4.8.21 Chase Nordengren Formative assessment is not for grading There’s something to love about the first pancake that comes off the grill in the morning. The first pancake usually comes out a little more lumpy, misshapen, or overdone than the rest. Yet... Read more
1.5.21 Jaime Vázquez MAP Growth 101: Everything families need to know If your child takes MAP® Growth™ at school and you’re not sure what it’s for or how it works, we’ve got you covered. Here’s everything you need to know, from what it is to how teachers use... Read more
11.19.20 Jonathan Fine How to help students become their own best advocates Even in the best of times, it takes care and effort to engage kids in their learning process. Students do better when they’re able to make active choices about what and how they’re learning,... Read more
11.17.20 Cara Jackson How to use everyday data in new ways Schools and classrooms are overflowing with information about students and their learning, and teachers continually collect and respond to evidence of student learning in a variety of ways (Tarasawa,... Read more
10.22.20 Brooke Mabry 7 ways to use ZPD and scaffolding to challenge and support students In my last post, we covered the basics on ZPD: what it is, why it matters, and how to identify it for each student. That was ZPD 101. (Bill Amend, of FoxTrot fame, must read this blog regularly... Read more
10.8.20 Brooke Mabry The zone of proximal development (ZPD): The power of just right If you’re anything like me, you’re feeling a little ready (okay, a lot ready) for 2020 to be over. Remember how much hope we had in May that school would be back to normal this fall? Yet here we... Read more
9.21.20 Monica Rodríguez Teachers, here’s how to use MAP Growth data You’ve tested with MAP® Growth™ (or will soon). Now what? For many schools, learning isn’t looking like it did in January—and it certainly isn’t looking like many of us hoped. The silver... Read more
3.3.20 Keith Kindred How to get from data as foe to data as friend Data doesn’t lie, and it made Faith believe in herself. Faith was a student who the state of Michigan said was a failure. But because one of her teachers used assessment data effectively, she made... Read more
2.27.20 Erin Ryan What happens when test takers disengage? The best assessments are only effective and reliable if students are engaged and trying their best. But we know that’s not always the case. Sometimes students zip through a test, selecting... Read more
1.23.20 Michael Tappler How my district is rethinking state assessment Clayton County Public Schools, where I work as a psychometrician, is a member of the Georgia MAP Assessment Partnership (GMAP), a consortium of districts in Georgia dedicated to reducing overall... Read more
10.17.19 Chris Minnich NWEA on the future of state assessment It’s time to rethink state assessment. District leaders and teachers have long desired less testing―not to mention timelier and more meaningful summative test results. State departments of... Read more
10.10.19 Derrick Vargason Get more from assessment data—and save teachers time Dr. Tonya Williams, chief academic officer and chief learning officer at Leadership Preparatory Academy in Lithonia, Georgia, knew improving the use of assessment data at her school would be a big... Read more
