Fair Isn’t Always

Equal

Assessment and Grading in the

Differentiated Classroom
For further conversation about any of these topics:

Rick Wormeli
[email protected]
703-620-2447
Herndon, Virginia, USA
(Eastern Standard Time Zone)
Mindset: What we teach is irrelevant. It’s what students carry
forward after their time with us that matters.
Are we successfully differentiating teachers?
1. Are we willing to teach in whatever way is necessary for
students to learn best, even if that approach doesn’t
match our own preferences?
2. Do we have the courage to do what works, not just what’s
easiest?
3. Do we actively seek to understand our students’
knowledge, skills, and talents so we can provide an
appropriate match for their learning needs? And once we
discover their strengths and weaknesses, do we actually
adapt our instruction to respond to their needs?
4. Do we continually build a large and diverse repertoire of
instructional strategies so we have more than one way to
teach?
5. Do we organize our classrooms for students’ learning or
for our teaching?
Are we successfully differentiating teachers?

6. Do we keep up to date on the latest research

about learning, students’ developmental
growth, and our content specialty areas?
7. Do we ceaselessly self-analyze and reflect on
our lessons — including our assessments —
searching for ways to improve?
8. Are we open to critique?
9. Do we push students to become their own
education advocates and give them the tools to
do so?
10. Do we regularly close the gap between
knowing what to do and really doing it?
No Wonder We Need to Differentiate in our Schools:
In the world beyond school, we
don’t have to be good at everything.
We have specific skills that match the
needs of a specific job, and we have
plenty of adult experience and maturity.
As children in school, however, we
have to be good at everything
regardless of our skill set or
background, and we have little
experience or maturity.
 Differentiated instruction and
standardized tests –
‘NOT an oxymoron!

The only way students will do well

on tests is if they learn the material.
DI maximizes what students learn
over what could otherwise have been
learned with one-size-fits-all
approaches. DI and standardized
testing are mutually beneficial.
Definition

Differentiating instruction is doing

what’s fair for students. It’s a collection of
best practices strategically employed to
maximize students’ learning at every turn,
including giving them the tools to handle
anything that is undifferentiated. It requires
us to do different things for different
students some, or a lot, of the time. It’s
whatever works to advance the student if the
regular classroom approach doesn’t meet
students’ needs. It’s highly effective
teaching.
What is fair…
…isn’t always equal.
 [Artist Unknown]
“
Define Each Grade
A:

B:

C:

D:

E or F:
A Perspective that Changes our Thinking:

“A ‘D’ is a coward’s ‘F.’ The

student failed, but you didn’t
have enough guts to tell him.”

-- Doug Reeves
• A
• B
• C
• I, IP, NE, or NTY

Once we cross over into D and F(E)

zones, does it really matter? We’ll do the
same two things: Personally investigate
and take corrective action
Prompt:

Write a well-crafted essay that provides an accurate overview of

what we’ve learned about DNA in our class so far. You may use
any resources you wish, but make sure to explain each of the
aspects of DNA we’ve discussed.

Student’s Response:

Deoxyribonucleic Acid, or DNA, is the blueprint for who

we are. Its structure was discovered by Watson and
Crick in 1961. Watson was an American studying in
Great Britain. Crick was British (He died last year). DNA
is shaped like a twisting ladder. It is made of two
nucleotide chains bonded to each other. The poles of
the ladder are made of sugar and phosphate but the
rungs of the ladder are made of four bases. They are
thymine, guanine, and cytosine, and adenine. The
amount of adenine is equal to the amount of thymine
(A=T). It’s the same with cytosine and guanine (C=G).

(Continued on the next slide)

The sequence of these bases makes us who
we are. We now know how to rearrange the
DNA sequences in human embryos to create
whatever characteristics we want in new
babies – like blue eyes, brown hair, and so
on, or even how to remove hereditary
diseases, but many people think it’s
unethical (playing God) to do this, so we
don’t do it. When DNA unzips to bond with
other DNA when it reproduces, it sometimes
misses the re-zipping order and this causes
mutations. In humans, the DNA of one cell
would equal 1.7 meters if you laid it out
straight. If you laid out all the DNA in all the
cells of one human, you could reach the
moon 6,000 times!
 ‘Interesting:
“The score a student receives on a
test is more dependent on who
scores the test and how they score it
than it is on what the student knows
and understands.”
-- Marzano, Classroom Assessment & Grading That Work
(CAGTW), p. 30
 Conclusions from
Sample DNA Essay Marking
The fact that a range of marks occurs among teachers
who mark the same product suggests that:
• Assessment can only be done against commonly
accepted and clearly understood criteria.
• Grades are relative.
• Teachers have to be knowledgeable in their subject
area in order to assess students properly.
• Marks are subjective and can vary from teacher to
teacher.
• Marks are not always accurate indicators of mastery.
 Avoid hunt-and-peck, call-on-just-a-
sampling-of-students-to-indicate-the-
whole-class’s-understanding assumptions:

“Does everyone understand?”

“Does anyone have any questions?”
“These two students have it right, so the
rest of you must understand it as well.”

Get evidence from every individual!

 What is Mastery?

“Tim was so learned, that he could name

a horse in nine languages; so ignorant,
that he bought a cow to ride on.”

Ben Franklin, 1750, Poor Richard’s Almanac

“Understanding involves the appropriate
application of concepts and principles to
questions or problems posed.”
-- Howard Gardner, 1991

“Real comprehension of a notion or a theory --

implies the reinvention of this theory by the
student…True understanding manifests itself
by spontaneous applications.” -- Jean Piaget
From the Center for Media Literacy in
New Mexico –

“If we are literate in our subject, we can:

access (understand and find meaning in),

analyze,
evaluate,
and create
the subject or medium.”
 From Understanding By Design
(Wiggins, McTighe)

The Six Facets of True Understanding:

Explanation
Interpretation
Application
Perspective
Empathy
Self-knowledge
 Working Definition of Mastery
(Wormeli)

