In today’s episode, Jamie, Natalie, and Rachel tackle the dreaded topic of assessment. Specifically, they wonder which form of assessment to use and how to philosophically align them with instruction. The conversation also quickly turned to a larger discussion about what our teaching and learning is helping us to understand about our students and if that translates to our assessments. The three also discuss the challenges with each form of assessment and how certain types of assessment seem inherently more merit-worthy in the ELA discipline.

Today at school, consider this: How is your instruction philosophically aligned to your assessments? What are you trying to learn about students, and how does that affect your assessment? What are you TRULY wanting students to learn, and how is that represented in your assessment?