This publication provides a framework, the Fundamentals of Learning (FOL), to assist teachers in transitioning to the classroom practices called for in the College- and Career-Ready Standards (CCRS). The content of this resource is drawn from leading theory and research about learning and assessment and from an examination of the Common Core State Standards. Since it is the students who actually DO the learning, this resource focuses on three fundamental aspects of learning that underpin classroom practice for K-12 students’ attainment of the CCRS. The Fundamentals are: (1) Making Meaning, (2) Participating and Contributing, and (3) Managing Learning. This resource is one in a series produced by the Center on Standards and Assessment Implementation. The series’ goal is to assist teachers and those who support teachers to plan teaching and learning for diverse learners from the CCRS.
Using K-2 Summative Assessments to Improve Third Grade Outcomes Webinar and Presentation
CSAI recently presented to Early Childhood, Assessment, and Accountability staff from seven states at the request of the Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC) as a professional learning event for their Early Childhood Community of Practice. Through this presentation, CSAI addressed the following three objectives:
Increased recognition of the pervasiveness of assessments administered at K – 2 that are reported to the state
Increased understanding of the value of common statewide assessments for evaluating school/district performance
Providing examples of how states are using their statewide assessment data to analyze trends and identify instructional issues
Using K-2 Summative Assessments to Improve Third Grade Outcomes: Webinar | Presentation
High-Leverage Principles of Effective Instruction for English Learners
New college and career ready standards (CCRS) have established more rigorous expectations of learning for all learners, including EL students, than what was expected in previous standards. A common feature in these new content-area standards is their emphasis on students’ use of language to articulate and convey understanding of the content. The heightened role that language plays in CCRS presents new challenges for EL students and their teachers by calling for improved instructional strategies that simultaneously address language and content-area learning.
The purpose of this resource is to provide teachers of EL students with effective, high-leverage learning and teaching principles that can be incorporated into daily instructional plans and routines. Instruction that addresses EL students’ needs should include five key considerations:
Determine and address the academic language demands of the lesson;
Build upon students’ background knowledge;
Design and scaffold deeper learning tasks that integrate listening, speaking, reading, and writing domains;
Provide opportunities for student participation through extended oral discourse and structured collaboration; and
Use formative assessment to support both language development and content goals.
The high-leverage principles for EL instruction presented in this resource are based on relevant research and most up-to-date literature on effective instruction. Each principle is accompanied by examples that illustrate its use. The resource concludes with an annotated classroom vignette that highlights the principles in action.
Supporting Formative Assessment for Deeper Learning: A Primer for Policymakers
This primer argues that effective formative assessment is essential to successfully implementing new college- and career-ready standards. It explains what formative assessment is, how it works in practice, and why it is critically important in fostering powerful pedagogy and 21st-century competencies. It then contrasts the purposes and uses of formative assessment with those of other forms of assessment in a comprehensive and balanced assessment system. It also offers recommendations for policymakers at state and local levels in how to support formative assessment, and not unintentionally undermine it. Ultimately, this primer argues for formative assessment’s central role in fostering a culture of learning for students and teachers.
Overview of Major Assessment Types in Standards-Based Instruction
This overview is designed to help state education agencies, local education agencies, schools, educators, partner organizations, and other stakeholders understand the differences between major assessment types in standards-based instruction. Formative, Diagnostic, Interim/Benchmark, and Summative assessments are included. This resource describes how these various assessments differ according to their definition, purpose, format, frequency of administration, and classroom uses.
Focusing Formative Assessment on the Needs of English Language Learners
How can formative assessment enhance the teaching and learning of English language learner (ELL) students? What, if anything, from our experience with summative assessment of ELL students can inform effective formative assessment practices? And finally, what are the opportunities and challenges inherent in integrating formative assessment into instruction for ELL students in this era of Common Core and other next generation standards? This paper addresses these questions. In addition, the authors, all former or current WestEd researchers, argue that in order to use formative assessment effectively in classrooms with ELL students, teachers must attend simultaneously to the students’ needs both in learning content and skills, as well as in developing the English required to express their learning.