Welcome!

Thank you for choosing to explore the role of

assessment in helping your child learn! The purpose of this
book is to inform you on the role of assessment in the
classroom and about the types of assessments used by
teachers to monitor, improve, and report your childs
learning.
The role of assessment is a topic that has been and
continues to be important to educators and researchers.
Researchers have investigated types of assessments, when
to use different assessments, and how assessments can not
only report a score or level of achievement, but also
improve learning in the classroom.
The primary focus of this book will be on classroom
assessment, those assessments administered by the teacher.
The Standardized Summative Assessment chapter will
touch on the use of standardized assessments as they apply
to classroom instruction.
This book will help parents, guardians, and
caregivers better understand the definition of assessment as
it applies to todays classroom, the types of assessments,
and the roles of these assessments in the classroom. With
an improved understanding of assessment, you can better
support the learning processes at home and at school.
Again, thank you for choosing to become informed
in order to better support the education of your child!
Thank you,
Corey
www.teachercollaborate.com

Table of Contents
Chapter

Pages

1. What is assessment?

1-6

2. Formative Classroom Assessments

7 - 18

3. Summative Classroom Assessments

19 - 28

4. Summative High-stakes Assessments

29 - 38

5. Linking Formative As and

Summative Assessments

39 - 46

6. Classroom Grading (or Not Grading)

47 - 54

7. Supporting Assessment

55 - 66

What is Assessment?
If you dont know where you are headed, youll
probably end up someplace else.
-Douglas J. Eder, Ph.D.

Defining assessment can be challenging. There are

many different ways to define assessment because
assessment can take many forms. Assessment can be
viewed as traditional paper and pencil tests and quizzes, as
projects, and as essays or reports, but, as we will present in
later chapters, assessment can include many other
activities.
Assessments are most often associated with the
means of determining a grade or a level of achievement in
attaining necessary levels of skills or knowledge. While
assessments may be associated with grades, determining
grades is not the defining factor of classroom assessment.
Classroom assessment is not made up of single snapshots at
a certain moment in time. It is a process that includes both
the teacher and the student.
Both teachers and students participate in the
classroom assessment process. Classroom assessments are
a systematic or structured way to gather information that
can be evaluated and used as evidence of learning (Harlen
& James, 1997; McMillan, 2013; Zacharis, 2010). This
evidence may show strengths and weaknesses of students
or how the students are progressing in their learning.
Certification, proficiency, grades, and reporting
achievement can also be accomplished through assessment
(McMillan, 2013).
One key point in this book is that classroom
assessment is much more than a means of assigning a grade
or reporting to administrators and parents. Assessment is
one important tool that helps teachers improve instruction
and students improve their learning of content knowledge
and skills. Classroom assessment may require a test or

quiz, but it may also be accomplished through whole class

discussions, homework, oral or written check-ins, and other
methods. Research has shown that assessment can support
improvement in learning when attention is given to the
interactions between the assessment, instruction, and
learning (Black & Wiliam, 1998; McMillian, 2013).
Figure 1: Importance of Assessment for Learning
(Image from: https://sites.google.com/site/effectiveassessment2013/what-is-assessmentand-why-should-we-do-it/formative-assessment)