Assess THAT with Tom & Nat! (Assessment, Feedback, Grading, and Learning)

Scaffolding is an essential part of effective teaching, but how do we know when students have truly learned something versus simply performed well with support? In this episode of Assess THAT!, Tom and Natalie explore the often-overlooked distinction between supporting student learning and gathering accurate evidence of achievement. From teacher prompting and guided questioning to graphic organizers and worked examples, they unpack how well-intentioned instructional support can sometimes obscure what students actually know and can do independently. The challenge isn't to stop scaffolding; it's to recognize how the conditions under which students demonstrate learning influence what we can confidently conclude from the evidence.

The conversation examines the delicate balance between providing enough support to move learning forward and knowing when to gradually remove that support. Tom and Natalie explore why independence shouldn't automatically become an achievement criterion, how scaffolded and independent evidence serve different purposes, and what this means for formative assessment, grading, and professional judgment. They also offer practical ways teachers can track the conditions under which learning is demonstrated without creating complicated assessment systems. Ultimately, this episode challenges educators to ask a deceptively simple question: Are we assessing what students have learned, or what we've helped them produce?

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment.

JOIN HERE

WEBSITE

BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE

At the end of the school year, we encouraged you to look back with our End-of-Year Assessment Audit to consider what worked, what didn’t, and what you might want to change. Now it’s time to turn that reflection forward. Before the gradebook starts filling up and familiar routines take over, the beginning of a new school year gives us a brief opportunity to be intentional about the assessment culture we want to create.

In this episode, we unpack five assessment decisions every teacher should make at the start of the school year: what learning actually matters, what evidence you’ll trust, what proficiency looks like, what happens when students aren’t there yet, and what role students will play in the assessment process. This isn’t about overhauling everything you do. It’s about making a few deliberate decisions now that can lead to more accurate assessment, more meaningful feedback, and more confident learners throughout the year.

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment.

JOIN HERE

WEBSITE

BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE

As a school year is completed, it's natural to reflect on what worked, what didn't, and what you'd like to do differently next year. But beyond lessons, units, and classroom management, there's another area that deserves our attention: assessment. In this episode, Tom and Natalie guide listeners through an end-of-year assessment audit built around 10 powerful questions designed to help teachers examine the effectiveness, accuracy, and impact of their assessment practices. From the quality of evidence we gathered to the role feedback played in student growth, this conversation is all about learning from the year that was.

Along the way, we explore whether grades truly reflected achievement, where compliance may have quietly influenced reporting, how students developed as self-assessors, and which assessment routines delivered the greatest return on time and energy. Rather than encouraging a complete overhaul, this episode helps educators identify a few meaningful adjustments that can make next year more accurate, more sustainable, and more supportive of student learning. Before you close the door on this school year, take a moment to learn from the evidence your own classroom produced.

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment.

JOIN HERE

BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE

Self-assessment has become one of the most widely embraced practices in education. We want students to reflect on their learning, understand success criteria, monitor their progress, and take ownership of their growth. But what if we've underestimated how difficult self-assessment actually is? In this episode, Tom and Natalie explore the idea that students don't become effective self-assessors simply because we provide rubrics, post success criteria, or ask reflective questions. Instead, they argue that the ability to recognize quality (what researchers call evaluative judgment) must be intentionally developed through exposure, comparison, discussion, and calibration.

Together, they unpack why success criteria often fall short, how expert blind spots can unintentionally create barriers for learners, and why exemplars, feedback, and calibration conversations are so critical to helping students see quality more clearly. Along the way, they share practical strategies educators can use immediately to strengthen students' ability to judge their own work, use feedback more effectively, and become more independent learners. If you've ever wondered why students struggle to revise, self-assess, or accurately gauge the quality of their work, this episode offers a fresh perspective and a practical path forward.

The Grading Reform Leadership Lab Description

Book a Call with Tom to discuss participating in the Grading Reform Leadership Lab

Check Out Edsby Destinations

Feedback Flow Mini-Course

Assess THAT on YouTube!

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment.

JOIN HERE

NEW BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE

• • Natalie on IG

Self-assessment has become one of the most widely embraced practices in education. We want students to reflect on their learning, understand success criteria, monitor their progress, and take ownership of their growth. But what if we've underestimated how difficult self-assessment actually is? In this episode, Tom and Natalie explore the idea that students don't become effective self-assessors simply because we provide rubrics, post success criteria, or ask reflective questions. Instead, they argue that the ability to recognize quality (what researchers call evaluative judgment) must be intentionally developed through exposure, comparison, discussion, and calibration.

Together, they unpack why success criteria often fall short, how expert blind spots can unintentionally create barriers for learners, and why exemplars, feedback, and calibration conversations are so critical to helping students see quality more clearly. Along the way, they share practical strategies educators can use immediately to strengthen students' ability to judge their own work, use feedback more effectively, and become more independent learners. If you've ever wondered why students struggle to revise, self-assess, or accurately gauge the quality of their work, this episode offers a fresh perspective and a practical path forward.

The Grading Reform Leadership Lab Description

Book a Call with Tom to discuss participating in the Grading Reform Leadership Lab

Check Out Edsby Destinations

Assess THAT on YouTube!

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment.

JOIN HERE

NEW BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE

What happens when grading reform moves beyond theory and starts colliding with real people, real beliefs, and real resistance? In this episode, Tom and Natalie unpack the leadership side of grading reform, the part that often gets overlooked in conversations about standards-based grading, assessment reform, and reporting practices. They explore why so many initiatives lose momentum, not because the ideas are flawed, but because leaders are navigating competing pressures without a fully defensible process to anchor the work.