Students have mastered content when they

demonstrate a thorough understanding as
evidenced by doing something substantive
with the content beyond merely echoing it.
Anyone can repeat information; it’s the
masterful student who can break content into
its component pieces, explain it and alternative
perspectives regarding it cogently to others,
and use it purposefully in new situations.
 Non-Mastery…
• The student can repeat the
multiplication tables through the 12’s
 …and Mastery
• The student can hear or read about a
situation that requires repeated
addition and identifies it as a
multiplication opportunity, then uses
multiplication accurately to shorten the
solution process.
 Non-mastery…
• A student prepares an agar culture for
bacterial growth by following a specific
procedure given to her by her teacher.
She calls the experiment a failure when
unknown factors or substances
contaminate the culture after several
weeks of observation.
 …and Mastery
• A student accounts for potentially
contaminating variables by taking extra
steps to prevent anything from
affecting an agar culture on bacterial
growth she’s preparing, and if
accidental contamination occurs, she
adjusts the experiment’s protocols
when she repeats the experiment so
that the sources of the contamination
are no longer a factor.
 Non-mastery…
• The student uses primarily the bounce
pass in the basketball game regardless
of its potential effectiveness because
that’s all he knows how to do.
 …and Mastery
• The student uses a variety of basketball
passes during a game, depending on
the most advantageous strategy at that
moment in the game.
 Non-mastery…
• The students can match each of the
following terms to its definition
accurately: noun, pronoun, verb,
adverb, adjective, preposition,
conjunction, gerund, and interjection.
 …and Mastery
• The student can point to any word in
the sentence and explain its role
(impact) in the sentence, and explain
how the word may change its role,
depending on where it’s placed in the
sentence.
What is the standard of excellence
when it comes to tying a shoe?

Now describe the evaluative

criteria for someone who excels
beyond the standard of excellence
for tying a shoe. What can they
do?
 Consider Gradations of Understanding and
Performance from Introductory to Sophisticated

Introductory Level Understanding:

Student walks through the classroom door while

wearing a heavy coat. Snow is piled on his
shoulders, and he exclaims, “Brrrr!” From
depiction, we can infer that it is cold outside.

Sophisticated level of understanding:

Ask students to analyze more abstract inferences

about government propaganda made by Remarque
in his wonderful book, All Quiet on the Western
Front.
• Determine the surface area of a cube.
• Determine the surface area of a rectangular prism.
• Determine the amount of wrapping paper needed for
another rectangular box, keeping in mind the need to
have regular places of overlapping paper so you can
tape down the corners neatly
• If one can of paint covers this amount of area, how many
cans of paint will you need to paint an entire Chicago
skyscraper with the following dimensions, minus the
negative space for windows, doorways, external air
vents, the gravel roof top, and the three satellite dishes
on the roof?
____________________________________________
• Define vocabulary terms.
• Compare vocabulary terms.
• Use the vocabulary terms correctly.
• Use the vocabulary terms strategically to obtain a
particular result.
• Identify characteristics of Ancient Sumer
• Explore the interwoven nature between religion and
government in Sumer
• Explain the rise and fall of city-states in Mesopotamia
• Trace modern structures/ideas back to their roots in the
birthplace of civilization, the Fertile Crescent.
_______________________________________________
• Identify parts of a cell.
• Explain systems within a cell and what functions they
perform.
• Explain how a cell is part of a larger system of cells that
form a tissue
• Demonstrate how a cell replicates itself.
• Identify what can go wrong in mitosis.
• List what we know about how cells determine what kind
of cell they will become.
• Explain how knowledge of cells helps us understand
other physiology.
There’s a big difference: What are we really trying to assess?

• “Explain the second law of thermodynamics” vs.

“Which of the following situations shows the
second law of thermodynamics in action?”
• “What is the function of a kidney?” vs. “Suppose
we gave a frog a diet that no impurities – fresh
organic flies, no pesticides, nothing impure.
Would the frog still need a kidney?”
• “Explain Keynes’s economic theory” vs. “ Explain
today’s downturn in the stock market in light of
Keynes’s economic theory.”

From, Teaching the Large College Class, Frank Heppner, 2007, Wiley
and Sons
 Choose the best assessment:
1. On the sphere provided, draw a latitude/longitude
coordinate grid. Label all major components.
2. Given the listed latitude/longitude coordinates,
identify the countries. Then, identify the latitude
and longitude of the world capitols and bodies of
water that are listed.
3. Write an essay about how the latitude/longitude
system came to be.
4. In an audio-visual presentation, explain how our
system of latitude and longitude would need to be
adjusted if Earth was in the shape of a peanut?
(narrow middle, wider edges)
5. Create a collage or mural that represents the
importance of latitude and longitude in the modern
world.
 “The student will compare the United
States Constitution system in 1789 with
forms of democracy that developed in
ancient Greece and Rome, in England,
and in the American colonies and states
in the 18th century.”
--Virginia, Grade 12, United States
and Virginia Government
What will you and your colleagues
accept as evidence of full mastery and
of almost mastery?
• Spelling test non-example
• No echoing or parroting
• Regular conversations with
subject-like colleagues
• Other teachers grading your
students’ work
• Pacing Guides and Common
Assessments?
 Quick Reference: Differentiated Lesson Planning Sequence

A. Steps to take before designing the learning

experiences:

1. Identify your essential understandings, questions,

benchmarks, objectives, skills, standards, and/or learner
outcomes.
2. Identify your students with unique needs, and get an
early look at what they will need in order to learn and
achieve.
3. Design your formative and summative assessments.
4. Design and deliver your pre-assessments based on the
summative assessments and identified objectives.
5. Adjust assessments or objectives based on your further
thinking discovered while designing the assessments.
B. Steps to take while designing the learning experiences:

1. Design the learning experiences for students based on

pre-assessments, your knowledge of your students, and
your expertise with the curriculum, cognitive theory, and
students at this stage of human development.
2. Run a mental tape of each step in the lesson sequence
to make sure things make sense for your diverse group
of students and that the lesson will run smoothly.
3. Review your plans with a colleague.
4. Obtain/Create materials needed for the lesson.
5. Conduct the lesson.
6. Adjust formative and summative assessments and
objectives as necessary based on observations and
data collected while teaching.
C. Steps to take after providing the learning
experiences:

1. Evaluate the lesson’s success with

students. What evidence do you have
that the lesson was successful? What
worked and what didn’t, and why?
2. Record advice on lesson changes for
yourself for when you do this lesson in
future years.
 To Get Guidance on What is
Essential and Enduring, Consult:
• standards of learning (What skills and content within
this standard will be necessary to teach students in
order for them to demonstrate mastery of the standard?)
• programs of study
• curriculum guides
• pacing guides
• other teacher’s tests
• professional journals
• Mentor or colleague teachers
• textbook scope and sequence
• textbook end-of-chapter reviews and tests
• subject-specific on-line listservs
• professional organizations
• quiet reflection
 Consider:
• The Latin root of assessment is, “assidere,”
which means, “to sit beside.”

