716L Designing Performance Assessments

This 6 lesson course focuses on the purpose of performance assessments and shows participants how to develop performance assessment tasks. In addition to explaining what performance assessment is, this course provides a model to guide educators in developing performance assessments that provide meaningful feedback concerning student learning to students, teachers, and parents.

721L Exemplary Assessment:  Measurement That's Useful

One-shot, fill-in-the-blank testing is no longer an adequate measure of performance in the 21st century. Paper-and-pencil assessments are not entirely obsolete — they can provide information about a student's performance — but their ability to do so is necessarily limited. In this 6 lesson course, participants will have the opportunity to think about current assessment practices and learn the key ingredients to any effective assessment, including why assessment reform is necessary, examine reform challenges, learn about effective assessment measures, and explore ways to move your school toward using more effective assessment. This course is designed for educators interested in learning about exemplary assessment or improving assessment practices.

732L  Our Multiple Intelligences:  Translating Theory into Practice

It's hard to believe that the theory of multiple intelligences (MI) has been around for three decades. In that time, it has received national and international acclaim, and teachers around the world have been guided by what it suggests about learning and teaching. Even today, it is still relevant to classroom instruction. Our Multiple Intelligences: Translating Theory into Practice is a practical, 7-lesson, online course that provides updated information and ideas for using the theory to help students learn and understand. From an overview of the theory itself to practical and proven ways to use it with students, this course will help you use the theory of multiple intelligences to make learning come alive.

736L  Student Portfolios:  Getting Started in Your Classroom

This 7 lesson course helps teachers understand the benefits of using student portfolios as an assessment tool. The course will give teachers strategies and suggestions that will help them implement the use of portfolios in their classroom. Specifically, participants will define "portfolio" and determine the role of the portfolio in their classroom. Participants will learn how to help students reflect on their own work, and will explore ways to review and evaluate their students’ portfolios.

741L  Teacher Behaviors That Promote Assessment for Learning

In this seven lesson course, participants will be introduced to the concept of assessment for learning. They'll learn the seven teacher behaviors that promote student learning and support sound assessment. Participants will also explore the standards for quality assessment. In addition, this course will give participants a chance to explore ideas about the purposes of assessment, fairness, standards-based planning for assessment, involving students in assessment, motivation and learning, and communicating student learning to other stakeholders.

742L  Teaching Mathematics Effectively:  Grades K-2

All children must be successful in mathematics because math achievement is the key to school and career opportunities, according to the National Research Council. Effective mathematics instruction

• Teaches students the mathematical concepts underlying these procedures.
• Facilitates their ability to reason and build on their conceptual knowledge.
• Gives them many opportunities to work on challenging and personally meaningful problems that encourage them to make connections within math. (Allen, 2003, p. 3)

This seven-lesson course addresses teaching mathematics to young children effectively in ways that build a child's level of confidence so that he or she can be successful. The first lesson briefly touches on what children need to learn. The other lessons focus on how to effectively teach mathematics. Each lesson includes course readings as well as links to appropriate Internet sites so that participants can explore topics in more detail. The Learner Forum provides an opportunity for participants to reflect on course content with colleagues.

747L  Understanding by Design:  An Introduction

This 7 lesson course introduces teachers in all grades and subjects to ASCD's Understanding by Design (UbD) program for curriculum, instruction, and assessment. This course offers insights into the research, learning theory, and design elements of UbD, and shows how educators can improve student achievement by teaching for understanding. Participants will explore curriculum design, assessment tasks, and instructional strategies that promote student understanding in the context of standards and high-stakes tests.

751L  Using Assessment in the Differentiated Classroom

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