The Assessment Half-Dozen

So many websites, so little time! Did you ever get overwhelmed by lists of recommended websites? Do you really remember what you stashed in your Favorites? Here is a little list of quality websites to support authentic assessment in the English Language Arts Classroom.

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/assessment/index.html

Have you ever become lost in the language and theory of assessment? Then navigating through this Concept to Classroom self-paced workshop entitled Assessment, Evaluation and Curriculum Redesign is a must. Participants work through Explanations( by experts like Diane Ravitch), Demonstrations (including classroom videos), Explorations and Implementations. The Concept to Classroom series also includes other topics that touch on assessment.

http://www.learner.org/view_programs/view.programs.html

Annenberg Media, sponsored by the Annenberg Foundation, produces videos available on demand to support classroom teachers and learning. Browse Teacher Resources by Discipline (in the drop down menu) and choose Education and Education Reform to access programs like School Testing – Behind the Numbers. You might also want to explore resources in your content area. This site provides an additional opportunity to learn about assessment.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/assess.html

Kathy Schrock always maintains links to quality classroom resources – and her treasure trove of useful assessment links is no exception. From rubrics to ideas for alternative assessment, you are sure to find some useful resources here.

http://portal.success-ode-state-oh-us.info/

The Ohio Department of Education provides this portal to support the Achievement Tests and the Ohio Graduation Test. Practice tests, links to standards and other appropriate parts of the ODE website are provided. Some features require a password.

http://jonathan.mueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/index.htm

Jonathan Mueller’s Authentic Assessment Toolbox provides background on authentic assessment and then numerous examples at all grade levels of tasks, rubrics, portfolio and other assessments. All examples have been gathered from students in his graduate classes.

 http://www.greece.k12.ny.us/instruction/ela/Index.htm

The Greece Central School District supports a rich website with many strategies and graphic organizers for authentic assessment of reading and writing. Pay special attention to the Tools for Reading, Writing & Thinking.

Disclaimer: Didn’t find your favorite site? Remember, this is a “little” list for you to explore. You can also find this list in a clickable format on the OCTELA website at http://www.octela.org/newoctela/newresources.html.

While you’re there, explore the other resources for English Language Arts teachers maintained by our grade level liaisons. Do you have a suggestion for a great resource? Email Marge Ford at camp_mf@access-k12.org and the editorial team will evaluate it for inclusion on the resource page.