In this article, the author examines her experiences as a mentee at an academic institution. She has had time to look back at some of what her mentor did in mentoring, and now appreciates how novel and successful some of his approaches were. She shares them in this article because she thinks her experience is evidence that broadening the…

To explore the affordances of learning progressions (LP) in support of teachers' formal and informal formative assessment (FFA and IFA) practices, we conducted a case study with a fine-grain-sized energy LP. The study first theorises an LP-based formative assessment model, which proposes the use of LPs in clarifying learning objectives, eliciting…

Obtaining oral communication competency is an important skill for engineering students to prepare them for interacting and working in any professional setting. For engineers, it is also important to be able to present technical information to non-technical audiences. To ensure oral competency, a non-graded formative assessment approach using video…

This memo, which is the third in the series, highlights the work of Summit View Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona and its use of ideas and practices from a blended online course, Student Agency in Assessment and Learning (SAAL) developed by researchers at WestEd, also an ALP grantee. This memo describes how the school's participation in the…

This article introduces the formative assessment probe--a powerful tool for collecting focused, actionable information about student thinking and potential misconceptions--along with a process for targeting instruction in response to probe results. Drawing on research about common student mathematical misconceptions as well as the former work of…

This study examines primary grades teachers' instructional decisions in their mathematics classroom during their participation in a year-long professional development program on formative assessment. Teachers participated in 40 h of face-to-face workshops followed by 40 h of classroom-embedded activities that were facilitated in an asynchronous…

This study examined the influence of professional development on elementary school teachers' perceptions of and use of an internet-based formative assessment tool focused on students' number sense skills. Data sources include teacher-participants' pre and post survey, open ended response on post survey, use of the assessment tool and their written…

Analysis of the impact of professional learning and development (PLD) programmes for educators is complex. This article presents an analysis of a PLD initiative in which classroom teachers learned to use narrative assessment for students with "high" and "very high" learning needs. Using Cultural Historical Activity Theory…

Feedback is crucial to students' growth as musicians. Fortunately, the teacher is not the sole source of feedback in the music classroom. Under the right conditions, students can provide actionable feedback to themselves and each other. This article showcases the work of three elementary music specialists who have innovatively incorporated…

The inclusion of technology in the classroom is an increasingly important feature of effective instruction. The implementation of Common Core Standards in many states also requires teachers to consider new pedagogical strategies to support meaningful learning. This article explores the intersection between technology demands and curricular change…

Using Max Weber's theory of ideal types, the authors classify the formative assessment techniques used by 12 college instructors. Their data reveal two pairs of opposing preferences: (1) highly preplanned vs. highly emergent and (2) focused on individual students vs. focused on the class as a whole. Using interview data, they illustrate how each…

Teachers routinely ask and answer a series of three questions with and for students: Where are my students headed? Where are they right now? How can I close the gap between where they are and where I want them to be? This text suggests that teachers also ask these parallel questions of themselves: (1) Where am I going?; (2) What can formative…

The New Jersey Department of Education supports all districts with a tool kit of valuable resources for planning and creating collaborative learning structures that focus on getting results for all students. This tool kit was the basis for the creation of Learning Forward's "Becoming a Learning School" (2009). The tool kit helps…

The authors worked with 22 middle school math and science teachers for one year with the goal of improving the quantity and quality of inquiry-based instruction implemented in the classroom. The professional development experience was framed by the 4E x 2 Instruction Model, which combines key components of inquiry instruction (Engage, Explore,…

The use of Web-based technology has enabled many government and corporate training divisions to reach more learners than ever before. Institutions are restructuring their budgets, obtaining funding from governments and foundations to fund resources needed to increase online learning offerings. While online learning is increasing, questions arise…