What Our Students are Saying...

"I was not originally signed up to take this class, but when another class fell through, I chose this class as a replacement, and I am glad that I did. I thought I was pretty well versed in best assessment practices, ...[but] I realized I did not know all there is to know, nor was I doing all I could have been doing to ensure that my students were getting the opportunities to show me what they know and are able to do in ways that suit them best. I also realized I was totally dropping the ball in the area of tracking student progress throughout the year using graphs and charts.

“... This class has opened my eyes even more so to several more ideas that will facilitate students thinking about their own learning and playing a more active role in what they are learning and how they demonstrate that learning.

"Ultimately, this class has made me think about what I am doing in the classroom and what purpose each assessment tool is attempting to accomplish."
~ Joshua Olson
Fifth grade teacher
Saudi Arabia


“When I came into this course, I had the mentality that I was going to learn about tests and how to give them. I found that this was a much more valuable course than I had realized. There is much more to the assessment process than meets the eye.”
~ Melanie McDonough
Pre-school teacher
Hammond, Wisconsin

“I think that I was one of those teachers when I came to this course.  I thought that I would leave here with a series of worksheets and tests and rubrics for performance assessments that I could use in the classroom. I leave the course with something so much more than that. I have tons of ideas rather than a selection of assessments to coordinate with activities. I have an overall knowledge and better understanding of the different types of assessments and how they fit within my particular school, subject, and grade level.  I understand the concepts behind standardized testing and how I can assist with those goals through an integrated curriculum and the idea of holistic accountability. Ultimately, I have rearranged my lesson plans completely around my assessments, deciding first what I want students to know (be able to recall), understand (be able to make connections) and do (be able to perform a skill).

“I took a course last term on differentiated instruction, and I had no idea that when I signed up to take this course, I would be learning just as much about differentiated assessment.  This is the greatest jewel I take from this class….the idea that no one assessment is the best and that in order to meet the needs of ALL students, different assessment, different types of assessments, and different ways of reporting assessments are key.”
~ Elizabeth Redd
Elementary music teacher
Aiken, South Carolina