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There is considerable evidence showing that assessment drives student learning. More than anything else, our assessment tools tell students what we consider to be important. They will learn what we guide them to learn through our assessments.

Assessment is more than grades To many, the word "assessment" simply means the process by which we assign students grades. Assessment is much more than this, however. Assessment is a mechanism for providing instructors with data for improving their teaching methods and for guiding and motivating students to be actively involved in their own learning. As such, assessment provides important feedback to both instructors and students. Assessment is Feedback for Both Instructors and Students Assessment gives us essential information about what our students are learning and about the extent to which we are meeting our teaching goals. But the true power of assessment comes in also using it to give feedback to our students. Improving the quality of learning in our courses involves not just determining to what extent students have mastered course content at the end of the course; improving the quality of learning also involves determining to what extent students are mastering content throughout the course.

Assessment Drives Student Learning The types of assessment usually performed in first-year science, math, engineering, and technology (STEM) courses--giving students tests--merely inform students about their grade, or ranking, after they have received instruction. In addition, these common testing techniques--which typically test for fact-based knowledge and algorithmic problem solving--tell our students that this is the type of knowledge we think is most important. That is, we appear to value the understanding of concepts at a relatively low level. Given that this is the type of assessment our students most frequently encounter, and that it will eventually lead to their final course grades, students learn to study the content in our courses in an expeditious way that allows them to succeed in passing many first-year STEM courses without necessarily developing deep understanding of concepts. It is our assessment that drives students learning.

A person can teach in one of Milwaukee's 125 publicly funded private schools without even a high school diploma.

"teacher proof"

Such approaches ignore fundamental issues of resources, teacher leadership, teaching and learning conditions, and the need for much more time for teachers to collaborate, assess student progress, and improve their teaching skills.

Students appear to be benefiting from online learning programs. While evidence about the effectiveness of K-12 online learning programs is limited, there is reason to believe that students can learn effectively online. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education published a meta-analysis of evidence-based studies of K-12 and postsecondary online learning programs.[3] The study reported that "students who took all or part of their class online performed better, on average, than those taking the same course through traditional face-to-face instruction."[4] In addition, online learning has the potential to improve productivity and lower the cost of education, reducing the burden on taxpayers

Whether students have access to online learning options will largely be determined by policymakers' willingness to reform education funding to facilitate greater parental choice. This factor largely explains why the Florida Virtual School enrolls 154,000 students while the Maryland Virtual School enrolls only 710 students. If policymakers want to open the possibilities of online learning to all students, they must reform school funding mechanisms to allow the money to follow the students to their providers of choice.

Federal policymakers should consider using online or virtual learning to improve effectiveness and efficiency of these programs. For example, the Department of Defense Education Activity (DODEA) currently educates approximately 85,000 children of military personnel[22] and is developing plans to create an online virtual high school for the 2010-2011 school year.[23] A virtual school for the children of military personnel would likely expand their educational opportunities and minimize disruptions caused by transferring to new schools when their parents are transferred to new assignments.

Figure 1Six types of parent involvementType 1:ParentingAssist families with parenting skills, family support, understanding child and adolescent development, and setting home conditions to support learning at each age and grade level. Assist schools in understanding families' backgrounds, cultures, and goals for children.Type 2:CommunicatingCommunicate with families about school programs and student progress. Create two-way communication between school and home.Type 3:VolunteeringImprove recruitment, training, activities, and schedules to involve families as volunteers and as audiences at the school. Enable educators to work with volunteers who support students and the school.Type 4:Learning at HomeInvolve families with their children in academic learning at home, including homework, goal setting, and other curriculum-related activities. Encourage teachers to design homework that enables students to share and discuss interesting tasks with parents.Type 5:Decision MakingInclude families as participants in school decisions, governance, and advocacy activities through school councils and improvement teams, committees, and parent organizations.Type 6:Collaborating with the CommunityCoordinate resources and services for families, students, and the school with community groups, including businesses, agencies, cultural and civic organizations, and colleges and universities. Enable all to contribute service to the community.

1.  Students create an avatar using Voki.com. We suggest limiting the time because students and teachers could spend all day creating the perfect avatar. 2.  Students type a sentence, paragraph, or section of their stories into the Voki text box. 3.  Students listen to the speech and read along several times. 4.  Students make corrections.

he goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning

strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work

This action research study explored the change in face-to-face teaching practices as a result of faculty professional development for online teaching. Faculty’s initial teaching model is typically born from that of their own teachers, and they teach as they were taught. However, few have any online experience as a student or a teacher. Learning to teach online may be a catalyst for faculty to reflect on and evaluate their current teaching practices.

The results of the study indicated that learning to teach online has the potential to transform faculty’s assumptions and beliefs about teaching, changing their face-to-face teaching practices.

With billions of dollars for improved education bulging from last year's economic-stimulus package

Indianapolis Algebra Project

Phalen saw the existing public schools as a roadblock, not a career path