This is a (longish) PPT deck (in PDF form here) has been my evolving script for school workshops on what assessment is, how to do it, and how to think about it. The slides by themselves are not so long a read and serve as kind of an intro–to–intermediate-level text.

1. ASSESSMENT
What Is It, and Why Does It
Matter?
Peter Gow
For the One Schoolhouse
Licensed Under Creative Commons
Attribution—Non-Commercial—Share Alike

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
ASSESSMENT 101:What,Why; Assessment &
Curriculum; Effective Assessment;Types of
Assessment
ACTIVITY: How might we assess...?
ASSESSMENT 201: Bloom’s Taxonomy & Assessment
Design
ASSESSMENT 301: Assessment in Context
ASSESSMENT TO GRADES: Quick thoughts
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

3. Assessment 101: The basics

4. WHAT IS
ASSESSMENT
?
§Measuring or determining
what students have learned,
ideally based on what was
intended
§Term also used to describe a
tool—project, test,
presentation, performance,
…—used for measuring or
determining learning
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

5. WHY
ASSESS
?
§To improve student
learning
§To improve teaching
§To facilitate
communication
§To audit student
performance (i.e., for
grading evaluation)
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

6. ASSESSMENT IS
NOT GRADING;
grading is
EVALUATION
PSSST!
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

7. CURRICULUM
INTHREE
QUESTIONS
§Where are you going?
§How are you gonna get
there?
§How are you gonna know
that you’ve arrived?
(Thank you, Professor Walter Crocker at Rhode Island
College, who taught me this concept of “backwards
curriculum design” in 1976, years before Grant Wiggins,
though it fell on my unhearing ears at the time. I thought
my curriculum was the textbook or sequence of readings.)
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

8. DESTINATION
&
ASSESSMENT
Where are you going?
What specific desired
learnings will you want to
make sure that students have
actually learned? What
knowledge, understandings,
skills, perspectives, and
dispositions will you want to
assess?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

9. ENTER
PRE-
ASSESSMENT
§Exercises to discover what
students know and don’t know as
they enter a new area of learning
§RULE OF THUMB: Pre-
assessment ought to be “no
stakes” assessment
§Related to DIAGNOSTIC
ASSESSMENT, which can be
used as a pre-assessment or as a
tool for trouble-shooting along
the way ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

10. THE
JOURNEY
&
ASSESSMENT
How are you gonna
get there?
What questions, activities, and
exercises should you be
designing and assigning along
the way to make sure that your
students are truly coming
along and keeping up with
your itinerary on this journey?ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

11. ENTER
FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT
§Assessments designed to
measure intentionally
defined elements of a
student’s progress en route
to larger or more “final”
learning goals
§Often used to check up on
content/factual knowledge,
procedural knowledge,
basic application skillsASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

12. How are you gonna
know that you’ve
arrived?
What kinds of questions,
projects, exercises,
presentations, or other work will
you be asking of students that
will provide the evidence of
these desired learnings?
ARRIVAL
&
ASSESSMENT
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

13. ENTER
SUMMATIVE
ASSESSMENT
§Assessments designed to measure
defined elements of mastery of more
holistic or broader learning: larger or
more “final” concepts, deeper
understandings, or skills
§Can also be adapted to include the
assessment of social-emotional
learning/development in the context
of broader performances
(organizational, collaborative, creative,
cross-cultural…)
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

14. CONCEPT:
AUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT
Authentic assessment attempts to
mirror, replicate, or relate directly to
“the real world,” ideally to students’
real lives as family members, group
members, citizens, humans.
Authentic assessment usually
involves evaluating or creating, is
usually built around complex
questions or ill-defined problems.
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

15. AUTHENTIC
ASSESSMENT
EXAMPLES
§ Write a letter to an official or a newspaper
about…
§ Create a product that will lead to a particular
social benefit…
§ Write a “legal brief” defending or supporting a
particular cause in which you believe
§ Gather data on an environmental or social
problem in your community, organize and present
this data in a compelling way, and propose ways
to ameliorate it to an appropriate government
agency
§ Create a space, object, or installation on your
campus that expresses an important aspect of …
§ Make your best scientific argument either for or
against…
§ Design a museum display to showcase the role of
mathematics in our daily livesASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

