Below is a list of terms frequently used throughout the CAM. I encourage you to take a look at them and refer to this page while reading through.

Assessment: A variety of strategies and activities that provide information about students’ understanding and skill in a topic.

Examples: Standardized Tests, Multiple Choice, True & False, Essay, Performance Test

Informal Formative Assessment: A type of assessment that doesn’t assign points to students, but rather provides feedback. This way, educators can improve upon their lessons and see what or if they need to reteach. They are daily, ongoing assessments.

Examples: Bellringers, Exit Tickets, Class Discussions, Asking Questions

Formal Formative Assessment: A type of assessment that is assigned a small amount of points and built into the curriculum.

Examples: Quiz, Project

Summative Assessment: A type of assessment conducted at the end of a unit.

Examples: Unit Exam, Final

Benchmark: Short assessments administered throughout the school year that give teachers feedback on how students are meeting the academic standards in their classroom. Formative. Measures what students have been taught. Given periodically. Determines whether or not they are improving.

Diagnostic: An assessment administered to aid teachers and school psychologists determine whether a student is gifted or has a learning disability.

Examples: Reading Diagnostic, IQ Test

Mastery Learning: A method of teaching where the focus is on the role of feedback in learning. The theory that all students must ‘master’ the current topic before moving on to the next.

Bell Curve: Visual Graph of where students fall on the grading scale. It identifies student learning and gives the teacher important data about his or her instruction.

Example: 

Curriculum Based Assessment (CBA): Assessments based off of standards. The assessments can be formal formative and informal formative and the student outcomes that will be identified. The teacher is to use the feedback and collection of data from the assessments to improve or critique their teaching strategies.

Rigor: Creating meaningful targeted assessments for students that pushes them to their full potential and encourages them to learn at the highest level of their ability.

Differentiated Instruction: When educators adjust their teaching style to adhere to each student’s needs.