• From Assessment expert, Doug Reeves:

“Too often, educational tests, grades,

and report cards are treated by teachers as
autopsies when they should be viewed as
physicals.”
 Feedback vs Assessment
Feedback: Holding up a mirror to students,
showing them what they did and comparing it
what they should have done. There’s no
evaluative component! Comments only, no
grades or percentages.
Assessment: Gathering data so we can make a
decision
Greatest Impact on Student Success:

Formative feedback
 What does our understanding of
feedback mean for our use of
homework?

Is homework more formative or

summative in nature? Whichever it is,
its role in determining grades will be
dramatically different.
 “If we don’t count
homework heavily,
students won’t do it.”

Do you agree with this?

Does this sentiment cross a line?
 Two Homework Extremes
that Focus Our Thinking
• If a student does none of the homework
assignments, yet earns an “A” (top grade) on
every formal assessment we give, does he
earn anything less than an “A” on his report
card?

• If a student does all of the homework well

yet bombs every formal assessment, isn’t
that also a red flag that something is amiss,
and we need to take corrective action?
Be clear: We mark or grade against
outcomes, not routes students take
or techniques teachers use to
achieve those outcomes.

What does this mean we should do with class

participation, discussion, or group project
marks?
 Accuracy of the Final Report Card Grade versus the Level
of Use of Formative Assessment Scores in the Final
Report Grade
High Final
Grade Accuracy

ti ve
r ma nt al Ac
f Fo me Fin Re c u
o ss e po r ac
e e th rt y
Us Ass in de C a of
e s ra r d Fi n
or G G r al
S c ad
e

Low Final
Grade Accuracy

Low Use of High Use of

Formative Scores Formative Scores
in the Final Grade in the Final Grade
 Assessment OF Learning
• Still very important
• Summative, final declaration of
proficiency, literacy, mastery
• Letter grades used
• Little impact on learning from feedback
 Assessment AS/FOR Learning
• Letter grades not used
• Comments and some non-judgement symbols
used
• Share learning goals with students from the
beginning
• Make adjustments in teaching a result of
formative assessment data
• Provide descriptive feedback to students
• Provide opportunities for student for self-and
peer assessment
-- O’Connor,
Wormeli
 Result on Student
Teacher Action Achievement
Just telling students # correct and Negative influence on
incorrect achievement
Clarifying the scoring criteria Increase of 16 percentile points

Providing explanations as to why Increase of 20 percentile points

their responses are correct or
incorrect
Asking students to continue Increase of 20 percentile points
responding to an assessment until
they correctly answer the items
Graphically portraying student Increase of 26 percentile points
achievement

-- Marzano, CAGTW, pgs 5-6

 Topic or Simple Really Don’t
Item Proficiency Right Wrong Mistake? Understand

Dividing
1 fractions
Dividing
2 Fractions
Multiplying
3 Fractions
Multiplying
4 fractions
Reducing to
5 Smplst trms
Reducing to
6 Smplst trms

7 Reciprocals

8 Reciprocals

9 Reciprocals
The chart on the previous slide is based
on an idea found in the article below:

Stiggins, Rick. “Assessment Through the

Student’s Eyes,” Educational Leadership,
May 2007, Vol. 64, No. 8, pages 22 – 26,
ASCD
 Benefits of Students Self Assessing
• Students better understand the standards and
outcomes
• Students are less dependent on teachers for
feedback; they independently monitor their own
progress
• Students develop metacognitive skills and adjust
what they are doing to improve their work
• Students broaden learning when they see how
peers approach tasks
• Students develop communication and social skills
when required to provide feedback to others.
-- from Manitoba’s Communicating Student Learning, 2008
From NASSP’s Principal’s Research
Review, January 2009:

When anyone is trying to learn,

feedback about the effort has three
elements: recognition of the desired
goal, evidence about present position,
and some understanding of a way to
close the gap between the two” (p.
143, Black)
 Carol Dweck (2007) distinguishes
between students with a fixed intelligence
mindset who believe that intelligence is
innate and unchangeable and those with a
growth mindset who believe that their
achievement can improve through effort
and learning…Teaching students a growth
mindset results in increased motivation,
better grades, and higher achievement
test results.”
(p.6, Principal’s Research Review, January 2009, NASSP)
Pre-Assessments

Used to indicate students’ readiness

for content and skill development.
Used to guide instructional decisions.
Formative Assessments

These are in-route checkpoints,

frequently done. They provide ongoing and
clear feedback to students and the teacher,
informing instruction and reflecting subsets
of the essential and enduring knowledge.
They are where successful differentiating
teachers spend most of their energy –
assessing formatively and providing timely
feedback to students and practice.
Summative Assessments

These are given to students at the end of

the learning to document growth and
mastery. They match the learning objectives
and experiences, and they are negotiable if
the product is not the literal learner outcome.
They reflect most, if not all, of the essential
and enduring knowledge. They are not very
helpful forms of feedback.
 Tips for Planning Assessments

• Correlate all formal assessments with

objectives.
• While summative assessments may be large
and complex, pre-assessments usually are
not.
• Get ideas for pre- and formative assessments
from summative assessments.
• Spend the majority of your time
designing/emphasizing formative
assessments and the feedback they provide.
 Tips for Planning Assessments –
Planning Sequence

• Design summative assessments first, then

design your pre- and formative assessments.
• Give pre-assessments several days or a
week PRIOR to starting the unit.
• Design your lesson plans AFTER reviewing
pre-assessment data.
 Evaluating the Usefulness
of Assessments

• What are your essential and enduring skills and

content you’re trying to assess?
• How does this assessment allow students to
demonstrate their mastery?
• Is every component of that objective accounted for
in the assessment?
• Can students respond another way and still satisfy
the requirements of the assessment task? Would
this alternative way reveal a student’s mastery more
truthfully?
• Is this assessment more a test of process or
content? Is that what you’re after?
Clear and Consistent Evidence

We want an accurate portrayal of a

student’s mastery, not something clouded
by a useless format or distorted by only
one opportunity to reveal understanding.
Differentiating teachers require
accurate assessments in order to
differentiate successfully.
 Great differentiated assessment
is never kept in the dark.

