Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work: Robert J. Marzano: Marzano's book provides an in-depth exploration of efferctive assessment strategies and grading in the classroom, what he calls: "one of the most powerful weapons in a teacher's arsenal." The text includes the necessary tools and tips teachers need to create a better assessment and grading system. The following information has been collected from Marzano's findings:

• Formative classroom assessment, when issued effective, can be one of the most powerful resources a classroom teacher can use.

• Classroom feedback, referring to student learning and teacher strategies should be frequent, give everyone an understanding of their progress and how they can improve, and provide encouragement.

• Using a point system for grading can prove to be ineffective towards student progress.

• By using Item Response Theory, teachers translates the point scores to a scale that represents understanding and level of ability.

• Assessment items can be grouped into three categories: Type I (basic details and skills), Type II (complex ideas), and Type III (making inferences that go beyond what was taught in class).

• Assessment items can be designed in five ways: forced-choice (true or false, multiple choice, etc.), short written response, essays, oral reports and responses, and demonstrations and performances.

• Effective and ongoing formative assessments as well as feedback should encourage students to improve in their learning.

• Having students track their progress (data notebooking) will help them stay organized and focused on their learning goals.

Comprehensive Assessment System: Rhode Island Criteria & Guidance : The strategic plan for the 2010-2015 school year, Transforming Education in Rhode Island. Approved on January 7, 2010 by The Rhode Island Board of Regents. The following information has been collected from the RICAM findings:

• All assessments should be valid & reliable

• Educators should be fair in assessing. They must provide the appropriate modifications and accommodations per student if needed.

• Schools must have an effective way to communicate data to parents, regarding their chils' progress and improvement.

• Schools should evaluate their assessment system, and determine whether or not it is effective.

http://www.ride.ri.gov/Portals/0/Uploads/Documents/Instruction-and-Assessment-World-Class-Standards/Assessment/CAS/CAS-Criteria-Guidance-ONLY.pdf

The Danielson Framework: Charlotte Danielson: Danielson revolved her framework around the crucial elements that go into teaching as well as the demands as a result from it. The following information has been collected from her website:

• Effective educators are critical in student learning

• Sometimes, those who observe educators don’t have the skills to identify effective teaching, nor do they have a proper definition of ‘good teaching.'

• Observers should be trained in identifying effective teaching

• Teachers should use their observations to refine their skills

• Teachers must be able to take risks if they want to improve upon their teaching

• A culture of professional learning must be established in schools

• Elements of effective teaching include...

  • Effective Communication

  • Proximity

  • Organized Procedures

  • Preparation

  • Multitude of strategies

  • Professionalism

  • Prompting

  • Reinforcement

https://www.danielsongroup.org

Mastery-Based Report Cards : Hanover Research: The mastery‐based report card is the product of teaching and learning in a standards‐based educational environment. This document contains data collected over the past 10 years to prove the increasing attention being paid to standards‐based or mastery‐ based grading systems. In the opinion of many educators, such systems allow students to keep better track of the individual components of their overall progress toward meeting learning goals. The following information has been collected from the document:

• Mastery-Based grading is the opposite of weighted-grading. Instead of issusing points or percentages, students receive indicators that tell them how they are improving in the subject

• Mastery-Based report cards help students understand where improvement needs to happen

• It can be challenging at first to introduce parents to the new system of Mastery-Based reporting

http://studentachievementblog.cbd9.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/HANOVERMasteryBasedReportCards.pdf

Understanding by Design Guide to Creating High-Quality Units: Grant Wiggins: This text is targeted towards educators who want to improve their skills and understanding when designing units of study based on the Understanding by Design framework.