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Understanding Assessments
Assessment of Learning vs Assessment for Learning - Provides a snapshot of the difference between assessment for learning and assessment of learning.
Assessment Literacy - Defines and supports a deeper understanding of assessment practice.
Different Assessment Types - Describes types of assessments and how they differ.
ELA/Literacy Assessment Item Alignment Professional Learning Modules - Provides modules for training efforts to guide the development of assessments aligned to the shifts required by college-and-career ready standards. Access the ELA Assessment Alignment resources to review and/or create assessment items and assessments aligned to the Shifts.
Getting Started with Assessment for Learning (AFL) - Offers information on what it is, the research behind it, and what AFL looks like in practice.
IRA Position Statement on Formative Assessment - Supports formative assessment as an integral component of a comprehensive approach to literacy instruction and assessment.
NCTE Position Statement on Formative Assessment that Truly Informs Instruction - Summarizes the recommendations from NCTE on formative assessment in literacy, including tools and strategies.
Understand How CCSS-Aligned Assessment is Different - Explains how the CCSS-aligned assessment differs from previous assessments.
Understanding Your Student's Literacy Data - Access a free course offered by the Iowa Reading Research Center.
Back to topClassroom Assessment
Tools
Assessment for Learning - Department resources supporting formative assessment practices.
Teachers' Essential Guide to Formative Assessment - Provides strategies and tips for making formative assessment more student-centered.
Examples
Performance-Based Assessment: Reviewing the Basics - Describes the essential components of performance-based assessments.
Reading Universe Teaching Videos - You'll find ready-to-use teaching strategies, in-classroom videos, interviews with teachers and reading experts, and quick, concrete answers to common questions about teaching reading and writing.
Student Achievement Partners - Provides literacy assessment tasks that illustrate the Shifts and represent the demands of all college- and career-readiness standards.
WestEd: Understanding Proficiency - Provides resources that guide educators in analyzing student work on performance tasks in order to develop a deeper understanding of the (ELA)/Literacy Standards.
Back to topStandardized Assessments
Statewide
Iowa Statewide Assessment of Student Progress (ISASP) - Information about, test planning and administration, interpreting results and research.
Early Literacy Implementation (ELI) - Promotes effective evidence-based programming, instruction, and assessment practices to support all students to become proficient readers by the end of the third grade.
College
ACT - Provides educator training resources.
- English practice
- Reading practice
- University HQ - ACT Prep Guide and resources for before and after college.
PSAT - Provides guides, reports, and flyers.
SAT - Provides access to and understanding of scores, resource library support, and training modules.
Other
ACT WorkKeys - Access a job skills assessment system that helps employers select, hire, train, develop, and retain a high-performance workforce.
AP - Provides new, revised, and updated courses, audit materials, curriculum, professional development, textbook lists, and online resources.
International Baccalaureate® (IB) - Provides information about student work as direct evidence of achievement against the stated goals of the Diploma Programme (DP) courses.
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