“Students can hit any target they

can see and which stands still for
them.”
-- Rick Stiggins, Educator and Assessment expert

If a child ever asks, “Will this be on

the test?”.….we haven’t done our job.
 Successful Assessment
is Authentic in Two Ways

• The assessment is close to how

students will apply their learning in
real-world applications. (not
mandatory)
• The assessment must be authentic to
how students are learning. (mandatory)
 Successful Assessments are Varied
and They are Done Over Time

• Assessments are often snapshot-in-time,

inferences of mastery, not absolute
declarations of exact mastery

• When we assess students through more than

one format, we see different sides to their
understanding. Some students’ mindmaps of
their analyses of Renaissance art rivals the
most cogent, written versions of their
classmates.
 Potential distractions on
assessment day:
growling stomach, thirst, exhaustion, illness,
emotional angst over:
parents/friends/identity/tests/college/politics/
birthday/sex/blogs/parties/sports/projects/
homework/self-esteem/acne/holiday/report
cards/future career/money/disease

It’s reasonable to allow students every

opportunity to show their best side, not just
one opportunity.
 Portfolios
Portfolios can be as simple as a folder of collected
works for one year or as complex as multi-year, selected
and analyzed works from different areas of a student’s
life. portfolios are often showcases in which students and
teachers include representative samples of students’
achievement regarding standards and learning
objectives over time. They can be on hardcopy or
electronic, and they can contain non-paper artifacts as
well. They can be places to store records, attributes, and
accomplishments of a student, as well as a place to
reveal areas in need of growth. They can be maintained
by students, teachers, or a combination of both. Though
they are stored most days in the classroom, portfolios
are sent home for parent review at least once a grading
period.
 Guiding Questions for Rubric Design:

• Does the rubric account for everything we want

to assess?
• Is a rubric the best way to assess this product?
• Is the rubric tiered for this student group’s
readiness level?
• Is the rubric clearly written so anyone doing a
“cold” reading of it will understand what is
expected of the student?
• Can a student understand the content yet score
poorly on the rubric? If so, why, and how can we
change the rubric to make sure it doesn’t
happen?
 Guiding Questions for Rubric Design:

• Can a student understand very little content yet

score well on the rubric? If so, how can we
change that so it doesn’t happen?
• What are the benefits to us as teachers of this
topic to create a rubric for our students?
• How do the elements of this rubric support
differentiated instruction?
• What should we do differently the next time we
create this rubric?
 “Metarubric Summary”
To determine the quality of a rubric, examine the:

• Content -- Does it assess the important material and

leave out the unimportant material?
• Clarity -- Can the student understand what’s being
asked of him, Is everything clearly defined, including
examples and non-examples?
• Practicality -- Is it easy to use by both teachers and
students?
• Technical quality/fairness -- Is it reliable and valid?
• Sampling -- How well does the task represent the
breadth and depth of the target being assessed?

(p. 220). Rick Stiggins and his co-authors of Classroom Assessment for
Student Learning (2005)
 Holistic or Analytic?

Task: Write an expository paragraph.

• Holistic: One descriptor for the highest score

lists all the elements and attributes that are
required.

• Analytic: Create separate rubrics (levels of

accomplishment with descriptors) within the
larger one for each subset of skills, all outlined in
one chart. Examples for the paragraph prompt:
Content, Punctuation and Usage, Supportive
Details, Organization, Accuracy, and Use of
Relevant Information.
 Holistic or Analytic?

Task: Create a drawing and explanation of atoms.

• Holistic: One descriptor for the highest score lists all the
features we want them to identify accurately.

• Analytic: Create separate rubrics for each subset of

features –
– Anatomical Features: protons, neutrons, electrons
and their ceaseless motion, ions, valence
– Periodic Chart Identifiers: atomic number, mass
number, period
– Relationships and Bonds with other Atoms: isotopes,
molecules, shielding, metal/non-metal/metalloid
families, bonds – covalent, ionic, and metallic.
Rubric for the Historical Fiction Book Project – Holistic-style

5.0 Standard of Excellence:

• All material relating to the novel was accurate

• Demonstrated full understanding of the story and its characters
• Demonstrated attention to quality and craftsmanship in the
product
• Product is a realistic portrayal of media used (examples:
postcards look like postcards, calendar looks like a real calendar,
placemats can function as real placemats)
• Writing is free of errors in punctuation, spelling, capitalization,
and grammar
• Had all components listed for the project as described in the task

4.5, 4.0, 3.5, 3.0, 2.5, 2.0, 1.5, 1.0, .5, and 0 are awarded in cases in
which students’ projects do not fully achieve all criteria
described for excellence. Circled items are areas for
improvement.
Keep the important ideas in sight and in mind.
 Two Rubric Ideas to Consider:
• Only give the fully written description for
the standard of excellence. This way
students won’t set their sights on
something lower.
• 4.0 rubrics carry so much automatic,
emotional baggage, parents and students
rarely read and internalize the descriptors.
Make it easier for them: Use anything
except the 4.0 rubric – 2.0, 3.0, 5.0, 6.0.
Why Do We Mark or Grade Students’ Work?

• Provide feedback
• Document progress
• Guide instructional decisions
---------------------------------------------
• Motivate
• Punish
• Sort students

What about incorporating attendance,

effort, and behavior in the final mark?
 “We err gravely when we call
compliance and politeness,
‘algebra’ and ‘English,’ or any other
label that conflates proficiency with
behavior.”

-- Doug Reeves, 2006 as quoted in the forthcoming 3rd edition of

Ken O’Connor’s How to Grade for Learning, Corwin Press,
2008)
‘Time to Change the Metaphor:

Grades and marks are NOT

compensation. Grades and marks
are communication: They are an
accurate report of what happened.
 Consider…
• Teaching and learning can and do occur
without grades.
• We do not give students grades in order to
teach them.
• Letter grades/marks reference summative
experiences only – cumulative tests, projects,
demonstrations, NOT formative experiences.
• Students can learn without letter grades, but
they must have feedback.
• Grades/marks are inferences based upon a
sampling of student’s work in one snapshot
moment in time. As such they are highly
subjective and relative.
 Premise
A grade or mark represents a valid and undiluted
indicator of what a student knows
and is able to do – mastery.

