Essential Assessment

Essential Assessment – Cassandra Erkens

Assessment is one of the most powerful tools teachers have, but too often it is experienced by students as a source of anxiety and judgment rather than a path to learning. Essential Assessment: Six Tenets for Bringing Hope, Efficacy, and Achievement to the Classroom, by Cassandra Erkens, Tom Schimmer and Nicole Dimich, offers educators a framework for changing that.

The authors, experienced educators and consultants who work with schools on assessment practice, argue that assessment should be designed first and foremost to support learning. They present six tenets that together form a strong foundation for effective classroom assessment: a clear assessment purpose, clear communication about learning, a sound assessment architecture, accurate interpretation of evidence, meaningful student investment in their own learning, and instructional agility, meaning the ability of teachers to respond quickly to what assessment reveals.

For each tenet, the book explains the research behind it, describes what it looks like in practice and offers practical strategies, examples and reflection questions that teachers and school teams can use to examine and improve their own work. Throughout, the authors emphasize the importance of building hope and self-efficacy in students, so that every learner believes improvement is possible.

Practical, research-informed and encouraging, Essential Assessment is a valuable resource for classroom teachers, instructional coaches, school leaders and professional learning communities seeking to make assessment a positive force for achievement in their schools.