16. BTW
TWO OTHER
SPECIES OF
ASSESSMENT
§ NORM-REFERENCED: measure and
provide comparative information on a
student’s mastery of content material,
understandings, and skills relative to that
of other students (Can you spell SAT?)
§ CRITERION-REFERENCED: measure
learning against defined (and ideally
objective) criteria. Can be used to
establish competence, and handy in
classrooms for “mastery learning” of
essential content or basic skills:“Must
score 80% to pass; retakes permitted.”
(Did you get a learner’s permit?)
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

17. Effective assessment

18. EFFECTIVE
ASSESSMENT
INTENTIONALLY FOCUSES ON
WHAT MATTERS: It asks students to
present evidence of the important
learning you want to have occurred.
A RULE OF ASSESSMENT:
“ASSESS WHATYOU VALUE
AND
VALUE WHATYOU ASSESS.”
—GRANT WIGGINS
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

19. EFFECTIVE
ASSESSMENT
§HAS NO SECRETS
§PROVIDES FEEDBACK
§CONNECTS
AUTHENTICALLY TO
CONTENT
§FITS THE LEARNING
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

20. A RULE OF
ASSESSMENT:
THE NATURE OF
THE
ASSESSMENT
SHOULD FIT THE
NATURE OF THE
INTENDED
LEARNING
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

21. EFFECTIVE
ASSESSMENT
§IS FAIR
§IS SAFE
§IS CREDIBLE
§IS VARIED
§FOLLOWS A TRAJECTORY;
THINK: Destination, Journey,
Arrival
§IS TIMELY
§IS MANAGEABLEASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

22. WHAT DOES
ASSESSMENT
LOOK LIKE?
Assessment encompasses a broad
range of methods and
techniques. A few examples:
§long-term, hands-on, field-work-
intensive, multi-genre, cross-
disciplinary collaborative, projects
§essays, problem sets
§standardized multiple-choice tests
§skits, simulations, debates,
enactments
§paper-and-pencil quizzes
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

23. AN
EXERCISE
(1)
HOW MIGHTYOU
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO
UNDERSTAND A GRAPH?
or
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO WRITE
PERSUASIVELY?
What form of assessment would you use?
What would it look like?
AND: In ONE of these assessments,
explicitly make a connection in the nature
or content or framing of the assessment to
the students’ real lives as family members,
community members, citizens, or living
organisms on Planet Earth.
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

24. FOR FURTHER
CONSIDERATION
§ What might be your learning objective—“Destination”—
for each topic?
§ Which kinds of assessments might reveal students’
deepest (or highest) levels of understanding?
§ What kinds of FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS might be
useful during the “Journey” to ensure that students are
prepared for this assessment?
§ At what point will you know that students are ready for
the main, summative assessment—the “Arrival”—for this
topic? What markers will help you as a teacher know this?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be most likely to
engage students?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be easiest for you to
evaluate?
§ Which kinds of assessments most appeal to you as a
teacher?
§ What are some possible drawbacks of the “best” ideas
you had during this activity?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

25. AN
EXERCISE
(2)
HOW MIGHTYOU
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF
THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT OF THE
1960S?
or
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ READINESS TO STUDY
FUNCTIONS IN PRECALCULUS?
What form of assessment would you use?
What would it look like?
AND: In ONE of these assessments,
explicitly make a connection in the nature
or content or framing of the assessment to
the students’ real lives as family members,
community members, citizens, or living
organisms on Planet Earth.ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

26. FOR FURTHER
CONSIDERATION
§ What might be your learning objective—“Destination”—
for each topic?
§ Which kinds of assessments might reveal students’
deepest (or highest) levels of understanding?
§ What kinds of FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS might be
useful during the “Journey” to ensure that students are
prepared for this assessment?
§ At what point will you know that students are ready for
the main, summative assessment—the “Arrival”—for this
topic? What markers will help you as a teacher know this?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be most likely to
engage students?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be easiest for you to
evaluate?
§ Which kinds of assessments most appeal to you as a
teacher?
§ What are some possible drawbacks of the “best” ideas
you had during this activity?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

27. AN
EXERCISE
(3)
HOW MIGHTYOU
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ INTELLECTUAL
CURIOSITY?
or
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO MAKE
CONNECTIONS BETWEEN THE FILM
AMERICAN BEAUTY AND THE NOVEL THE
GREAT GATSBY?
What form of assessment would you use?
What would it look like?
AND: In ONE of these assessments, explicitly
make a connection in the nature or content or
framing of the assessment to the students’ real
lives as family members, community
members, citizens, or living organisms on
Planet Earth. ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