With grades/marks, we document progress

in students and our teaching, we provide
feedback to students and their parents,
and we make instructional decisions.
10 Practices to Avoid in a Differentiated
Classroom
[They Dilute a Grade’s Validity and Effectiveness]
• Penalizing students’ multiple attempts at
mastery
• Grading practice (daily homework) as
students come to know concepts [Feedback,
not grading, is needed]
• Withholding assistance (not scaffolding or
differentiating) in the learning when it’s
needed
• Group marks or grades
• Incorporating non-academic factors
(behavior, attendance, and effort)
• Assessing students in ways that do not
accurately indicate students’ mastery
(student responses are hindered by the
assessment format)
• Marking/Grading on a curve
• Allowing Extra Credit
• Defining supposedly criterion-based marks
in terms of norm-referenced descriptions
(“above average,” “average”, etc.)
• Recording zeroes on the 100.0 scale for work
not done
 0 or 50 (or 60)?
100-pt. Scale:
0, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100 -- 83% (C+)
60, 100, 100, 100, 100, 100 -- 93% (B+)

st u d ents,
r k i n g with h u r tful,
w o e mo s t
When o o s e t h
h e “F”
e c h o f t
do w r a b le end
ve
unreco the most le end
o r r a b
range, tive, recove
uc
constr ” range?
“F
of the
 Be clear: Students are not
getting points for having done
nothing. The student still gets an
F. We’re simply equalizing the
influence of the each mark in the
overall grade and responding in a
way that leads to learning.
Imagine the Reverse…

A = 100 – 40 What if we reversed the

proportional influences of the
marks? That “A” would have a
B = 39 – 30 huge, yet undue, inflationary
effect on the overall grade. Just
as we wouldn’t want an “A” to
C = 29 – 20 have an inaccurate effect, we
don’t want an “F” grade to have
such an undue, deflationary, and
D = 19 – 10 inaccurate effect. Keeping
zeroes on a 100-pt. scale is just

F= 9– 0
as absurd as the scale seen here.
100 4 Consider the
90 3 Correlation
80 2
A (0) on a 100-pt. scale is a
70 1 (-6) on a 4-pt. scale. If a student
60 0 does no work, he should get
50 -1
nothing, not something worse
than nothing. How instructive
40 -2 is it to tell a student that he
30 -3 earned six times less than
20 -4 absolute failure? Choose to be
instructive, not punitive.
10 -5
[Based on an idea by Doug Reeves, The Learning Leader,
ASCD, 2006]
0 -6
Temperature Readings for Norfolk, VA:
85, 87, 88, 84, 0 (‘Forgot to take the reading)

Average: 68.8 degrees

This is inaccurate for what really

happened, and therefore, unusable.
Clarification:
When we’re talking about converting
zeroes to 50’s or higher, we’re referring to
zeroes earned on major projects and
assessments, not homework, as well as
anything graded on a 100-point scale. It’s
okay to give zeroes on homework or on small
scales, such as a 4.0 scale. Zeroes recorded
for homework assignments do not refer to
final, accurate declarations of mastery, and
those zeroes don’t have the undue influence
on small grading scales.
Standards-based Grading Impacts Behavior,
not just Report Cards:

“When schools improve grading

policies – for example, by
disconnecting grades from behavior –
student achievement increases and
behavior improves dramatically.”
(Doug Reeves, ASCD’s Educational
Leadership, 2008, p. 90, Reeves)
 Marking Late Work
• One whole letter grade down for
each day late is punitive. It does
not teach students, and it removes
hope.
• A few points off for each day late is
instructive; there’s hope.
• Yes, the world beyond school is
like this.
“Teachers who accept late work tell me
that students are more likely to complete
their assignments if they know it will not
be graded down. It also communicates
to students that all class assignments
have a legitimate educational purpose
that must be fulfilled.”

-- Forest Gathercoal, Judicious Discipline (2004), as quoted

in forthcoming Ken O’Connor 3rd edition of How to Grade
for Learning, Corwin Press, 2008)
 “We are faced with the irony that
a policy that may be grounded in
the belief of holding students
accountable (giving zeroes)
actually allows some students to
escape accountability for
learning.” -- O’Connor, p. 86
 Helpful Consideration for Dealing
with Student’s Late Work:
Is it chronic….
…or is it occasional?
We respond differently,
depending on which one it is.
Are we interested more in holding students
accountable
or making sure they learn?

Avoid, “learn or I will hurt you” measures.

(Nancy Doda)
This quarter, you’ve taught:

• 4-quadrant graphing
• Slope and Y-intercept
• Multiplying binomials
• Ratios/Proportions
• 3-dimensional solids
• Area and Circumference of a circle.

The student’s mark: B

What does this mark tell us about the student’s

proficiency with each of the topics you’ve taught?
Unidimensionality – A single score on a test represents a single
dimension or trait that has been assessed

Dimension Dimension
Student A B Total Score

1 2 10 12

2 10 2 12

3 6 6 12
Problem: Most tests use a single score to assess multiple
dimensions and traits. The resulting score is often invalid and
useless. -- Marzano, CAGTW, page 13
 Setting Up Gradebooks in
a Differentiated Classroom

• Avoid setting up gradebooks according

to formats or media used to
demonstrate mastery: tests, quizzes,
homework, projects, writings,
performances
• Instead, set up gradebooks according
to mastery: objectives, benchmarks,
standards, learner outcomes
 Set up your gradebook into two sections:

Formative Summative

Assignments and assessments Final declaration

completed on the way to of mastery or
mastery or proficiency proficiency
 Summative Assessments Student:
______________________________
Most
Standards/ XYZ Test, PQR EFG XYZ Test, GHI Consistent
Outcomes part 1 Project Observ. part 2 Perf. Task Level
1.1
[Descriptor] 3.5 3.5
3.5
1.2
[Descriptor] 2.5 5.0 4.5 4.5
4.5
1.3
[Descriptor] 4.5 3.5 3.0 3.5
3.5
1.4
[Descriptor] 3.5 3.5
3.5
1.5
[Descriptor] 2.0 1.5
1.75
 Responsive Report Formats
Adjusted/Modified/Alternative
Curriculum Approach:

Mark the student against his own progression,

but indicate that the mark reflects an adjusted
curriculum. Place an asterisk next to the mark
or check a box on the report card indicating
such, and include a narrative comment in the
cumulative folder that explains the adjustments.
 Responsive Report Formats
Progression and Outcomes Approach:

Grade the student with two marks, one

indicating his performance with the learner
outcomes and another indicating his own
progression. A, B, C, D, or F indicates the
student’s progress against provincial
outcomes, while 3, 2, or 1 indicates his
personal progression.
 Responsive Report Formats
Multiple Categories Within Subjects Approach:

Divide the mark into its component pieces. For

example, a “B” in Science class can be
subdivided into specific outcomes or
benchmarks such as, “Demonstrates proper
lab procedure,” “Successfully employs the
scientific method,” or “Uses proper
nomenclature and/or taxonomic references.”

