Activating Assessment for All Students

Activating Assessment for All Students is both innovative and practical. It is a unique and compelling guidebook for teachers and others who are interested in assessment and differentiated instruction. Special attention is given to how formative assessment practices can help elementary and middle school students learn science and math. Mary Hamm and Dennis Adams present precisely the kind of standards-supported activities that can motivate even the most reluctant learners. The book is grounded in a constructivist approach to differentiated instruction and informative assessment that opens exciting learning opportunities for an increasingly diverse student body. It encourages educators to reflect on their teaching practices—while building a conceptual framework for new directions and new assessment strategies. -- Rebecca Angeles, professor of information and decision sciences, University of New Brunswick, Canada
This basic "how-to" guide for implementing differentiated instruction uses formative assessment in elementary and middle school science and math classes. There are chapters on how to use these techniques for improving student learning, portfolios and other alternatives to traditional summative assessment tools, and collaborative learning and problem solving in science and math classes. A chapter of sample lessons rounds out the book. This book is exactly what it purports to be—a training guide for using diverse teaching techniques to teach a diverse student population....But what makes this book worth recommending is its excellent use of examples and practical guidelines for implementing differentiated instruction. It's one thing for a book on teaching to say that a lesson should include something for those students with musical-rhythmic intelligence; it’s another to suggest "sing the fours multiplication table to Jingle Bells" and explain how. The wealth of such practical suggestions for specific methods for how to plan a differentiated instruction lesson for elementary and middle school children makes this book stand out on the crowded professional development bookshelf. * National Science Teachers Association *
This book, part of the Exemplary Science series, provides excellent examples and practical guidelines for implementing differentiated instruction….The wealth of such practical suggestions for planning a differentiated instruction lesson makes Activating Assessment for All Students a standout on the crowded professional development bookshelf. * The Science Teacher *