Tagged: increasing rigor


What a Difference Our Words Make! Asking Questions that Require Understanding

There are so many ways to ask a question! I was reviewing some assessments yesterday and noticed that one or two simple word changes can totally change the sophistication needed for the response. When we consider what we want a student to know, and then create the question, I think we need to look at the question from a different perspective. We need to ask ourselves if the question leads to a response that truly measures understanding. Read more


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What are Common Formative Assessments Anyway?

One thing I’ve learned as I work with schools across the country is that there are a lot of different definitions collaborative teams are using for common formative assessments, and what these teams think common formative assessments are influences how they write and use these assessments with their students. In our book, Collaborating for Success in the Common Core, we offer the following definition to help teams make sure they’re able to use their results to improve student learning Read more


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Achievement – Relationships, Relevance, and Rigor (Post 3 of 4 on Using Assessment to Improve Achievement)

Author’s note: In the spring of last school year, I offered 2 posts from a 4 part series on using assessments to increase achievement. The first was in regards to defining ‘learning’ beyond numerical indicators and the second was on holding high expectations for all learners. The third and fourth posts will be offered this fall.

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