The modules above address the essential questions and learning goals listed below.

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS FOR PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS
A: Why assess student learning?		B: How do teachers decide on what and how to assess student learning?

LEARNING GOALS FOR PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS (PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS WILL BE ABLE TO...)
1: Explain how current trends in assessment and accountability influence policy and practice in schools today 1(a): Compare and contrast assessments "for" and "of" learning and justify their use in classrooms and schools 1(b): Justify a grading policy that responds to contemporary perspectives on grading and reporting student progress 1(c): Examine and critique local, state, and national accountability systems and their implications for social justice and equity in local contexts 1(d): Explain the purposes and development of standardized tests and evaluate their potential caveats and misuses		2: Collect and use multiple sources of information to assess pupils’ learning 2(a): Evaluate the purposes of a variety of informal and formal; diagnostic; and formative and summative assessment tools that reveal specific aspects of student learning 2(b): Explain and justify with examples from one’s own teaching how standards, assessment, curriculum, and instruction are integrated for the purpose of supporting student learning 2(c): Construct and provide a rationale for a variety of assessment tools (including rubrics or other scoring guides, portfolios, quizzes, and tests) in specific subject area teaching 2(d): Critique, modify, and use available assessment tools, including those from commercially-produced materials and the internet 2(e): Apply concepts of reliability, validity, practicality, and standardization (RSVP) to the design of classroom assessment tools and associated scoring procedures 2(f): Identify and avoid the potential biases in various assessment tools and the consequences of their use 2(g): Construct and provide a rationale for the use of assessment information to support fair, unbiased, and reliable grading 2(h): Apply concepts of reliability, validity, practicality, and standardization (RSVP) to critique standardized assessment systems		3: Establish and communicate learning goals for all pupils 3(a): Explain and contrast the types and purposes of standards, goals, and objectives and their corresponding roles in planning curriculum, instruction, and assessment 3(b): Use grade level subject matter content standards to plan short and long term curriculum, instruction, and ongoing assessment 3(c): Create evaluative criteria for assessments, based upon grade level subject matter content standards 3(d): Use a variety of techniques to help students internalize expectations for performance (e.g., rubric levels, exemplars, self- and peer-assessment) 3(e): Provide a rationale for the components that contribute to a student’s grade and their respective weighting 3(f): Communicate grading policies to students and parents 3(g): Use grade level subject matter content standards to guide reasonable preparation for standardized testing 3(h): Introduce standardized testing to parents and students as just one indicator of student learning that requires specific types of support and preparation 3(i): Identify and critique legal and fair approaches to teaching test taking skills and testwiseness 3(j): Interpret and communicate various types of standardized test scores and their legitimate meanings to parents and other stakeholders		4: Use assessments to support, guide, and reflect on feedback related to student learning 4(a): Use a variety of informal and formal; diagnostic; and formative and summative assessments to provide students with meaningful feedback about their progress 4(b): Examine student work from a variety of informal and formal; diagnostic; and formative and summative assessments to pace instruction and plan specific next steps for instruction and/or re-teaching 4(c): Anticipate, check for, and address common student misconceptions and misunderstandings 4(d): Provide a rationale for and engage students in peer- and self-assessment