Linking Teacher Evaluation and Student Learning

Pamela D. Tucker; James H. Strange

Publisher: ASCD

Alexandria, VA

© 2005

If you've ever doubted that it was fair or effective to judge teachers on the basis of student test scores alone, then here's a book that will introduce you to better ways to use measures of student achievement in your teacher assessment system.

The authors take you to four schools to show you how to link teacher performance to student learning by using the following objective measurements:

• Quality of student work and how it reflects the outcomes specified and taught by the teacher
• Level of student content knowledge during pre- and post-instruction assessments
• Student progress toward annual, quantifiable academic goals
• Learning gains achieved by students in relation to their growth-rates in previous years

Appendixes filled with organizers and rubrics give you hands-on ways to adapt the book's methodologies to your own situation.

Assessing Student Outcomes – Performance Assessment Using the Dimensions of Learning Model

Robert J. Marzano; Debra Pickering; Jay McTighe

Publisher: ASCD

© 1993

Practical suggestions for performance assessments with extensive examples of classroom tasks that help students achieve the deepest type of learning and active construction of knowledge. Tells how to score performance assessment and track student achievement.   A good resource.

A Practical Guide to Alternative Assessment

Joan L. Herman; Pamela R. Aschbacher; Lynn Winters

Publisher: ASCD

© 1992

Joan Herman, Pamela Aschbacher, and Lynn Winters offer cogent guidance on the creation and use of alternative measures of student achievement. They present a systemic and iterative process model that links assessment with decisions affecting curriculum and instruction, according to developmental theories of learning and cognition.

The authors review the purposes of assessment and provide a substantive rationale for alternative structures. The heart of the book is the illumination of several key assessment issues that reaffirm our knowledge that assessment tasks must be informed by the most important elements of instructional practice.

Includes sample forms and figures to help readers begin revamping their assessment programs.

Authentic Assessment – A Handbook for Educators

Diane Hart

Addison – Wesley Publishing Company

Menlo Park, CA

© 1994

This book is an excellent primer for those just beginning to explore performance/authentic assessment. The book consists of 10 chapters: a summary of the imperfections of standardized testing; a discussion of the definition, benefit and intent of authentic assessment; an explanation of how to use observation in measuring student progress; portfolios; a in-depth examination of different types of performance assessment; opening the assessment process to students and their families; a discussion of scoring and grading performance and authentic assessment; a brief guide to implementation; an authentic assessment FAQ; and a relatively thorough bibliography and glossary. Overall, the book provides a good introduction to authentic assessment and its purposes in relatively simple language. However, most examples are drawn from elementary and middle school level, and the guidelines for implementing authentic assessment, while possibly appropriate to grades K-8, do not account for the particular difficulties of implementing authentic assessment at the high school level. For those interested in a more technical discussion of authentic assessment, consider Allan Glatthorn's "Performance Assessment and Standards-Based Curricula." Those interested in more thorough discussion of the practice and implementation of authentic assessment, consider just about anything by Grant Wiggins.

Teacher Evaluation – to Enhance Professional Practice

Charlotte Danielson; Thomas L. McGreal

Publisher: ASCD

Alexandria, VA

© 2000

Respond to the call for higher standards and greater accountability with a teacher evaluation system that focuses on student outcomes and supports the mission of your school. This book presents a clear road map to an effective teacher evaluation system that combines quality assurance with professional development. Through concrete examples, useful forms, and assessment tools, the authors provide you with:

• Standards for ensuring acceptable performance;
• Techniques and procedures for assessing all aspects of teaching;
• Guidelines for making consistent judgments about performance based on evidence; and
• A system design for evaluating beginning teachers, tenured faculty, and teachers needing intensive assistance.

Learn how to create an evaluation procedure that supports a professional dialogue about students without radically restructuring your school.

Portfolio Assessment

Editors: James Barton; Angelo Collins

Addison – Wesley Publishing Company

Menlo Park, CA

© 1997

How can you use portfolios to enhance instruction and assessment? Portfolio Assessment is packed with answers. The reader is given practical steps for integrating portfolios into any K-12 classroom; tips for effective classroom management of portfolios; and actual examples of portfolios in action in a variety of subject areas. The straightforward explanations are combined with teacher-tested ideas that will benefit portfolio beginners and veterans alike.

Educative Assessment – Designing Assessments to Inform and Improve Student Performance

Grant Wiggins

Jossey – Bass Publishers

San Francisco, CA

© 1998

Wiggins makes the most convincing case yet that school-based assessment should aim mainly to improve, rather than to audit, student performance. Thanks to his penetrating discussions of feedback, the relationship of formal designs to practice, teaching for understanding, and rubrics, this book should dispel common misconceptions and elevate both the understanding and practice of authentic assessment.