Assessment Tools
Making sense of the enormous amount of student data in any classroom or school is probably the biggest challenge we face individually and in our school communities. Here you'll find everything from one-page templates created by teachers for use in their classrooms to videos of staff teams poring over large data sets. We don't have all the answers, but we do provide tools to help you ask better questions as you evaluate students and talk about assessments with your colleagues.
Latest Content
Notetaking Strategies Part I: “In the Midst” and “After the Fact” Notes
There is a difference between “in the midst” and “after the fact” notes, and different methods might work better in different observation contexts once you know your options.
Notetaking Series Part III: “Raw” and “Cooked” Notes
In "Raw and Cooked Notes," the value of uncensored notes is presented, as well as a simple strategy for beginning to code and analyze the observations you are jotting down.
Notetaking Series, Part IV: What Counts and Writing the Unwritable
Here are some strategies for getting out of notetaking ruts.
Notetaking Series Part V: Getting Out of Notetaking Ruts
It's a quick journey from notetaking routines to notetaking ruts. This installment of the notetaking series focuses on ways to get out of the ruts that emerge naturally whenever any notetaking routine is established.
Establishing a Routine for Notetaking
We close out the notetaking series with advice on setting notetaking goals.
Grade Level Team Meeting: Test Preparation
In this video of a 3rd grade team meeting, literacy coaches Janet Scott and Gail Boushey help third-grade teachers think through what is going well with test preparation, and what might be adapted before the tests begin in a few weeks.
Student Reading Interview: Assessing Ana Part 2
This is the second video in a two-part series. Principal Karen Szymusiak interviewed Ana, a second grader, to learn more about her strengths and needs as a reader. In this week’s installment, Karen will share her findings with Ana’s teacher.
Conferring Close-Up: Test-Taking Strategies Part II
Andrea Smith confers with two 4th graders in her classroom as part of test preparation.
Test-Taking Strategies Part III: Whole Class Debrief
Andrea Smith’s 4th graders debrief together after a test preparation workshop.
Student Reading Interview: Assessing Ana
Principal Karen Szymusiak interviews Ana, a second grader, to learn more about her strengths and needs as a reader.
Helping Students Set Nonfiction Reading Goals
Franki Sibberson finds nonfiction reading goals elevate the value of nonfiction in her grades 3-4 classroom.
Talking About Tests
Franki Sibberson prepares her grades 3-4 students for state examinations by helping them observe attributes and patterns in test questions.
Test-Taking Skills: Reading Strategies for Word Problems Part I
Question It – Know It – Show It are the keys to test preparation in Andrea Smith's 4th grade classroom.
Data Cards: Assessment Profiles at a Glance
“Data cards” are ingeniously designed to allow an entire grade-level team to look at the reading levels of all students in the grade. In this four-minute video, “The Sisters” (Gail Boushey and Joan Moser) explain how they work.
Collaborative Team Meeting: Assessing and Planning Together
Gail Boushey leads a collaborative planning meeting between 4th grade teachers, literacy coaches, and the principal early in the year.
Assessment and Curriculum Mapping
In this video from a new teacher study group for grades 3-5 teachers, Jennifer Allen demonstrates how teachers can use assessment data to develop instructional plans for individual students and create curriculum maps for an entire class of students.
Professional Development Needs Assessment Inventory
Teachers help define a literacy coach's role through a needs assessment survey.
Conferring with Yourself: A Tool for Anticipating Response (TEMPLATE)
Take time for this quick write and Brenda Power will have you conferring with yourself, considering new viewpoints and thoughtfully preparing for your "yeah but" colleagues.
Starting Points: Easy Beginnings for Writing Better Narrative Assessments and Report Card Comments
If you struggle as a writer at report card time, these tips might give you ideas for streamlining your work.
Enlisting Students as Observers
Students are keen observers – put those talents to work in your classroom.
Adjectives to Anecdotes: Writing Better Report Card Comments
Brenda Power helps report card comment writers pack a punch in a few lines with positivity, honesty and some time-saving tips.
Two-Column Notes (E-GUIDE)
The Two-Column Notes eGuide has 18 different options for notes in professional development settings. These templates are helpful to use in staff meetings and study groups while watching videos, or to focus observations during classroom visits
Reflection Sheets: A Tool for Assessment and Conferring
Franki Sibberson explains how “reflection sheets” work as an assessment tool in her classroom, replacing detailed notes from conferences.
Tracking Young Children’s Writing and Development
Andie Cunningham and Ruth Shagoury share the assessment tools they use to track Andie’s kindergarten writers.
Whole Class Interviews: Building Community in Writing Workshop (TEMPLATE)
Interviews early in the year are a potent tool for building a class community.
Criteria for Success
Jen Vincent shares how to create a Criteria of Success to clearly define expectations for assignments and give students independence in self-assessment.
Administering a Pre-Assessment
Melanie Meehan works with a new teacher to develop and administer a writing pre-assessment early in the school year.
Forming Groups Using a Planner
Dana Murphy explains how her small-group planner is an essential tool for organizing groups in her fourth-grade classroom.
The 4 Fs of Assessment
Justin Stygles describes the four crucial components of effective assessment.
Maximizing Instructional Time at the Start of a New Unit
Time is precious in classrooms, so Melanie Meehan shares strategies to ensure it isn't wasted at the start of new writing units by teaching skills students may already possess.
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