By Anne Collins

Linking assessment to everday classroom instruction requires a shift in both thinking and practice. For many, the term assessment simply means grade. Using Classroom Assessment to Improve Student Learning shows how teachers can move away from using tests, letter or numerical grades, or passing or failing as evidence of student learning to creating a rich classroom environment that is conducive to effective formative assessment.

"This book is one that all middle school math teachers have been waiting for. Formative assessment seems to be catching on in elementary grades—and now it can happen in middle school and high school classrooms. You might ask, What is formative assessment? How does it work in a secondary math classroom? What problems or tasks can get me started? This easy-to-read book answers all these questions and more. Teachers will especially love using the book’s embedded tasks for formative assessment.Using Classroom Assessment to Improve Student Learning is a handbook that every math teacher must have."

Mari Muri
Mathematics Consultant
Project to Increase Mastery of Mathematics and Science (PIMMS)
Wesleyan University

"Formative assessment is the hottest thing in education, but really understanding how to use assessment strategies to improve student learning goes far beyond that label. This wonderful book gives help at many levels, starting with a look at how instruction, assessment, and student learning interact in an effective classroom.Using Classroom Assessment to Improve Student Learning walks us through classroom strategies that blend these crucial elements and offers real examples that show what it might look like in practice with middle school students. It’s a great resource for anyone who wants to find out what students know in order to help them know more."

Cathy Seeley
Senior Fellow, Charles A. Dana Center, University of Texas at Austin
Past President, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics