This guide is for teachers who seek a model and processes for designing standards-based units of study to use in their classrooms. Douglas Harris and Judy Carr share their experiences with standards-based learning and offer practical examples of how to develop standards into units of study.The model and process they describe in this book help readers in choosing and coordinating standards, topics, products and performances, assessment criteria exemplars, and scoring guides....

"This is the best nuts-and-bolts guide for improving teaching and learning in our schools. Carr and Harris have been successful in every school district they have consulted in. Now we have access to their insight and experience in a book that is perfectly laid out with examples and worksheets to guide successful instructional improvement. If you′re serious about instructional leadership, this is the one book you need on your desk."—Kenneth W. Eastwood, Superintendent...

This book is designed for teachers, administrators, and staff development coordinators who are interested in a resource that provides an overview of current issues and the answers to some difficult educational questions. Through the use of case studies, current information, and reader exercises, this collection provides a manageable developmental resource for effective instructional practices and promotes the understanding of special topics and questions faced by the classroom teacher. The...

How can we keep students attentive, thoughtful, and inquisitive about learning in language arts? It certainly takes more than new standards and assessments. In this book, Mary Jo Fresch shows how you can use the joyful learning framework introduced in Engaging Minds in the Classroom to better engage students in reading, writing, speaking, listening, and other elements of language arts learning. She provides innovative instructional approaches for diverse students at all grade levels, linki...

Learn how to integrate formative and summative assessments seamlessly into instruction. The research, rationale, strategies, and examples provided in this book will help teachers develop their own repertoire of formative and summative assessments to monitor, grade, and make inferences about a student’s ability to meet standards and curriculum goals. Exercises at the end of each chapter provide opportunities to reflect and plan action steps.

Join Nancy Frey and Douglas Fisher as they outline a clear-cut, realistic, and rewarding approach to formative assessment. They explain how four discrete steps work in tandem to create a seamless, comprehensive formative assessment system—one that has no beginning and no end. This ongoing approach enhances an active give-and-take relationship between teachers and students to promote learning.Where am I going?Step 1: Feed-up ensures that students understand the purpose of an...

Put learning back into the hands of the learner!Through personalized learning, education as we know it is transformed as learners are empowered to take control of their own learning. This thorough and timely resource draws on Universal Design for Learning® principles to create a powerful shift in classroom dynamics by guiding learners to become self-directed, self-monitoring, and self-motivated. You’ll discover:A system that includes tools and strateg...

This user-friendly guide shows school leaders how to use formative assessment to improve both student and teacher achievement. With step-by-step information and practical examples, this book will help you develop better assessments that will transform your school. You will learn:The advantages of formative assessmentWhen and why to use formative assessmentHow to develop valid and reliable assessmentsHow to mimic the state assessment schedule...

A teacher presents a lesson, and at the end asks students if they understand the material. The students nod and say they get it. Later, the teacher is dismayed when many of the students fail a test on the material. Why aren't students getting it? And, just as important, why didn't the teacher recognize the problem?In Checking for Understanding, Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey show how to increase students' understanding with the help of creative formative assessments. When u...

Teacher evaluation--a term that brings fear, anticipation, stress, anxiety, or even boredom to the hearts of teachers and administrators everywhere. How can we reinvent teacher evaluation so that it really makes a difference--so that everyone in school benefits from it, so that teachers and administrators learn from it, so that students succeed as a result of it? The bad news is that many schools and districts seem to be stuck in old ruts, involving The Observation, The Behavior Checklist,...

Ensure your school’s grading procedures are supportive of learning, accurate, meaningful, and consistent. Discover how the “seven essential Ps” can improve your effectiveness in supporting assessment and communicating student achievement. You will also learn how to avoid inaccurate grades caused by penalties for lateness or academic dishonesty; extra credit; group rather than individual work; and marking down for attendance.

Why reinvent the wheel? Use these ready-made tools to implement RTI!Has your Response to Intervention (RTI) initiative gotten off track? Or are you having difficulty getting started? Many educators understand the research and theory behind RTI, but they encounter roadblocks when it comes to setting up a functional RTI team and system. This all-inclusive guide outlines the steps necessary to establish a program that will empower learners and teachers alike....