28. FOR FURTHER
CONSIDERATION
§ What might be your learning objective—“Destination”—
for each topic?
§ Which kinds of assessments might reveal students’
deepest (or highest) levels of understanding?
§ What kinds of FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS might be
useful during the “Journey” to ensure that students are
prepared for this assessment?
§ At what point will you know that students are ready for
the main, summative assessment—the “Arrival”—for this
topic? What markers will help you as a teacher know this?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be most likely to
engage students?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be easiest for you to
evaluate?
§ Which kinds of assessments most appeal to you as a
teacher?
§ What are some possible drawbacks of the “best” ideas
you had during this activity?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

29. AN
EXERCISE
(4)
HOW MIGHTYOU
• ASSESS WHETHER YOUR STUDENTS
UNDERSTAND THE UTILITY OF THE
BINOMIAL THEOREM?
or
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ MASTERY OF A LIST
OF VOCABULARY WORDS?
What form of assessment would you use?
What would it look like?
AND: In ONE of these assessments, explicitly
make a connection in the nature or content or
framing of the assessment to the students’ real
lives as family members, community
members, citizens, or living organisms on
Planet Earth. ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

30. FOR FURTHER
CONSIDERATION
§ What might be your learning objective—“Destination”—
for each topic?
§ Which kinds of assessments might reveal students’
deepest (or highest) levels of understanding?
§ What kinds of FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS might be
useful during the “Journey” to ensure that students are
prepared for this assessment?
§ At what point will you know that students are ready for
the main, summative assessment—the “Arrival”—for this
topic? What markers will help you as a teacher know this?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be most likely to
engage students?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be easiest for you to
evaluate?
§ Which kinds of assessments most appeal to you as a
teacher?
§ What are some possible drawbacks of the “best” ideas
you had during this activity?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

31. AN
EXERCISE
(5)
HOW MIGHTYOU
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF
HOW THE PARTS OF A CELL FUNCTION?
or
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF
THE FUNCTIONS OF THE THREE
BRANCHES OF THE UNITED STATES
GOVERNMENT?
What form of assessment would you use?
What would it look like?
AND: In ONE of these assessments, explicitly
make a connection in the nature or content or
framing of the assessment to the students’ real
lives as family members, community
members, citizens, or living organisms on
Planet Earth. ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

32. FOR FURTHER
CONSIDERATION
§ What might be your learning objective—“Destination”—
for each topic?
§ Which kinds of assessments might reveal students’
deepest (or highest) levels of understanding?
§ What kinds of FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS might be
useful during the “Journey” to ensure that students are
prepared for this assessment?
§ At what point will you know that students are ready for
the main, summative assessment—the “Arrival”—for this
topic? What markers will help you as a teacher know this?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be most likely to
engage students?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be easiest for you to
evaluate?
§ Which kinds of assessments most appeal to you as a
teacher?
§ What are some possible drawbacks of the “best” ideas
you had during this activity?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

33. AN
EXERCISE
(6)
HOW MIGHTYOU
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ ABILITY TO READ
AND UNDERSTAND A NOVEL IN SPANISH?
or
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ KNOWLEDGE OF THE
PARTS OF A CELL?
What form of assessment would you use?
What would it look like?
AND: In ONE of these assessments, explicitly
make a connection in the nature or content or
framing of the assessment to the students’ real
lives as family members, community
members, citizens, or living organisms on
Planet Earth.
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

34. FOR FURTHER
CONSIDERATION
§ What might be your learning objective—“Destination”—
for each topic?
§ Which kinds of assessments might reveal students’
deepest (or highest) levels of understanding?
§ What kinds of FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS might be
useful during the “Journey” to ensure that students are
prepared for this assessment?
§ At what point will you know that students are ready for
the main, summative assessment—the “Arrival”—for this
topic? What markers will help you as a teacher know this?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be most likely to
engage students?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be easiest for you to
evaluate?
§ Which kinds of assessments most appeal to you as a
teacher?
§ What are some possible drawbacks of the “best” ideas
you had during this activity?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

