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Assessment for Student Learning

**Andrade, H., Huff, K., & Brooke, G. (2012). The Students at the Center Series: Assessing learning. Washington, DC: Jobs for the Future. Available at http://www.studentsatthecenter.org/sites/scl.dl-dev.com/files/Assessing%20Learning.pdf

This article makes an argument for designing assessment around its utility for teaching and learning by focusing on the student role in the process of assessment. The authors define student-centered assessment as being individualized, focused on learning and growth, actively engaging students, motivating, and informative and useful to a variety of audiences. The article then breaks down the components of different kinds of students-centered assessment practices, providing examples of formative, interim, and summative assessments. The final section of the article addresses challenges of and possibilities for using and designing student-centered assessment on a large scale.

Guskey, T. R. (2003). How classroom assessments improve learning. Educational Leadership, 60(5), 6-11. Available at http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/feb03/vol60/num05/How-Classroom-Assessments-Improve-Learning.aspx

The author describes assessments as an integral tool for teachers seeking to improve learning in the classroom. To use assessments to improve instruction and student learning, the article recommends that teachers shift their practice by making assessments useful for students, for teachers, and as instruments to craft corrective instruction. When assessments are designed with student learning in mind and as meaningful sources of information for students and teachers, the author contends that assessments move beyond monitoring student progress and provide the student with an opportunity to measure their learning, teachers with data to determine meaningful next steps for instruction, and a second chance for students to demonstrate a new level of competency.

Stiggins, R. (2007). Assessment through the student's eyes. Educational Leadership, 64(8), 22-26. Available at http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may07/vol64/num08/ Assessment-Through-the-Student%27s-Eyes.aspx

This article advocates for assessment practice that is attuned to the emotional dynamics of the student experience. The author argues that in order to help all students succeed in meeting academic standards, a shift from reliance on assessments that verify learning to the use of assessments that support learning is critical. A table that describes student attitudes towards learning when they are on “winning streaks” versus “losing streaks” as a result of their interaction with assessment helps to elucidate the impact of assessment on a student’s emotional experience. The author concludes with illustrations of two classrooms where educators have set up instructional environments with student learning at the core of their teaching and assessment practices.

**This document is considered a priority reading.