Understanding Proficiency is a resource designed to support educators in analyzing and learning from student work on performance tasks in English language arts and math. The site features actual scored student responses to the Smarter Balanced performance tasks, with annotations from practicing educators and illustrations of the full range of performance levels for each task. Videos and professional development tools are also featured to support teachers in using these resources to improve instructional practice. The purpose of Understanding Proficiency is to leverage the Smarter Balanced performance tasks to support professional development that can help operationalize college and career ready standards to inform and enhance instruction for all students.
Wikimedia Commons
This resource is a database of 40 million+ freely usable media files to which anyone can contribute.
Supporting Language Learners to Meet the Demands of the CCSS ELA
The “Supporting Language Learners with Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts” module has four objectives: (1) situate the support of language learners within Wisconsin’s education initiatives; (2) review the different types of language learners; (3) gain familiarity with research on instructional needs of language learners; and (4) integrate research on language learners with standards-based instruction and assessment.
Transforming Students’ Lives with Social and Emotional Learning
Social and emotional learning (SEL) is the process of integrating thinking, feeling, and behaving in order to become aware of the self and of others, make responsible decisions, and manage one’s own behaviors and those of others. This resource describes the objectives and theoretical underpinnings of SEL, highlights research findings demonstrating the evidence supporting SEL programming, and advocates for comprehensive and systematic implementation of SEL programming in schools. This chapter illustrates how SEL programming in schools results in significant shifts in students’ social, emotional, and academic competencies as well as improvements in the quality of learning environments.
This resource appears as a chapter in the International Handbook of Emotions in Education and is also available through the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.
Item Writing Guides and Item Exemplars (ELA & Math)
CSAI has developed two resources to support educators interested in deepening their knowledge of assessment design and assessment literacy. These two resources, specific to English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics, are designed to enhance educators’ ability to recognize and create high-quality assessment items. Because the content contained in the resources sequentially build, educators using the guides are strongly advised to read from beginning to end. The first part of the guide provides readers with foundational information about item development. The second half of the guide offers opportunities to apply learning through the study of detailed exemplars, organized by grade level.
English Language Arts (ELA) Item Writing Guide and Item Exemplars
Mathematics Item Writing Guide and Item Exemplars
Supporting Students in Close Reading
This resource guides teachers in the process of instructional planning for close reading with students. It is one in a series produced by the Center for Standards and Assessment Implementation (CSAI). The series’ goal is to assist teachers and those who support teachers to plan teaching and learning for diverse learners from College and Career Ready Standards (CCRS).