Group items tagged

"Assessments of Information Literacy" links to resources for assessing information literacy. Includes portfolio assessments from many different colleges.

"The Trouble with Rubrics" By Alfie Kohn Once upon a time I vaguely thought of assessment in dichotomous terms: The old approach, which consisted mostly of letter grades, was crude and uninformative, while the new approach, which included things like portfolios and rubrics, was detailed and authentic. Only much later did I look more carefully at the individual floats rolling by in the alternative assessment parade -- and stop cheering."

Another key thought - the goal; help students become more adept and excited about what they are doing.

Alfie Kohn presses us to think more critically about how and why we assess students. What does it do for learning.

"INFORMATION SKILLS RATING SCALE This document was developed as part of a consulting assignment with the library media staff of the Oak Harbor (WA) Schools, who wished to create a rating scale which would help them assess how well students are performing on the tasks associated with the Research Cycle . The document is copyrighted by the Oak Harbor Schools and by Jamie McKenzie, but copies may be made by schools for distribution to staff. Any other duplication or transmittal in any form is prohibited unless permission is granted expressly."

David, This looks extremely useful. How might we get "permission granted" for school-wide use? Jean

The News Literacy Project (NLP) is a national educational program that taps experienced journalists to help middle and high school students "sort fact from fiction in the digital age." According to its website, the project teaches students critical-thinking skills that will help them become smarter consumers and creators of information across all types of media. It shows students "how to distinguish verified information from spin, opinion, and misinformation-whether they are using search engines to find websites with information about specific topics, assessing a viral eMail, viewing a video on YouTube, watching television news, or reading a newspaper or a blog post." Working with educators, students, and journalists, NLP says it has developed original curriculum materials "based on engaging activities and student projects that build and reflect understanding of the program's essential questions. The curriculum includes material on a variety of topics … that is presented through hands-on exercises, games, videos, and the journalists' own compelling stories."

"Child Development Research Child Development Videos » History, Theory & Research » Child Development Research Child development research encompasses a broad range of topics, and included here are titles illustrating some of the many branches of developmental psychology and child development theory. Methods of research and observation have changed dramatically in the past century, allowing for vast amounts of new information to be compiled and assessed. Our collective knowledge of how children grow has grown exponentially, thanks to researchers from around the world. Titles in this section offer an in-depth look at this new and compelling research, and the lives of the individuals who founded them. "

"The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) have the po - tential to ensure that every child in the United States is prepared for college and careers. It is a worthy goal and one that we must work together to achieve. However, infor - mation, policies, and products aimed at helping educators to implement the ELA Common Core State Standards are be - ing produced rapidly, sometimes with conf licting messages about literacy practices. This can be a confusing situation for school leaders and classroom teachers as they seek to under - stand the Standards and the best practices for literacy instruc - tion and assessment. It is state and local leaders and teachers themselves who, ultimately, must make the Standards into an effective instructional reality-what happens day to day in classrooms determines student ELA learning."

"I'd like to briefly take a look at using critical thinking specifically for reading blogs and tweets (although this method could apply to just about anything). While there isn't an official formula for doing this, I'd like to suggest using "The Five W's" that we learn in elementary school as guidelines for inquiry; they include Who?, What?, Where?, When?, Why?, and (sometimes) How?. Instead of using the Five W's for developing content (they're the basics for writing a successful news piece), use the Five W's to analyze any post/piece of writing. Here's how to get started:

Analysis of critical thinking. Very good resource for evaluation as well.

Offers definitions of critical thinking and links to quality resources on topics such as argument mapping, assessment, cognitive biases, critical reading and writing, experts and expertise. (this resource was identified in Microsoft's "Developing Critical Thinking Through Web Research skills") Top Ten 1. Argument Mapping Tutorials. Six online tutorials in argument mapping, a core requirement for advanced critical thinking. 2. The Skeptic's Dictionary - over 400 definitions and essays. 3. The Fallacy Files by Gary Curtis. Best website on fallacies. 4. Butterflies and Wheels. Excellent reading - news, articles, and much more. 5. Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts by Peter Facione. Good overview of the nature of critical thinking. (pdf file) 6. Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion by John Stuart Mill. Classic chapter, densely packed with wisdom about thinking. 7. Chance - best resource for helping students think critically about issues involving probability and statistics 8. Psychology of Intelligence Analysis, by Richards Heuer. A good overview of how to improve thinking in the light of insights from cognitive psychology. 9. A Handbook on Writing Argumentative and Interpretative Essays by Ian Johnston 10. Baloney Detection Part 1 and Part 2 - by Michael Shermer. 10 step guide.

""Bullshit and the Art of Crap-Detection" by Neil Postman (Delivered at the National Convention for the Teachers of English [NCTE], November 28, 1969, Washington, D.C.)"