Assessment

Efficient vs. Effective Environments: Testing the Testing Environment

Where students take a test can make a difference in their ability to perform “I didn’t do very well in the library, I was distracted,” one of my sixth grade students told me a few days after completing a math progress monitoring test in the school library. An uncomfortable testing environment can lead to distracted

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Scaffold for Individual and Group Success

Supporting students’ cognitive development. As a first year teacher in a seventh grade classroom, I had several experiences that made me question my practice, try new strategies, and learn from my students. One particular problem seemed to reappear frequently throughout the year: students seemed to understand content during whole-class work, but then had difficulty transferring

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Assessing Assessments: Six Useful Strategies

Diverse ways for students to show their thinking. The need for effective assessment is an important topic for both school administrators and classroom teachers. Practical ideas and fresh concepts are essential, and meaningful assessments require both of these elements. The following six assessment strategies may be used in any middle school classroom where student achievement,

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