Classroom Assessment Essentials

The only assessment book K–12 teachers need to monitor and maximise student learning.

Classroom assessment is a vital part of teaching. It helps make student learning—or a lack thereof—visible so that teachers can adjust teaching practices and better support learners. But designing and implementing reliable assessments is a complex process.

In this comprehensive book by assessment expert Susan M. Brookhart, you will learn the foundational concepts and practical skills necessary to be successful with classroom assessment. Organised into 21 essentials, the book addresses everything from using pre-assessment before starting new lessons to communicating with parents about their child’s academic growth. Along the way, you will discover how to:

• Create clear learning targets and success criteria based on standards.
• Provide meaningful feedback to students about progress toward goals.
• Involve students in the regulation of their own learning.
• Use homework to check for understanding.
• Decide on instructional follow-up based on formative assessment data.
• Make accommodations for students with IEPs and support equity and fairness.
• Design performance tasks for individuals and groups.
• Craft rubrics and design classroom tests.

With strategies that support high-quality assessment, tips and troubleshooting advice, and examples across subject areas and grade levels, Classroom Assessment Essentials will help you make effective assessment a cornerstone of your classroom.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

1. Understanding the Formative Assessment Cycle
2. Teaching with Learning Targets and Success Criteria
3. Starting with Pre-Assessment
4. Providing Teacher Feedback to Students
5. Helping Students Use Self- and Peer Assessment
6. Extending Student Thinking with Questioning Strategies
7. Considering Homework as Assessment
8. Deciding on Instructional Follow-Up
9. Using Curriculum-Based Measurement
10. Making Accommodations in Assessment
11. Supporting Equity and Fairness in Assessment
12. Designing Performance Tasks
13. Crafting Rubrics and Other Multi-Point Scoring
14. Designing Classroom Tests
15. Writing Selected Response Test Questions
16. Writing Constructed Response Test Questions
17. Using Portfolio Assessment
18. Grading and Reporting on Student Learning
19. Communicating with Parents and Guardians About Assessment
20. Thinking in Terms of Assessment Systems
21. Interpreting Standardized Test Results

About the Author