Supercharge your formative assessment skills and watch student learning soar! Teachers routinely ask and answer a series of three questions with and for students: Where are my students headed? Where are they right now? How can I close the gap between where they are and where I want them to be? This text suggests that teachers also ask these parallel questions of themselves: Where am I going? What can formative assessment practice look like? Where am I currently in my formative assessment practice? How do I close the gap? Readers are then encouraged to select a specific aspect of formative assessment to investigate, explore relevant personal practice relevant to that aspect, implement necessary changes, reflect on those changes, and continue the change process. This practical guide can be used by individual teachers or collaboratively as a study guide for a learning community. The authors describe an effective four-step process for improving teachers' formative assessment practices that provides opportunities to reflect, consider alternative instructional approaches, and apply what they have learned. Case studies provide examples of formative assessment in practice, along with examples of teacher-implemented changes. A companion website includes an array of tools and templates for organizing, gathering, and systematically using information to strengthen formative assessment skills. This practical guide can be used by individual teachers or collaboratively as a study guide for a learning community. Case studies provide examples of formative assessment in practice, along with examples of teachers implementing changes in their practice. A companion website includes an array of tools and templates for organizing, gathering, and systematically using information to strengthen formative assessment skills.

In Formative Assessment in the Disciplines, Margaret Heritage and E. Caroline Wylie explore the interconnection of ambitious teaching, formative assessment, and disciplinary knowledge. The authors outline a framework to help teachers develop and extend their proficiency in enacting discipline-based formative assessment practices across the continuum of preservice and professional learning. The book examines the interaction of formative assessment and disciplinary knowledge in mathematics, science, English language arts, and social studies. Through extended, real-life classroom vignettes, the authors argue that formative assessment is not a set of generic practices but rather is embedded in disciplinary learning. The authors illustrate how teachers' knowledge and skills in discipline-based formative assessment can be developed across each phase of professional expertise, from preservice programs through induction to in-service learning opportunities for teachers and teacher leadership. This approach supports the premise that teachers never stop learning and continue to hone their expertise over many years. Formative Assessment in the Disciplines is a valuable tool for those planning professional learning for teachers at any stage including teacher educators, professional learning providers, and teacher leaders.