12.26.17 Three Ways to Build Support for Consistent Formative Assessment When we think of educational assessments, we need to think about all assessment practices. Formative assessment may be a buzz word in education these days, but it’s more than that; it brings... Read more
12.19.17 Simple, but not easy: What we forget about how reading comprehension develops As young kids amaze us all by developing reading fluency (remember this blog?), they typically move toward greater and greater comprehension of what they read. That’s good: reading with... Read more
12.14.17 How to use data to create small reading groups As educators, we constantly hear how important data collection is but are often not given the tools for what to do with data. We need to change that! In this post, I tackle how data can be used to... Read more
12.5.17 Using Formative Assessment as a Compass for Daily Planning and Differentiating Instruction Developing autonomy as a learner and becoming self-regulated with an evident sense of self-efficacy are all supported by differentiating within the classroom. Formative instructional practices... Read more
11.28.17 From 8 to 80 in two years: How fluency drives students toward comprehension Ask any primary grades teacher about reading fluency, and you are likely to hear something about WCPM from one-minute oral readings. (That’s words correct per minute, a bit like miles per... Read more
11.21.17 My First Trip to Personalization Town – An Adventure in Personalized Learning I like to travel. In fact, I think that traveling is one of the most important gifts I can give my son. Traveling comes with a myriad of life lessons, even before you arrive at your destination,... Read more
11.16.17 Meet Generation Alpha: 3 Things Educators Should Know They are in your schools now. And there are more coming—lots more. Are you ready for them? This year, more than 3.8 million students enrolled in kindergarten at public schools across the United... Read more
11.14.17 Personalized Learning for Early Childhood Classrooms: What Could it Look Like? I can't help but think about all the chatter I hear about personalized learning. Almost every conversation I have with middle school teachers eventually turns to the topic. They talk about student... Read more
11.7.17 Closing Achievement Gaps and Moving Students Forward with MAP Skills If El Dorado Middle School sounds familiar, it might be because we keep sharing what they’ve learned on the road to success in using MAP® Skills™: Media Spotlight: Using MAP Skills at El... Read more
11.2.17 Three Examples of How to Put Assessment Data to Work in the Classroom Getting data into the hands of teachers and school leaders to inform instructional decisions is what gives assessment its power. Timeliness is key, as is structuring opportunities for... Read more