Assessment

Assessment Professional Development Guide

An overview of the Edutopia professional development guide for understanding the many ways to assess student learning in the classroom.

July 15, 2008

The assessment professional development guide is meant for use either after completion of the project-based learning professional development guide or with participants who are familiar with project-based learning. The module is designed for a two to three hour class or session, divided into two parts.

Part one is a guided process, designed to give participants a brief introduction to comprehensive assessment. It answers the questions "Why Is Assessment Important?", "What are Some Types of Assessment"?, and "How Do Rubrics Help?"

Part two assigns readings and activities for experiential, project-based learning about assessment. Ideally, the tasks will be accomplished using group collaboration and with the use of technology. These activities are outlined in the Workshop Activities section. You will also find links to examples, from the Edutopia.org video library, of comprehensive assessment at the elementary, middle, and high school levels.

In Eeva Reeder's class, students must develop a site plan and a written proposal. They must then make an oral presentation to local school architects who judge the projects.

The Resources for Assessment page includes recommended websites, books, and additional videos to learn more about PBL in this section.

This guide was designed to address many of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS), established by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).

To find the specific standards for your state, visit this page at Education World that lists standards by academic subject and by state.

Continue to the next section of the guide, Why Is Assessment Important?

Acknowledgments: This module was written by technology integration specialist Marian Shaffner. The George Lucas Educational Foundation extends our thanks to the following people who reviewed this module for content and usability: Dr. Peggy Benton, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, PT3 Grant Director and Advisor, Department of Instructional Technologies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California; Patsy Lanclos, Apple Distinguished Educator, Smithsonian Laureate, Palm Education Training Coordinator/Provider, Houston, Texas; Mimi Bisson, PT3 Grant Technology Trainer, Department of Instructional Technologies, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California.

This guide is organized into six sections: