It was probably inevitable that when educational experts began highlighting formative assessment as the Golden Child because of its incredibly positive impact on student achievement, summative assessment would then be dubbed the evil stepchild and relegated to the grunge of ‘clean up’ work. Summative assessments are tolerated, but distastefully so: today they are popularly referred […]
Assessment experts (e.g. Jan Chappuis, Jon Hattie, Rick Stiggins, and Dylan Wiliam, to name a few) state that student motivation has been disconnected from the assessment process in the past, but must be reconnected if schools are to create high levels of student achievement. Ultimately, students must be the decision makers regarding their progress while […]
When my daughter entered college, she and all the incoming freshmen participated in a convocation ceremony. The ceremony was brief but meaningful. It was impressive so simple that it left me wondering why we don’t do something of that nature for all of our learners experiencing a significant transition between schools. To begin, the students […]
It is never acceptable to operate from the place of assumptions in the teaching and learning process, and yet it is challenging to avoid generalizations in the context of predictable patterns. Consider the following scenarios: The fourth grade team is upset because many parents are not stepping up to help their kids at home. The […]