Testing to Teach
Using Assessment to Shape Instruction
Classroom measures known as formative assessments have a purpose distinct from that of end-of-year state tests. Used during instruction, they aim to provide feedback so that teachers and students can adjust what happens next in classrooms and improve the quality of teaching and learning as it’s going on. “Testing to Teach: Using Assessment to Shape Instruction” takes a close look at a handful of formative-assessment programs to provide a sense of what such measures look like in practice.
Education
‘Just-in-Time’ Tests Change What Classrooms Do Next
Educators increasingly are interested in measures designed to improve, not just monitor, learning and teaching.
Federal
Calif. Center Gauges Novice Teachers With Tools, Mentors
A California organization has developed a set of tools focused on what beginning teachers are learning.
Assessment
School Subtracts Math Texts to Add E-Lessons, Tests
Educators hope to get a better read on what their students know and what they should target in planning their classroom instruction.
Reading & Literacy
Homegrown Tests Measure Core Critical-Reading Skills
FAST-R, or Formative Assessments of Student Thinking in Reading, is now used in more than 50 schools in the 57,000-student Boston district.
Reading & Literacy
Instant Read on Reading, in Palms of Their Hands
Teachers in a rural New Mexico district use hand-held computers to assess students’ reading progress and target instruction accordingly.