35. AN
EXERCISE
(7)
HOW MIGHTYOU
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF
THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT TAX
POLICY ON THE LIVES OF CITIZENS?
or
• ASSESS WHETHER STUDENTS
UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
A SCIENTIFIC THEORY AND A SCIENTIFIC
LAW?
What form of assessment would you use?
What would it look like?
AND: In ONE of these assessments, explicitly
make a connection in the nature or content or
framing of the assessment to the students’ real
lives as family members, community members,
citizens, or living organisms on Planet Earth.ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

36. FOR FURTHER
CONSIDERATION
§ What might be your learning objective—“Destination”—
for each topic?
§ Which kinds of assessments might reveal students’
deepest (or highest) levels of understanding?
§ What kinds of FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS might be
useful during the “Journey” to ensure that students are
prepared for this assessment?
§ At what point will you know that students are ready for
the main, summative assessment—the “Arrival”—for this
topic? What markers will help you as a teacher know this?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be most likely to
engage students?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be easiest for you to
evaluate?
§ Which kinds of assessments most appeal to you as a
teacher?
§ What are some possible drawbacks of the “best” ideas
you had during this activity?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

37. AN
EXERCISE
(8)
HOW MIGHTYOU
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF
A SCENE FROM MACBETH?
or
• ASSESS STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING
THE EQUATION RELATING SPEED,
DURATION OF TIME, AND DISTANCE
TRAVELED?
What form of assessment would you use?
What would it look like?
AND: In ONE of these assessments, explicitly
make a connection in the nature or content or
framing of the assessment to the students’ real
lives as family members, community members,
citizens, or living organisms on Planet Earth.
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

38. FOR FURTHER
CONSIDERATION
§ What might be your learning objective—“Destination”—
for each topic?
§ Which kinds of assessments might reveal students’
deepest (or highest) levels of understanding?
§ What kinds of FORMATIVE ASSESSMENTS might be
useful during the “Journey” to ensure that students are
prepared for this assessment?
§ At what point will you know that students are ready for
the main, summative assessment—the “Arrival”—for this
topic? What markers will help you as a teacher know this?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be most likely to
engage students?
§ Which kinds of assessments would be easiest for you to
evaluate?
§ Which kinds of assessments most appeal to you as a
teacher?
§ What are some possible drawbacks of the “best” ideas
you had during this activity?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

39. SO?
§ What was hard about the
exercise?
§ What was most interesting
about the exercise?
§ Did the exercise change
any of your thoughts on
assessment?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

40. Assessment 201: About that
“trajectory”

41. ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA
Benjamin
Bloom’s
Taxonomy
of Learning
Objectives
in the
Cognitive
Domain,
updated for
the Digital
Age

42. REMEMBERING
WHAT DOES REMEMBERING
LOOK LIKE?
Retrieving, recalling or recognizing
knowledge from memory.
Remembering is when memory is
used to produce definitions, facts or
lists, or recite or retrieve material.
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

43. ASSESSING
REMEMBERING
ALMOST ALWAYS CLOSED-ENDED
QUESTIONS
• What happened after...? • How
many...? • What is...? • Who was it
that...? • Can you name ...? • Find the
meaning of… • Describe what
happened after… • Who spoke to...? •
Which is true or false...?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

44. UNDER-
STANDING
WHAT DOES UNDERSTANDING
LOOK LIKE?
Explaining ideas or concepts,
interpreting, summarizing,
paraphrasing, classifying, explaining
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

45. ASSESSING
UNDER-
STANDING
MOSTLY CLOSED-ENDED
QUESTIONS/PROMPTS
• Paraphrase… • How would you
explain…? • Can you write a brief
outline...? • If A occurs in a system,
predict B… • Who do you think...? •
What was the main idea...? • Can you
clarify…? • Can you illustrate…?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

46. APPLYING
WHAT DOES APPLYING LOOK
LIKE?
Using information in another familiar
situation: implementing; carrying out;
using; executing; using a process,
algorithm, or procedure properly
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

47. ASSESSING
APPLYING
MOSTLY OPEN-ENDED
QUESTIONS/PROMPTS SEEKING
TO ELICIT PROCESS APPLICATION
OR CAUSALITY
• Do you know of another instance
where…? • Can you group by
characteristics such as…? • Which
factors would you change if…? • What
questions would you ask of…? • From
the information given, can you
develop instructions about…?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

48. ANALYZING
WHAT DOES ANALYZING
LOOK LIKE?
Breaking information into parts to
explore understandings and
relationships: comparing,
organizing, deconstructing,
interrogating, finding, scaling
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

