what misconceptions may exist in their learning. At the same time we want to develop more student discourse. I’ve done one model lesson. Now, I’m …
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Four Ways My School Tackled the Achievement Gap
Remember when we were kids, and we spent warm summer nights playing Red Rover with the other boys and girls in the neighborhood? Hands held tightly, all eyes focused on the target, our feet moved in sync, and our line was impenetrable!
As a principal of a middle school with high …
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Presentation Assessment Best Practices
Andrew K. Miller is a guest blogger for Success at the Core. Miller (@betamiller on Twitter) is on the National Faculty for the Buck Institute for Education, an organization specializing in 21st century project-based learning, as well as for ASCD, providing expertise in a variety of professional development needs. He …
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Six A-Ha Moments That Can Take the Sting Out of the Word “Homework”!
Whether you are a teacher, student, or parent, there is something about the word “homework” that causes people to cringe. Too much, too little, it doesn’t get turned in: these are just some of the issues around homework. When I have helped students in “Homework Club” or in a non-profit after …
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Knowing When Elementary Students “Get It”
In the Success at the Core video Guided Groups, middle school teacher Shawna Moore directs her students to assess their understanding of a concept by assigning themselves a “C” (I’ve got it), “B” (I’ve got a few clarifying questions) or “A” (I still have major misconceptions). This video inspires …
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Learning Data Walls: The Formative Use of Summative Assessments
As my Success at the Core colleague Wendy Sauer stated in her recent blog post, Great Formative Assessment Resources for Educators, the new year brings the opportunity to take stock of and assess our progress toward desired goals. At the middle school where I am principal, January marks …
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Great Formative Assessment Resources for Educators
For many, January rings in a season of self-assessment as we consider habits that we’d like to add (or eliminate) from our daily lives.
Such formative assessment is also common in schools this month. As the mid-point of the year draws near, administrators reflect on progress towards district and school improvement goals, …
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Data Walls: How to Use Data in Teaching
Icicle River Middle School in Leavenworth, WA, where I used to teach, was one of six schools to pilot Success at the Core during the 2009-2010 school year. SaC materials quickly became my go-to source for instructional strategy ideas. I was particularly excited about the Teacher Development videos, which …
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Common Core: How to Evolve from Learning to Pass a Test, to Learning to Learn
As we approach the day where Common Core State Standards (CCSS) are embedded in all we do, I wonder, “What, really, will be different?” My answer? A LOT!
Remember the show “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” I hated that show because the content had a bunch of facts that …
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