Interactive video lesson plan for: Assessment and Grading for Student Achievement

Expert educational consultants Damian Cooper and Ken O'Connor argue
the necessity of rethinking assessment practices to help all students learn and to become more
efficient. Participants will analyze their current practice and begin to implement improvements
based on careful distinction between assessment for learning vs. assessment of learning. Mr.
Cooper's strategies will facilitate for teachers such critical tasks as routinely sharing learning
goals with students, providing examples of excellence (e.g., through rubrics), promoting
collaborative work and self- and peer-assessment, and providing feedback that both informs
students how to improve and allows them the time and space to do so. Ken O'Connor joins Mr.
Cooper in the final two units of the course to explore the critical distinctions between formative
assessment and summative grades and to ask and answer such questions as whether grades
promote learning at all; when, what, and how to grade; and what functions grades can serve
in a standards-based system. Interviews with teachers and classroom footage punctuate the
presenters' key points throughout and provide examples of their theories in practice.

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