49. ASSESSING
ANALYZING
OPEN-ENDED
QUESTIONS/PROMPTS
• Which events could not have
happened? • If...had happened, what
might the ending have been? • How
is...similar to...? • What do you see as
other possible outcomes? • Why
did...occur? • What are some or the
problems of...? • Can you distinguish
between...? • What was the turning
point? • What was the problem
with...? ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

50. EVALUATING
WHAT DOES EVALUATING LOOK
LIKE?
Justifying a decision or course of
action: checking, hypothesizing,
critiquing, experimenting, judging,
offering constructive feedback
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

51. ASSESSING
EVALUATING
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
(STUDENT-GENERATED Qs +++!)
• Is there a better solution to...? • Judge the
value of... • What do you think about...? • Can
you defend your position about...? • Do you
think...is a good or bad thing? • How would
you have handled...? • What changes
to…would you recommend? • How would you
feel if...? • How effective are. ..? • What are
the consequences? • What influence
will....have on our lives? • What are the pros
and cons of...? • Why is...of value? • What are
the alternatives? • Who will gain & who will
lose?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

52. CREATING
WHAT DOES CREATING LOOK LIKE?
Generating new ideas, products, or
ways of viewing things: designing,
constructing, planning, producing,
inventing, making analogues or
extensions
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

53. ASSESSING
CREATING
ASKING STUDENTS TO CREATE THEIR
OWN OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS OR
PROJECTS TO PURSUE
• Can you design a...to...? • Can you see a
possible solution to...? • If you had access
to all resources, how would you deal
with...? • Why don't you devise your own
way to...? • What would happen if ...? • How
many ways can you...? • Can you create
new and unusual uses for...? • Can you
develop a proposal which would...? • How
might you be inspired to interpret…in a
different medium or genre?ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

54. SO?
§ What was hard about the
exercise?
§ What was most interesting
about the exercise?
§ Did the exercise change
any of your thoughts on
assessment?
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

55. Assessment 301:
Assessment in context

56. WHAT WE
ASSESS:
PRODUCT
PRODUCT: The objects,
performances, essays, utterances,
and other intentionally elicited and
defined evidence of learning
“produced” by the student that reveal
what has been learned
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

57. WHAT WE
ASSESS:
PROCESS
PROCESS: The nature and quality of
a student’s actual (recorded or
tracked) efforts toward defined
learning goals, usually as broken
down into multiple elements, that
reveal how the student learns
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

58. WHAT WE
ASSESS:
SEL
SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING
(a relatively new area for assessment):
The quality of a student’s affective
engagement with learning—
dispositions; interpersonal
characteristics, skills, and
preferences; response to setbacks
and/or feedback; engagement with
ideas or with others
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

59. CATEGORIES
OF SOCIAL-
EMOTIONAL
LEARNING
from The
Collaborative
for Academic,
Social, and
Emotional
Learning
(CASEL) ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

60. Assessment to grades:
a few very quick thoughts

61. A PRINCIPLE
OF
EVALUATION
Student work being evaluated
should never be about surprises or
hidden standards or expectations.
Clarity of expectations matters in
eliciting quality work.
A RULE OF ASSESSMENT:
THE EVALUATED WEIGHT OF
AN ASSESSMENT SHOULD
MORE OR LESS MATCH THE
SCALE OF THE ASSESSMENT IN
TIME AND EFFORTASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

62. IMPORTANT THING 1 (OF 2): PERFORMANCE
STANDARDS
DON’T FORGET TO TELL
STUDENTS ABOUT
§ the CRITERIA by which the
quality of their learning will be
assessed (and the quality of their
work evaluated)
§ the CATEGORIES of work—
product, process, SEL, …—on
which the nature of their
learning will be assessed (and
the quality of their work
evaluated)
CRITERIA AND
CATEGORIES
FOR QUALITY
LEARNING
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

63. PROTIP:
RUBRICS
§ Rubrics aren’t perfect or a
universal cure, but they can
provide clarity for teachers and
students.
§ No, we don’t want to reduce
schoolwork to a formula, but keep
a “mental rubric” and share
criteria and categories as they
matter, assessment by
assessment.
§ But, real rubrics do help quite
often.
ASSESSMENT/Gow Creative Commons BY-NC-SA

64. THANK YOU!
peter.gow@oneschoolhouse.org