The Comprehensive Assessment System (CAS) Framework presents a vision for a system of assessments for English Learners in secondary grades that brings assessment closer to the classroom and fully involves teachers in assessment development and validation. The CAS Framework is intended to signal a new and equitable direction and to provoke…

This concluding essay offers a reflection on the set of the papers contained in this special issue of the Educational Assessment journal. In it the author situates formative assessment squarely in the realm of teachers' continuous professional learning and considers the essential nature of formative assessment as centering on three questions that…

The purpose of this paper is to provide background for the vision statement, "An Argument-based Framework for Valid and Actionable Assessment for English Learners in Secondary Grades." We begin by identifying the problem we intended to address in the vision statement for an assessment framework. This is followed by a discussion about the…

Twenty years after the publication of "Inside the Black Box," the landmark review of formative classroom assessment, international education experts Christine Harrison and Margaret Heritage tackle assessment for learning (AfL) anew, with fresh insights gained from two decades of research, theory, and classroom practice. "The Power…

In "Formative Assessment in the Disciplines," Margaret Heritage and E. Caroline Wylie explore the interconnection of ambitious teaching, formative assessment, and disciplinary knowledge. The authors outline a framework to help teachers develop and extend their proficiency in enacting discipline-based formative assessment practices across…

In many parts of the world, there is an increased demand for effectiveness and equity in education and for the development of students who see themselves as lifelong learners to meet economic and social challenges. Assessment for learning (AfL) can play a significant role in achieving these three demands. The purpose of AfL is to inform learning,…

In their new book, Alison L. Bailey and Margaret Heritage illustrate how to help students become more self-regulated learners--that is, to be able to monitor and take charge of their own learning when working independently and in groups. Language provides the foundation for the development of self-regulatory skills, enabling students to express…

This report grew out of an effort by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education's (CPRE's) Center on Continual Instructional Improvement (CCII) to extend its evaluation of the usefulness of the concept of "Learning Progressions" for the fields of mathematics and science education, to include literacy teaching and learning. Herein,…

New content standards integrate content and language in ways prior standards have never done. That's why it's so critically important that teachers attend to both content and language development when introducing new subject matter, especially for English learners. Here's your opportunity to get started tomorrow and every day thereafter: Alison…

This article addresses theoretical and empirical issues relevant for the development and evaluation of language learning progressions. The authors explore how learning progressions aligned with new content standards can form a central basis of efforts to describe the English language needed in school contexts for learning, instruction, and…

In "English Language Learners and the New Standards," three leading scholars present a clear vision and practical suggestions for helping teachers engage ELL students in simultaneously learning subject-area content, analytical practices, and language. This process requires three important shifts in our perspective on language and…

Margaret Heritage presents a practical guide to formative assessment as a process of "inquiry and action" essential to twenty-first century learning. In the wake of the development of the Common Core standards and the effort to develop the appropriate assessments to accompany them, formative assessment has attracted increasing attention…

This resource is part of a series produced by the Center for Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI) to assist teachers and those who support teachers to plan teaching and learning from College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS) for all students, including students with disabilities, English learners, academically at-risk students, students…

Ten years ago, the authors of Knowing What Students Know proposed that large-scale and classroom assessment should be created from the same underlying model of learning. They suggested that, ideally, a model of learning should provide a developmental perspective, "laying out one or more typical progressions from novice levels toward competence and…

Formative assessment allows teachers to identify and close gaps in student understanding and move learning forward. Now this research-based book helps educators develop the knowledge and skills necessary to successfully implement formative assessment in the classroom. Margaret Heritage walks readers through every step of the process and offers…