Table of Contents
Acknowledgments vii
About the Author ix
1 Introduction 1
What Is Brain-Friendly Assessment? 1
The Current Status of Tests and Assessments 2
Assessment and Testing Are Not the Same 2
Attitudes toward Testing 4
Teacher Attitudes 4
Parent Attitudes 5
Administrator Attitudes 6
Do High-Stakes Tests Improve Student Achievement? 7
Will Change Occur? 9
If We Are Stuck with It, Let's Improve It 9
Don't Forget the Serenity Prayer 10
How this Book Can Help 10
Chapter Contents 11
Note about Effect Size 11
2 Why, Who, and What We Assess 13
Major Purposes of Assessment 13
Student Growth 14
Teacher Effectiveness 15
Matching Instruction with Curriculum 16
School Climate and Dropouts 16
Matching Assessments to Student Abilities 18
Students with Special Needs 19
English Language Learners 20
What Should We Assess? 20
Memory Systems 21
Stages of Memory 21
Types of Memory 24
Beware the Working Memory Gambit 26
Criteria for Long-Term Storage 27
Bloom's Revised Taxonomy 29
Beyond Bloom's Taxonomy 30
Assessing for Achievement 31
Assessing for Performance 32
Assessing for Proficiency 32
The Influence of Mindsets 32
Types of Mindsets 33
Should We Assess Mindsets? 34
3 Designing and Using Preassessments and Formative Assessments 35
Types of Assessments 36
Preassessments 37
Formative Assessment 42
4 Designing and Using Summative Assessments 65
Types of Summative Assessments 66
Rubrics 68
Characteristics of Quality Summative Assessments 69
Grading and Summative Assessments 72
What Do Grades Accomplish? 76
Assessing English Language Learners (ELLS) 77
5 Considering When and Where to Assess 79
When We Assess Can Matter 79
Assessments during the Day 80
Assessments and High-Stakes Tests during the School Year 83
Assessments during the Summer 84
Where We Assess Can Matter 86
6 Putting it All Together 89
Making Brain-Friendly Assessments Possible 91
Assessing Students' Performance 91
Conclusion 97
Glossary 99
References 103
Index 109
