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INTRODUCTION

Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading is the second in a series of books collectively referred to as The Classroom Strategies Series. The purpose of this series is to provide teachers as well as building and district administrators with an in-depth treatment of research-based instructional strategies that can be used in the classroom to enhance student achievement. Many of the strategies addressed in this series have been covered in other works such as The Art and Science of Teaching: A Comprehensive Framework for Effective Instruction (Marzano, 2007), Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work (Marzano, 2006), and Classroom Instruction That Works (Marzano, Pickering, & Pollock, 2001). Although those works devoted a chapter or a part of a chapter to particular strategies, The Classroom Strategies Series devotes an entire book to an instructional strategy or set of related strategies.

Designing effective assessments is critical for any teacher. In order to make judgments about the status of a student or an entire class at any given point in time, teachers need as much accurate data as possible about an individual student’s progress, or the progress of the class as a whole, to determine their next instructional steps. As straightforward as this might sound, designing assessments, using them purposefully, and incorporating them into a system of overall grading take insight and practice. Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading addresses the misconceptions about formative assessment and how it can be used in an overall grading scheme.

We begin with a brief but inclusive chapter that reviews the research and theory on formative assessment, instructional feedback, and grading. Although you might skip this chapter and move right into those that provide recommendations for classroom practice, you are strongly encouraged to examine the research and theory, as it is the foundation for the entire book. Indeed, a basic purpose of Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading and other books in The Classroom Strategies Series is to present the most useful instructional strategies that are based on the strongest research and theory available.

Because research and theory can provide only a general direction for classroom practice, Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading (and each book in the series) goes one step further to translate that research into applications for the classroom. Specifically, it addresses misconceptions about formative assessment, provides formatively based classroom assessment strategies, and discusses in depth how those strategies can effect change in overall grading systems on both small and large scales. It is important to note, however, that individual teachers, schools, and districts must make necessary adaptations to meet the unique needs of their students.

How to Use This Book

Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading can be used as a self-study text that provides an in-depth understanding of how to design and interpret assessments and use those assessments to develop meaningful grades. As you progress through the chapters, you will encounter exercises. It is important to complete these exercises and then compare your answers with those in the back of the text. Such interaction provides a review of the content and allows you to examine how clearly you understand it.

Teams of teachers or an entire faculty that wishes to examine the topics of assessment and grading in depth may also use Formative Assessment and Standards-Based Grading. When this is the case, teacher teams should do the exercises independently and then compare their answers in small-group and largegroup settings.