Balanced Assessment Systems: Leadership, Quality, and the Role of Classroom Assessment

Build a balanced assessment system and support ESSA implementation! It has never been more important to develop balanced assessment systems that can provide meaningful information, improve teaching practices, and help students learn. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) increases assessment flexibility and responsibilities for states and districts—an opportunity to change assessment for the better. Authors Chappuis, Commodore, and Stiggins have helped thousands of teachers, principals and other educational leaders in becoming assessment-literate and developing assessment systems built on quality assessment. This comprehensive new guide provides clear steps and strategies for developing an assessment system, and includes many interactive exercises designed for professional development and system implementation. Readers will learn how to: Create a balanced assessment system and analyze the progress being made within your school or district toward it Develop and implement assessment systems that are both formative (measuring learning in progress) and summative (verifying learning that has taken place) Take specific leadership actions that advance the balance and quality of assessment systems Help teachers integrate formative assessments into classroom instruction Empower students by involving them in the assessment process Take action now to make proactive, positive changes in your school or district’s approach to assessment!

Table of Contents:
Introduction About the Authors Part 1. Balanced Assessment Systems and Student Learning Today’s Assessment Environment Assessment and the New School Mission Building Local Assessment Systems for Balance and Quality Inside the System Levels of Assessment Use Classroom Assessment Interim/Benchmark Assessment Annual Assessment Activity 1.1: Formative or Summative? The Benefits of Balance Learning Targets for Readers Thinking About Assessment: Support Resources for Part 1 Activity 1.2: Embracing the Vision of a Standards-Based School Activity 1.3: Discussing Key Assessment Concepts With Faculty Part 2. Five Assessment Actions for Balance and Quality Action 1: Balance Your Assessment System Is Your Assessment System in Balance? Strategies for Balancing Assessment Systems Activity 2.1: Conducting an Assessment Audit Action 2: Continue to Refine Achievement Standards What Is the Current State of Your Achievement Standards? Student- and Family-Friendly Learning Targets Activity 2.2: Deconstructing Standards Into Classroom-Level Achievement Targets: Practice for School Leaders Action 3: Ensure Assessment Quality How Can You Ensure Assessment Quality? Activity 2.3: Indicators of Sound Classroom Assessment Practice Action 4: Build Effective Systems for Communicating Assessment Results Action 5: Link Assessment to Student Motivation With Assessment for Learning Strategies Assessment for Learning: Bringing Students Onboard Activity 2.4: Assessment for Learning Self-Evaluation Thinking About Assessment: Support Resources for Part 2 Activity 2.5: Local Assessment System Self-Evaluation Part 3. Individual Leadership Actions for Balance and Quality Individual Leadership Actions Individual Leadership Action 1: Deepen your personal understanding of a sound and balanced assessment system and the conditions required to achieve it. Activity 3.1: Merging Local and State Assessment Systems Individual Leadership Action 2: Promote the necessity and use of clear academic achievement standards in every subject and grade level with aligned classroom-level learning targets and the understanding of their relationship to the development .... Activity 3.2: Implementing the Written Curriculum Individual Leadership Action 3: Promote and communicate standards of quality for student assessments, helping teachers learn to assess accurately, and work to ensure that these standards are met in all school/district assessments. Activity 3.3: Verifying Teachers’ Content Knowledge and Assessment Competence Individual Leadership Action 4: Deepen your knowledge of formative assessment practices that involve students and work with staff to integrate them into classroom instruction. Activity 3.4: Communicating Learning Targets in Student-Friendly Language Individual Leadership Action 5: Create the conditions necessary for the appropriate use and reporting of student achievement information, including report card grades. Grading and Reporting Activity 3.5: A Rubric for Sound Grading Practice Activity 3.6: When Grades Don’t Match the State Assessment Results Individual Leadership Action 6: Form or participate in peer learning groups to practice observing and evaluating teacher classroom assessment competencies. Activity 3.7: Should Teachers Be Held Accountable for Assessment Competence Through Evaluation? Individual Leadership Action 7: Review and examine current school/district assessment-related policies for alignment to sound assessment practice, and encourage revision as needed. Activity 3.8: Using School/District Policies to Support Quality Assessment Thinking About Assessment: Support Resources for Part 3 Activity 3.9: Auditing for Balance in Classroom Curriculum and Assessment Activity 3.10: Assessment Leadership Success Indicators Activity 3.11: Action Planning for Assessment Balance and Quality References Index

About the Author :
Steve Chappuis has served as a public school teacher, principal and district administrator. In the private sector he helped small and large education service companies establish strategic plans for professional development and publishing. He has delivered presentations around the country to school leaders on the benefits of quality classroom assessment and how to implement local balanced assessment systems, and has authored and co-authored books and articles on the same topics. Carol Commodore is an independent consultant whose special interests center on leadership, assessment, systems thinking, motivation and learning. An educator for more than 30 years, she served as a classroom teacher, a department chair, an assistant superintendent and an assessment coordinator. During her tenure as a district leader she facilitated the establishment of new programs in the areas of balanced assessment and foreign language. Carol has coauthored three other books in the areas of assessment and leadership. Carol presents and consults for local, state, national and international organizations across North America, Asia, and the Middle East.     Rick Stiggins has devoted his professional life to understanding keys to student academic success in the classroom. His mission has been to help teachers, school leaders, policy makers, and school communities apply research-based policies and classroom practices that help all students experience the highest-possible levels of learning success. His preparation to fulfill this mission began as a psychology major at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, followed by doctoral studies in educational psychology at Michigan State University. Rick’s focus on keys to student success was sharpened with early career experiences at the University of Minnesota, on the research staff of the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL) in Portland, Oregon, and as a visiting scholar at Stanford University. During this phase of his own development, Rick spent over a decade in classrooms with students and teachers researching and striving to understand (1) the task demands teachers face in managing the day-to-day classroom assessment process, and (2) how that process can positively impact students’ motivation, actions, and achievement, as well as their sense of themselves as learners. With this foundation of understanding in hand, Rick founded the Assessment Training Institute (ATI) in 1992 in Portland, a professional development company whose mission was to promote the “assessment literacy.” He and his team developed and disseminated print, video, and online offerings that help educators, parents, and school communities in general learn to gather dependable evidence of student achievement and use that evidence effectively to develop truly effective instructional practices. Rick and the ATI team turned the spotlight onto the breakthrough practice of using “assessment for learning” or of engaging students in ongoing self-monitoring and management of their own growth while it is happening. Primary among the materials Rick and his team created has been an award-winning professional text for teachers titled An Introduction to Student-Involved Assessment for Learning, now available in its seventh edition (Chappuis & Stiggins, 2017). In addition, he has authored numerous books, articles, and other writings on sound practice for pre- and in-service training, community outreach, and educational leadership that have helped literally hundreds of thousands of teachers, school leaders, and community leaders around the world improve their classroom practice, educational leadership capabilities, and professional confidence. Through these channels, it is safe to assume that Rick’s work has impacted the learning and self-confidence of millions of students over the past forty years.