Students are people--not data. Assessment data can bury you or give you focused information on how to reach every student. "Putting Faces on the Data" shows how to develop a common language for sharing all students' progress with all teachers and leaders and how to use ongoing assessment to inform instruction. Based on worldwide research from more…

Effective use of data is key to improving student outcomes. This requires leaders to ensure teachers have developed the skills to convert student data to useful information to effectively plan for instruction and student interventions; to hold collaborative discussions that are structured for these purposes; to broaden the view of data to include…

The purpose of this study was to inform instruction by using data as a progress-monitoring tool to drive instruction and ultimately student achievement. During the course of this study, data was gathered from a pre-test in a mathematics measurement unit to determine differentiated instruction and grouping. Formative short frequent assessments were…

The purpose of this study is to describe what data preschools in a mid-sized city in the Northeast collect, how they use that data, and the challenges they face. The study focuses on three types of data: early learning outcomes, dosage (i.e., the amount of exposure to early childhood education), and classroom quality. The report further…

This "Stated Briefly" report is a companion piece that summarizes the results of another report of the same name. This study explores how seven early childhood education programs in a mid-sized city in the Northeast region are collecting and using data, how they would like to use data, how they could use the data that they have, and the…

Although interim assessments are currently promoted as a mechanism for improving teaching and student learning, we know little about how teachers use this data to modify instruction. This article presents findings from a larger study on teachers' use of interim assessment information in elementary mathematics. We address the following questions:…

Based on the results of a generalizability study of measures of teacher knowledge for teaching mathematics developed at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at the University of California, Los Angeles, this article provides evidence that teachers are better at drawing reasonable inferences about student…

In many school districts, the pressure to raise test scores has created overnight celebrity status for formative assessment. Its powers to raise student achievement have been touted, however, without attending to the research on which these claims were based. Sociocultural learning theory provides theoretical grounding for understanding how…

A new model of library instruction assessment--a 360 degrees analysis--is needed to address the many facets of the teaching process. This model establishes interconnections in all aspects of instruction and requires a multi-faceted approach that incorporates assessment in every stage of teaching and learning. At The University of Montana Mansfield…

If you ever have students who are reluctant to tell you when they don't understand something--or worse, tell you they understand when they really don't--then here's a book that gives you lots of ways to check for understanding. Learn why typical methods to check for understanding are usually ineffective. And explore formative assessment techniques…

Assessment "for" learning is not the same as assessment "of" learning. Assessment of learning is assessment for accountability purposes, to determine a student's level of performance on a specific task or at the conclusion of a unit of teaching and learning. The information gained from this kind of assessment is often used in reporting. Assessment…

In this article, two problems associated with the expectation that teachers use contemporary assessment techniques are examined. The first problem relates to teachers' sense-making of assessment data. Illustrative cases revealed that teachers' processes of interpretation of students' understanding, knowledge and learning of mathematics draws on a…

Forms of assessment that are consistent with outcomes based education are discussed. Assessment in service to learning must inform students about their learning, provide data for teachers who plan instruction, inform parents about student progress, and provide data for policymakers. Chapter 1 of this document is "The Implications of…

The School Improvement Model of teacher performance evaluation is described, and its development is traced. Original work in the late 1960s in Naperville (Illinois) and subsequent work by Iowa State University and several cooperating school districts led to the development of a model of teacher evaluation that included multiple appraisers, student…

This field-tested manual is an extension of an earlier work titled "Data-Based Program Modification: A Manual," and is designed for special education resource teachers to implement with children whose mild and moderate learning handicaps have resulted in discrepancies between actual and expected reading skills. The manual's philosophy is that…