Teachers Harness The Power Of Assessment

Teachers Harness The Power of Assessment

Collaborative Use of Student Data Gauges Performance and Guides Instruction

By Phillip Herman, Peter Wardrip, Ashley Hall and Amy Chimino

August 2012

Vol. 33 No. 4

Improving systematic use of student data to inform the work of teachers, schools, and districts has become a hot topic in education reform. Learning Forward’s Standards for Professional Learning stress better use of data, and particularly student performance data, within an integrated approach to improving practice. While better use of data by schools and districts is critical to improving student outcomes, the most direct impact comes from teachers using evidence of student thinking and understanding to improve instruction. However, systematically collecting, recording, analyzing, and reacting to this kind of data is challenging for teachers. Two teachers who have harnessed this powerful practice are Ashley Hall and Amy Chimino (two of the authors of this article), both 4th-grade teachers in a not-for-profit charter system near Pittsburgh,

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Authors

Phillip Herman, Peter Wardrip, Ashley Hall, Amy Chimino

Phillip Herman (pherman@pitt.edu) is director of research for the Center for Urban Education and a visiting assistant professor in the learning sciences and policy program at the University of Pittsburgh. Peter Wardrip (psw9@pitt.edu) is a Ph.D. candidate in the learning sciences and policy program at the University of Pittsburgh. Ashley Hall (ahall@propelschools.org) is a 4th-grade math and science teacher and Amy Chimino (achimino@propelschools.org) is a 4th-grade reading and social studies teacher at Propel McKeesport in McKeesport, PA.