The more we try to aggregate into a single symbol, the

less reliable that symbol is as a true expression of
what a student knows and is able to do.
 Report Cards without Grades

Course: Standard Standards Rating

English 9 Descriptor (1) (2) (3) (4)
_____________________________________________________________________
Outcome 1 Usage/Punct/Spelling ----------------------2.5
Outcome 2 Analysis of Literature ------------1.75
Outcome 3 Six + 1 Traits of Writing --------------------------------3.25
Outcome 4 Reading Comprehension --------------------------------3.25
Outcome 5 Listening/Speaking ----------------2.0
Outcome 6 Research Skills ------------------------------------------4.0

Additional Comments from Teachers:

Health and Maturity Records for the Grading Period:

For this kind of electronic
gradebook and reporting, Robert
Marzano and ASCD recommend
The Pinnacle Plus system by
Excelsior Software.
Choose the student comment to his parents
we hope he will use:

1. “If I could just understand the

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, I
could do better on that test.”
(or)
2. “If I could just get four more problems
right, I could do better on that test.”
 100 point scale or 4.0 Scale?

• A 4.0 scale has a high inter-rater reliability.

Students’ work is connected to a detailed
descriptor and growth and achievement rally
around listed benchmarks.

• In 100-point or larger scales, the grades are

more subjective. In classes in which
teachers use percentages or points,
students, teachers, and parents more often
rally around grade point averages, not
learning.
Consider:
• Pure mathematical averages of marks for a
marking period are inaccurate indicators of
students’ true mastery.
• A teacher’s professional judgment via clear
descriptors on a rubric actually increases the
accuracy of a student’s final mark as an
indicator of what he learned.
• A teacher’s judgment via rubrics has a
stronger correlation with outside
standardized tests than point or average
calculations do.
(Marzano)
 Office of Educational Research and
Improvement Study (1994):

Students in impoverished communities

that receive high marks in English earn
the same scores as C and D students in
affluent communities.
Math was the same: High marks in
impoverished schools equaled only the
D students’ performance
in affluent schools.
 Accurate marks/grades are based on the most
consistent evidence. We look at the pattern of
achievement, including trends, not the
average of the data. This means we focus on
the median and mode, not mean, and the
most recent scores are weighed heavier than
earlier scores.

Median: The middle test score of a distribution,

above and below which lie an equal
number of test scores
Mode: The score occurring most frequently in
a series of observations or test data
 Suggested Language to Use in Parents’ Handbook:

Parents, as we are basing students' grades on

standards for each discipline, final grades are first and
foremost determined by our teachers' professional
opinion of your child's work against those standards,
not by mathematical calculations. Teachers have
been trained in analyzing student products against
standards and in finding evidence of that learning
using a variety of methods. Please don't hesitate to
inquire how grades for your child were determined if
you are unsure.
 Allowing Students to Re-do
Assignments and Tests for Full Credit:

• Always, “…at teacher discretion.”

• It must be within reason.

• Students must have been giving a sincere effort.

• Require parents to sign the original assignment or

test, requesting the re-do.

• Require students to submit a plan of study that will

enable them to improve their performance the second
time around.
Allow Students to Re-do Assignments and Tests for Full
Credit:

• Identify a day by which time this will be accomplished or

the grade is permanent.

• With the student, create a calendar of completion that will

help them achieve it.

• Require students to submit original with the re-done

version so you can keep track of their development

• Reserve the right to give alternative versions

• No-re-do’s the last week of the grading period

• Sometimes the greater gift is to deny the option.

If we do not allow students to re-do work, we deny
the growth mindset so vital to student maturation,
and we are declaring to the student:
• This assignment had no legitimate
educational value.
• It’s okay if you don’t do this work.
• It’s okay if you don’t learn this content or
skill.
None of these is acceptable to the highly
accomplished, professional educator.
 Grading Inclusion Students

Question #1:
“Are the standards/outcomes set for the whole
class also developmentally appropriate for this
student?”

• If they are appropriate, proceed to Question #2.

• If they are not appropriate, identify which
standards/outcomes are appropriate, making sure
they are as close as possible to the original
standards/outcomes. Then go to question #2.
 Grading Inclusion Students

Question #2:
“Will these learning experiences (processes)
we’re using with the general class work with the
inclusion student as well?”

• If they will work, then proceed to Question #3.

• If they will not work, identify alternative pathways
to learning that will work. Then go to Question
#3.
 Grading Inclusion Students
Question #3:
“Will this assessment instrument we’re using to get an
accurate rendering of what general education students
know and are able to do regarding the
standards/outcome also provide an accurate rendering
of what this inclusion student knows and is able to do
regarding the same outcome?

• If the instrument will provide an accurate rendering of the

inclusion student’s mastery, then use it just as you do
with the rest of the class.
• If it will not provide an accurate rendering of the inclusion
student’s mastery, then identify a product that will
provide that accuracy, and make sure it holds the
student accountable for the same universal factors as
your are asking of the other students.
 Grading Gifted/Talented Students
• Insure grade-level material is learned.
• If it’s enrichment material only, the grade still
represents mastery of on-grade-level
material. An addendum report card or the
comment section provides feedback on
advanced material.
• If the course name indicates advanced
material (Algebra I Honors, Biology II), then
we grade against those advanced outcomes.
• If the student has accelerated a grade level
or more, he is graded against the same
standards/outcomes as his older classmates.
Your Own Grading Philosophy Statement

Write a one- to two-page document that

describes your marking/grading policies. Write
it as if parents, administrators, colleagues, and
the School Board would be reading it with a
critical eye. Share this document with others.
Your pedagogy becomes real and has
impact only after it has been defended and
criticized publicly. Otherwise, it’s just an
opinion or assumption. Our teaching core
values are revealed and potentially
transformed in the negotiation of these points
with others, not in the recording of our
thoughts individually.
 GPS Format
1. 1-2 sentence statement of your philosophy.
Ex: “Homework will count 5% in this class.”
2. 1-5 sentences of rationale as to why this is
your policy. Ex: “Homework is meant to be
practice as students learn a topic, not a
declaration of summative mastery of that
topic. Since letter grades are reserved only
for summative declarations of mastery,
homework should not be a major portion of
the final grade for the marking period.”
 Include in your statement your philosophy
on the following:
Differentiated and fair grading The role of alternative
Rubrics assessments
Modified or adjusted curriculum Weighting marks
Student self-assessment The percent influence of
Extra credit varied assessments
What marks/grades mean Dealing with late work
Definitions of individual grades Setting up the gradebook
Grading scales (100 vs 4.0) according to categories,
Formative vs summative assessments
Averaging grades vs using median/mode assessment formats or
Marking classwork outcomes
Marking homework Re-doing work or tests for
The purpose of homework full credit
How much curriculum should be on The purpose of
one test and tiering tests marks/grades and
marking/grading
 Sample Formative Assessments
Topic: Verb Conjugation

Sample Formative Assessments:

• Conjugate five regular verbs.

