Opinion Blog

Classroom Q&A

With Larry Ferlazzo

In this EdWeek blog, an experiment in knowledge-gathering, Ferlazzo will address readers’ questions on classroom management, ELL instruction, lesson planning, and other issues facing teachers. Send your questions to lferlazzo@epe.org. Read more from this blog.

Education Opinion

Q&A Collections: Assessment

By Larry Ferlazzo — July 28, 2020 5 min read
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During the summer, I will be sharing thematic posts bringing together responses on similar topics from the past nine years. You can see all those collections from the first eight years here.

Here are the ones I’ve posted so far:

This Year’s Most Popular Q&A Posts

Race & Racism in Schools

School Closures & the Coronavirus Crisis

Classroom-Management Advice

Best Ways to Begin the School Year

Best Ways to End the School Year

Student Motivation & Social-Emotional Learning

Implementing the Common Core

Facing Gender Challenges in Education

Teaching Social Studies.

Cooperative & Collaborative Learning

Using Tech in the Classroom

Student Voices

Parent Engagment In Schools

Teaching English-Language Learners

Reading Instruction

Writing Instruction

Education Policy Issues

Today’s theme is on Assessment. You can see the list following this excerpt from one of them:

*Students Should Not Believe a Grade ‘Defines Who They Currently Are’

A three-part series on how to handle grading is “wrapped up” today with commentaries by Dennis Griffin Jr, Scott Wurdinger, and Douglas Reeves.

*Teachers Can Implement ‘Equitable Grading’

Joe Feldman, Julia Thompson, Madeline Whitaker Good, and Andrew Sharos share their ideas on how teachers can handle grading student work.

*Grades Should Be a ‘Feedback Tool’

Alfonso (Al) Gonzalez, Cathy Vatterott, Heather Wolpert-Gawron, and Cindy Garcia “kick off” a three-part series on best grading practices.

* How to Assess Students’ Math Skills Remotely

Two math educators discuss how they are communicating student performance during the school closure crisis, as well as how they are taking care of themselves.

*The Value of Having Students Evaluate Teachers

This three-part series about students evaluating teachers is “wrapped up” today by Shaeley Santiago, Amy Fast, Sheila B. Robinson, Ed.D, Jennie Farnell, Gary Armida, and Douglas Reeves.

* Student Feedback on Teachers Should Be a ‘Part of More Classrooms’

Dr. PJ Caposey, Kate Wolfe Maxlow, Karen Sanzo, Rachael Williams, Andrea Clark, and Donna L. Shrum discuss whether students should evaluate teachers.

*Ways to Have Students Evaluate Classes

Roxanna Elden, Adeyemi Stembridge, Kathy Dyer, Sheila M. Wilson, and Madeline Whitaker Good share their ideas about students evaluating teachers and classes.

* The Role of Student-Test Scores in Teacher Evaluations

David Berliner, Kathleen Neagle Sokolowski, Douglas Reeves, Timothy Hilton, Amanda Koonlaba, and Erin Scholes share their thoughts on the role of student-test scores in teacher evaluations.

* Response: Teacher Evaluations Need to ‘Support, Not Sort’

This post includes responses from American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, California Teachers Association (past) President Dean Vogel, and 2012 National Teacher of the Year Rebecca Mieliwocki.

* Using Teacher Evaluations ‘to Promote Growth’

This column features contributions from Julian Vasquez Heilig (with Lisa Hernandez), Ben Spielberg, David Berliner, and Paul Bruno.

* Ways to Improve Standardized Tests

Douglas Reeves, Jennifer Borgioli, Kristin DeJong, Chris Gareis, and Leslie Grant explore how state standardized tests can be improved.

* Performance Assessment Can Be an ‘Equity Strategy’

Lee Jenkins, Shane Safir, Andrew Miller, Matt Renwick, and Barbara Blackburn share their ideas on using performance assessment with students.

* Performance Assessments Are ‘Absolutely Worth the Effort’

Joshua Dragoon, N. Chaunte Garrett, Travis Bristol, Kristina Doubet, and Eric Carbaugh contribute their thoughts on using performance assessment in schools.

* Performance Assessments Are ‘Adaptable, Accessible, and Forgiving’

Mike Kaechele, Allison Zmuda, Bena Kallick, Elizabeth Leisy Stosich, and Jennifer Borgioli define performance assessment and how to use it in the classroom.

* Making Grading Practices ‘Specific, Constructive, & Timely’

Myron Dueck, Kristina Doubet, Jessica A. Hockett, Roxanna Elden, Mark Barnes, and Bill Ivey share their suggestions on effective grading practices.

* Assessing Students on ‘What Really Counts’

Today’s post features commentaries from Andrew Miller, Suzie Boss, Meg Riordan, Abbie Sewall, Daniel Schwartz, and Vicky Layne on how to assess students in today’s world.

* Assessments for Today’s Students

Kristina Doubet, Heather Wolpert-Gawron, Thomas Guskey, Thom Markham, and Nancy Sulla contribute their thoughts on assessment in today’s classroom.

* Formative Assessments Are ‘Powerful’

Jennifer Serravallo, Andrew Miller, Daniel R. Venables, Brady E. Venables, and Larry Ainsworth are contributors to this post.

* The ‘Secret Sauce’ of Formative Assessment

This column includes contributions from Libby Woodfin, Tony Frontier, Laura Cabrera, and Alice Mercer.

* ‘The Grading System We Need to Have’

Rick Wormeli, the well-known educator, author, and speaker, provides the primary response in this post. In addition, several readers contributed their own thoughts.

* High-Stakes Testing & Student Engagement

Three author/educators, Michael Opitz, Michael Ford, and Bryan Harris, share their guest responses in this post.

* Ways to Include Students in the Formative-Assessment Process

Author and educator Amy Benjamin, California teacher Cheryl Suliteanu, and I offer our suggestions.

* Several Kinds of Grading Systems

Professor Thomas R. Guskey, author Susan M. Brookhart, educator Bill Ivey, and I share our thoughts and practices.

* Standardized -Test Critiques & Potential Alternatives

Professors David C. Berliner and Yong Zhao offer their thoughts on the topic.

* Helping Long-Term ELLs & Evaluating ELL Teachers Fairly

Katie Hull Sypnieski, the best teacher I’ve ever seen in the classroom, and staff from the American Federation of Teachers researching teacher evaluation contribute their responses.

* Ways the “Next Generation” of Standardized Tests Should Treat ELLs

Representatives from the two groups of states preparing the new assessments, the SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium, or SBAC, and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers Consortium, or PARCC, contribute responses.

I hope you’ve found this summary useful and, again, keep those questions coming!

The opinions expressed in Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.