From the category archives:

assessment

Keeping Education Test Scores Low – Apparently a laudible goal for state government.

by Mark February 28, 2010 ESOL

The Washington Post brags it’s reporting helped Virginia officials decide to sharply limit the alternative testing program to the No Child Left Behind. This alternative test is called the Virginia Grade Level Alternative (or VGLA). It is a portfolio assessment. A portfolio assessment is exactly as it sounds–a collection of work-product done by the student showing mastery of each test question.
The Post claims growing numbers of students are being assessed this alternative way and test scores are noticeably higher as a result.

Monthly Performance Reviews at Work

by Mark January 25, 2010 assessment

As budgets tighten and more discretionary money is tied to testing, teaching students to learn to think starts to get in the way of “getting the money.” On average, in Kindergarten, one standardized test is required every 10 days. Think about it. If you had a job review every 10 days, the focus would be on doing well on the review not doing your job.

21 Things That Will Be Obsolete in 2020? Try 2010.

by Mark December 16, 2009 ESOL

A list of 21 things in Education some believe will be obsolete. At a small title one elementary school outside Washington, many of them already are.

25 Digital Things All Teachers Should Know – Updated

by Mark June 4, 2009 ESOL

There are 25 important tools for increasing teacher productivity, from saving and sharing bookmarks with your colleagues and class, to capturing video. 25 easy things to do that make things easy. Tackling these 25 things are a good year-long goal for the uninitiated and a check-list for the tech-savvy.

Best Tracking of Student Data (for Behavior Plans or Anything) for the Busy Teacher

by Mark May 30, 2009 assessment

If you need to collect data (from parents, from colleagues, from students) or inventory a lot of little things, or do the data collection for a behavior intervention plan you are trying to prove works to parents and the administration, Google Docs provides one easy way.