• Conjugate five irregular verbs.
• Conjugate a verb in Spanish, then do its parallel in
English
• Answer: Why do we conjugate verbs?
• Answer: What advice would you give a student
learning to conjugate verbs?
• Examine the following 10 verb conjugations and
identify which ones are done incorrectly.
 Sample Formative Assessments
Topic: Balancing Chemical Equations

Formative Assessments:

• Define reactants and products, and identify them in the

equations provided.
• Critique how Jason calculated the number of moles of
each reactant.
• Balance these sample, unbalanced equations.
• Answer: What do we mean by balancing equations?
• Explain to your lab partner how knowledge of
stoichiometric coefficients help us balance equations
• Prepare a mini-poster that explains the differences
among combination, decomposition, and displacement
reactions.
 Samples of Formative Assessment
• Solve these four math problems.
• What three factors led to the government’s decision to…
• Draw a symbol that best portrays this book’s character
as you now understand him (her), and write a brief
explanation as to why you chose the symbol you did.
• Record your answer to this question on your dry-erase
board and hold it above your head for me to see.
• Prepare a rough draft of the letter you’re going to write.
• What is your definition of…?
• Who had a more pivotal role in this historical situation,
______________ or ________________, and why do
you believe as you do?
 Samples of Formative Assessment
• Identify at least five steps you need to take in order to
solve math problems like these.
• How would you help a friend keep the differences
between amphibians and reptiles clear in his mind?
• Write a paragraph of 3 to 5 lines that uses a
demonstrative pronoun in each sentence and circle each
example.
• Play the F sharp scale.
• In a quick paragraph, describe the impact of the
Lusitania’s sinking
• Create a web or outline that captures what we’ve learned
today about….
Additional Formative Assessment Ideas:
• “Reader’s Theater” -- Turn text, video, lecture,
field trip, etc. into script and perform it

• Virtual Metaphors (Graphic Organizers)

• Projects, dioramas, non-linguistic represenations

• Multiple Choice questions followed by, “Why did

you answer the way you did?”

• Correct false items on True-false tests.

 3-2-1
3 – Identify three characteristics of Renaissance art
that differed from art of the Middle Ages
2 – List two important scientific debates that occurred
during the Renaissance
1 – Provide one good reason why “rebirth” is an
appropriate term to describe the Renaissance

3 – List three applications for slope, y-intercept

knowledge in the professional world
2 – Identify two skills students must have in order to
determine slope and y-intercept from a set of points
on a plane
1 – If (x1, y1) are the coordinates of a point W in a
plane, and (x2, y2) are the coordinates of a different
point Y, then the slope of line WY is what?
 Exclusion Brainstorming
The student identifies the word/concept that
does not belong with the others, then either orally or
in writing explains his reasoning:

• Mixtures – plural, separable, dissolves, no formula

• Compounds – chemically combined, new properties,
has formula, no composition
• Solutions – heterogeneous mixture, dissolved
particles, saturated and unsaturated, heat increases
• Suspensions – clear, no dissolving, settles upon
standing, larger than molecules
 The Frayer Model
[Frayer, Frederick, Klausmeier, 1969]

Essential Non- Essential

Characteristics Characteristics

< Topic >

Examples Non-
examples
 Sorting Cards
Teach something that has multiple
categories, like types of government, multiple
ideologies, cycles in science, systems of the
body, taxonomic nomenclature, or multiple
theorems in geometry. Then display the
categories.
Provide students with index cards or Post-it
notes with individual facts, concepts, and
attributes of the categories recorded on them.
Ask students to work in groups to place each
fact, concept, or attribute in its correct category.
The conversation among group members is just
as important to the learning experience as the
placement of the cards, so let students defend
their reasoning orally and often.
 Change the Verb
Analyze… Explain…
Construct… Revise…
Decide between… Argue against…
Why did… Argue for…
Defend… Examine…
Contrast… Devise…
Identify… Plan…
Classify… Critique…
Define… Rank…
Compose… Organize…
Interpret… Interview…
Expand… Find support for…
Predict… Develop…
Categorize… Suppose…
Invent… Imagine…
Recommend…
 
 Synectics
(William J. Gordon)
“The joining together of different and
apparently irrelevant elements,” or put more
simply, “Making the familiar strange.”

1. Teach a topic to students.

2. Ask students to describe the topic, focusing on
descriptive words and critical attributes.
3. Teacher identifies an unrelated category to compare
to the descriptions in #2. (Think of a sport that
reminds you of these words. Explain why you chose
that sport.) Students can choose the category, too.
4. Students write or express the analogy between the
two: The endocrine system is like playing zones in
basketball. Each player or gland is responsible for
his area of the game.
 4-Square Synectics
1. Brainstorm four objects from a particular category
(examples: kitchen appliances, household items,
the circus, forests, shopping malls).
2. In small groups, brainstorm what part of today’s
learning is similar in some way to the objects listed.
3. Create four analogies, one for each object.

Example: How is the human digestive system like each

household item: sink, old carpet, microwave, broom

Example: How is the Pythagorean Theorem like each

musical instrument: piano, drum set, electric guitar,
trumpet?
T-List or T-Chart: Wilson’s 14 Points

Main Ideas Details/Examples

1.
Reasons President Wilson 2.
Designed the Plan for Peace
3.

1.
Three Immediate Effects on
U.S. Allies 2.
3.

1.
Three Structures/Protocols
created by the Plans 2.
3
 Summarization Pyramid
__________
______________
____________________
_________________________
______________________________
___________________________________

Great prompts for each line: Synonym, analogy,

question, three attributes, alternative title, causes,
effects, reasons, arguments, ingredients, opinion,
larger category, formula/sequence, insight, tools,
misinterpretation, sample, people, future of the
topic
 One-Word Summaries
“The new government regulations for the meat-
packing industry in the 1920’s could be seen as an
opportunity…,”
“Picasso’s work is actually an argument for….,”
“NASA’s battle with Rockwell industries over the
warnings about frozen temperatures and the O-
rings on the space shuttle were trench warfare….”

