Develop Authentic Teaching Standards and Learning Assessments

To meet the needs of 21st Century students, it is important to develop authentic teaching standards and learning assessments. Nationally, there is a pressing need for today’s teachers to create a collaboratively built, widely shared professional knowledge base. It is time to support educators who hold themselves collectively accountable for improving student achievement by using assessments that are valued –not because they are linked to consequences, but because they are essential tools for learning. A growing number of education leaders across the country are increasingly committed to moving away from a reliance on single standardized assessments to more innovative approaches for holding themselves accountable for student learning. Assessment of teachers and the linking of those assessments to student performance is a pressing issue for districts and states as data-collection tools are increasingly developed and deployed.

Below you will find resources that can help policymakers develop and implement a balanced approach.

• Measuring Skills for the 21st Century, Nov. 10, 2008

By Elena Silva, Education Sector

• A Briefing on Performance-Based Assessments, Oct. 20, 2008

The Forum for Education and Democracy

• Value Added Measures: Implications for Policy and Practice

Calder/Urban Institute Conference (May 2008)

• New York Performance Standards Consortium. The Consortium represents 28 schools across New York State.

• Drive On to Improve Evaluation Systems for Teacher, Jan. 16, 2008

By Bess Keller, Education Week

• Assessment Crisis: The Absence Of Assessment FOR Learning, June 6, 2002; By Richard J. Stiggins, Phi Delta Kappan