Throughout the conversation, they dig into the realities of leading change in schools: staff pushback, parent concerns, mixed messaging, and the tension of trying to stay grounded while moving a system forward. Tom and Natalie discuss the importance of clarity, credibility, and coherence in leadership, why pushback is not a sign of failure, and how strong assessment leadership requires more than technical solutions. Whether you’re a principal, district leader, instructional coach, or teacher helping shape grading conversations in your school, this episode offers a candid and practical look at what real leadership in grading reform actually requires.

The Grading Reform Leadership Lab Description

Book a Call with Tom to discuss participating in the Grading Reform Leadership Lab

Check Out Edsby Destinations

Assess THAT on YouTube!

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment.

JOIN HERE

NEW BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE

Participation grades are still widely used in education. In this episode, Tom and Nat challenge the assumption that participation belongs in academic grades by unpacking a critical distinction: participation may support learning, but it is not the same as learning. Through a candid and thought-provoking conversation, they explore what participation grades often end up measuring: personality, confidence, compliance, and cultural norms, rather than actual understanding. The result? Grades that can unintentionally distort achievement and disadvantage certain learners.

But this episode doesn’t stop at critique. Tom and Nat reframe participation as something too important to reduce to a number, offering practical ways to make it more inclusive, intentional, and aligned with sound assessment practices. From expanding how participation is defined to separating it from academic achievement and using it as a tool for feedback and growth, this conversation will challenge your thinking and give you concrete ways to better support student engagement, without compromising the integrity of your grades.

While this episode is timely, given the recent announcement by the Ontario government, it was recorded on March 27, before the government's "Putting Student Achievement First Act, 2026" was announced in April 2026.

Check Out Edsby Destinations

Assess THAT on YouTube!

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment.

JOIN HERE

NEW BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE

In this episode, Tom & Natalie are joined by Jon Asbury, co-founder of Edsby, to discuss their new platform, "Edsby Destinations." Previously, Jon was one of the three co-founders of a company called SoftArc. SoftArc built an email and collaboration system called FirstClass back in the 90s that took the world by storm and is credited as, among other things, the first learning management system.

Edsby Destinations is a scalable, competency-based assessment and reporting system designed to help K-12 districts and state governments clearly articulate and track what students are learning, where they are headed, and how to get them there. Destinations aligns performance to local outcome frameworks and standards, enabling a student “GPS for learning” with real-time educator visibility into progress against defined success criteria. Teachers, students, and families benefit from clear, student-friendly language, multimedia evidence capture, two-way feedback, and dashboards that illuminate learning pathways at individual, class, and regional levels. Designed for large K-12 organizations and linked with existing SISes and LMSes, it ensures assessment practices scale with transparency and consistency.

Check Out Edsby Destinations

Assess THAT on YouTube!

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment.

JOIN HERE

NEW BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE

In this episode, Tom and Nat take a hard look at one of the most celebrated and misunderstood elements of teaching: feedback. While research consistently shows that feedback can significantly improve student achievement, the reality in many classrooms is very different. Too often, feedback is given but not used, leaving teachers frustrated and students unchanged. Together, they unpack five key reasons feedback fails, including the impact of grades, cognitive overload, poor timing, over-directiveness, and the emotional side of how feedback lands with students.

More importantly, this episode shifts the conversation from effort to design. Tom and Nat explore what actually makes feedback effective (not in theory, but in practice), offering clear, actionable principles that help ensure feedback leads to thinking, revision, and growth. If you’ve ever wondered why your feedback isn’t getting the results you hoped for, this episode will challenge your assumptions and give you a more intentional, impactful way forward.

Assess THAT on YouTube!

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment.

JOIN HERE

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING EVENTS

-Apr. 1-2, 2026 (Tom) Grading from the Inside Out (Franklin, TN)

-Apr. 9-10, 2026 Canadian Assessment Spring Conference (Vancouver, BC)

NEW BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE

Averaging feels neutral, objective, and mathematically sound, but in the context of student learning, it can quietly distort the story a grade is meant to tell. In this episode, Tom and Natalie take a deep dive into the statistics that dominate most gradebooks (mean, median, and mode) and unpack why tools designed to summarize stable data can mislead us when applied to something as dynamic as human learning. Along the way, they explore the hidden problems of equal weighting, outliers, small sample sizes, and the false precision created by decimals that suggest more accuracy than the evidence can truly support.

Through practical examples and thought-provoking scenarios, Tom and Natalie show how averaging can punish growth, hide mastery, and cement early struggles into final judgments. But this episode isn’t anti-math; it’s about measurement clarity. They explore the limited situations where averaging can be helpful and offer practical alternatives for blending statistical summaries with professional judgment so that grades communicate what they’re supposed to: a meaningful and defensible interpretation of student learning.

Assess THAT on YouTube!

🍁 CANADIAN ASSESSMENT CENTRE

Join our mailing list for assessment strategies, new podcast episodes, upcoming events, and all things Canadian Assessment. JOIN HERE

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING EVENTS

-Apr. 1-2, 2026 (Tom) Grading from the Inside Out (Franklin, TN)

-Apr. 9-10, 2026 Canadian Assessment Spring Conference (Vancouver, BC)

NEW BOOK FROM TOM & NAT

CONNECT WITH TOM & NATALIE