Basic Idea: Argue for or against the word as a good

description for the topic.
Taboo Cards

Photosynthesis

Light
Green
Water
Sun
Chlorophyll
Plant
Produce
 Line-up
• Groups of students line up according to
criteria. Each student holds an index card
identifying what he or she is portraying.
• Students discuss everyone’s position with
one another -- posing questions, disagreeing,
and explaining rationales.
 Line-up
Students can line-up according to:
chronology, sequences in math problems,
components of an essay, equations,
sentences, verb tense, scientific
process/cycle, patterns: alternating,
category/example, increasing/decreasing
degree, chromatic scale, sequence of events,
cause/effect, components of a larger topic,
opposites, synonyms
Statues (Body Sculpture)
Students work in small groups
using every groupmember’s body
to symbolically portray concepts
in frozen tableau.

Where does the learning occur?

 “Awards”
(p. 68, Checking for Understanding, ASCD, 2007)

• Students recommend someone or

something for an award that they or the
teacher have created based on their
understanding of the topic:
“Busiest Part of Speech” Award
“Most Likely Mistake We Make while Graphing
Data” Award
“Most Important Literary Device in this Novel”
Award
 Quick Checks
• Dry-Erase Slates (or something similar): Students record
responses on them and hold them above their heads
• Thumbs up, sideways, or down according to their level of
understanding
• Fingers: 5 = Agree or Understand completely, 3 =
Disagree but will accept the group’s decision or ‘still
confused about one part, 1 = Disagree strongly or “I
don’t understand yet”
• “Pisa Assessment” – Students lean left, sit up straight, or
lean right according to their level of understanding
• ARS – Audience Response Systems (electronic devices
students use to respond to teacher questions, tabulated
on screen for students and teachers)
 Accountable Talk
(p.23, Checking for Understanding, ASCD, 2007)

• Press for clarification – “Could you describe

what you mean?”
• Require justification – “Where did you find that
information?”
• Recognize and challenge misconceptions – “I
don’t agree because…”
• Demand evidence for claims – “Can you give me
an example?”
• Interpret and use others’ statements – “David
suggested that….”
 “Whip Around”
(p.34 Checking for Understanding, ASCD, 2007)

• Students record three ideas or facts from the

lesson on scrap paper, then stand up.
• Each student reads his list of facts, but only the
ones that have not yet been mentioned by others.
• As classmates hear facts included on their own
lists, they cross them off.
• When all three are crossed off their lists, students
sit down.
• Students continue until the last classmate has
shared.
• Teacher notes what was and was not mentioned.
Great New Books on Feedback,
Assessment, and Grading:
• Differentiated Assessment for Middle and High School Classrooms, Deborah Blaz, Eye on Education, 2008
• How to Give Feedback to Your Students, Susan M. Brookhart, ASCD, 2008
• Developing Performance-Based Assessments, Grades 6-12, Nancy P. Gallavan, Corwin Press, 2009
• Measuring Up: What Educational Testing Really Tells Us, Daniel Koretz, Harvard University Press, 2008
• Assessment Essentials for Stnadards-Based Education, Second Edition, James H. McMillan, Corwin Press, 2008
 Recommended Reading on Assessment and Grading
• Arter, Judith A.; McTighe, Jay; Scoring Rubrics in
the Classroom : Using Performance Criteria for
Assessing and Improving Student Performance,
Corwin Press, 2000
• Benjamin, Amy. Differentiating Instruction: A Guide
for Middle and High School Teachers, Eye on
Education, 2002
• Black, Paul; William, Dylan. 1998. “Inside the Black
Box: Raising Standards through Classroom
Assessment,” Phi Delta kappan, 80(2): 139-148
• Borich, Gary D.; Tombari, Martin L. Educational
Assessment for the Elementary and Middle School
Classroom (2nd Edition), Prentice Hall, 2003
• Brookhart, Susan. 2004. Grading. Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Merrill/Prentice Hall
 Recommended Reading on Assessment and Grading
• Fisher, Douglas; Frey, Nancy. Checking for Understanding:
Formative Assessment Techniques for your Classroom, ASCD,
2007
• www.exemplars.com
• Heacox, Diane, Ed.D. Differentiated Instruction in the Regular
Classroom, Grades 3 – 12, Free Spirit Publishing, 2000
• Lewin, Larry; Shoemaker, Betty Jean. Great Performances:
Creating Classroom-Based Assessment Tasks, John Wiley & Sons,
1998
• Marzano, Robert. Transforming Classroom Grading, ASCD 2001
• Marzano, Robert. Classroom Assessment and Grading that Work,
ASCD 2006
• Marzano, Robert; McTighe, Jay; and Pickering, Debra. Assessing
Student Outcomes: Performance Assessment Using the
Dimensions of Learning Model, Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development, 1993
 Recommended Reading

• Millan, James H. Classroom Assessment: Principles and

Practice for Effective Instruction (2nd Edition), Allyn & Bacon,
2000
• Manitoba, Canada Ministry of Education. Communicating
Students’ Learning, 2008
• O’Connor, Ken; How to Grade for Learning, 2nd Edition,
Thousand Oaks, CA, Corwin Press (3rd edition coming in 2009)
• O’Connor, Ken; A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken
Grades, ETS publishers, 2007
• O’Connor, Ken. “Reforming Grading Practices in Secondary
Schools,” Principal’s Research Review, Volume 4, Issue 1,
January 2009, NASSP
• Popham, W. James; Test Better, Teach Better: The Intsructional
Role of Assessment, Association for Supervision and
Curriculum Development, 2003
• Popham, W. James; Classroom Assessment : What Teachers
Need to Know (4th Edition), Pearson Education, 2004
• Stiggins, Richard J. Student-Involved Classroom Assessment
(3rd Edition), Prentice Hall, 2000
• Wiggins, Grant; Educative assessment:
Assessment to Inform and Improve
Performance, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1997
Grant Wiggins Web site and organization:
Center on Learning, Assessment, and School
Structure (CLASS)
[email protected] www.classnj.org
[email protected]
• Wormeli, Rick. Fair Isn’t Always Equal:
Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated
Classroom. Stenhouse Publishers, 2006
 “I was put on earth by God
in order to accomplish a certain
number of things…
right now I am so far behind…
I will never die!”

-Calvin and Hobbes

 “Even a man on the right
track will get run over if he
just stands there.”
-- Will Rogers

“Don’t let anything hit you in the rear end.”

-- Rick Wormeli