Get answers to your most challenging questions about implementing effective assessment and grading practices. How do we use assessments to increase hope, efficacy, and achievement? Is reassessment important? Can we change grading practices when stakeholders don’t want us to? All of these questions, and dozens more, are answered concisely, making it easy to build strong assessment and grading practices quickly. K–12 teachers and administrators will: Understand the six tenets of assessment and grading. - Gain confidence in effective assessment and grading practices. - Access concise answers to common questions about assessment and grading. - Help implement schoolwide best practices through effective collaboration. Contents: Introduction Chapter 1: Hope, Efficacy, and Achievement Chapter 2: A Culture of Learning Chapter 3: Assessment Purpose Chapter 4: Communication Chapter 5: Accurate Interpretation Chapter 6: Assessment Architecture Chapter 7: Instructional Agility Chapter 8: Student Investment Table of Contents by Topic Glossary of Terms A Comprehensive Resource List From STAC References and Resources Index “Assessment continues to be a topic of great debate among educators. Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Assessment and Grading breaks down the process piece by piece and then builds it back into a meaningful system that shifts assessment from being the end part of a student’s educational journey to an ongoing process that drives next steps.” ---- Lorrie Hulbert , principal, Windsor, New York “The authors of Concise Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About Assessment and Grading . . . view assessment through the lenses of hope, efficacy, and achievement within an authentic culture of learning. They emphasize moving learning forward and allowing students to have ownership and agency by providing opportunities for self-assessment and goal setting. . . . This affective approach―understanding that assessment can be nurturing and caring―is something all educators need right now.” ---- Rosalind Poon, vice principal , Richmond School District, Richmond, British Columbia Cassandra Erkens is a presenter, facilitator, coach, trainer of trainers, keynote speaker, author, and above all, a teacher. She presents nationally and internationally on assessment, instruction, school improvement, and professional learning communities. To learn more about Cassandra’s work, visit http://allthingsassessment.info or follow @cerkens on Twitter. Tom Schimmer is an author and a speaker with expertise in assessment, grading, leadership, and behavioral support. Tom is a former district-level leader, school administrator, and teacher. As a district-level leader, he was a member of the senior management team responsible for overseeing the efforts to support and build the instructional and assessment capacities of teachers and administrators. To learn more about Tom’s work, visit http://allthingsassessment.info or follow @TomSchimmer on Twitter. Nicole Dimich has a passion for education and lifelong learning, which has led her to extensively explore, facilitate, and implement innovative practices in school transformation. She works with elementary and secondary educators in presentations, trainings, and consultations that address today’s most critical issues, all in the spirit of facilitating increased student learning and confidence. To learn more about Nicole’s work, visit http://allthingsassessment.info or follow @NicoleDimich on Twitter. Jadi Miller, EdD , is director of assessment for Elkhorn Public Schools in Elkhorn, Nebraska. She has experience as a teacher and an administrator at the elementary, secondary, and district levels. Dr. Miller was principal of two elementary schools identified as low performing and led the processes for building teacher capacity and improving student achievement. These efforts resulted in both schools winning awards for school improvement. Dr. Miller has worked with teachers, schools, and districts to implement standards-based curriculum, instruction, and assessment, as well as effective collaborative practices. She has designed and delivered ongoing, job-embedded professional development that enhances school and district improvement efforts. Katie White spends her days working to transform the educational experience for teachers and students. She has been an integral part of her own school system’s multi-year journey through educational reform and has assisted systems worldwide in their work toward approaches that honor learning relationships. She has authored Softening the Edges: Assessment Practices That Honor K–12 Teachers and Learners; Unlocked: Assessment as the Key to Everyday Creativity in the Classroom; and Student Self-Assessment: Data Notebooks, Portfolios, and Other Tools to Advance Learning .