Course Information
Student Responsibility
It is each student’s responsibility to check with his or her state/district and evaluate and understand any requirements related to the use of individual courses for any purpose.
Assessment to Enhance Teaching and Learning
Course Preview
Graduate Credit: 3 semester hours
Formats: Print & DVD or Online
Level: Grades K–12
Tuition: $495
Registration Deadline: July 13, 2012
Complete by: October 31, 2012
Course #: EDUC-6961-TN
| Grades: |
10 weeks after receipt of coursework |
Do you know what your students do not understand but struggle with determining why they do not understand? Effective assessment both incorporates standardized testing and goes beyond it, measuring not just what students are learning, but how they are learning. This course uses an Understanding by Design® (UbD) framework, which emphasizes your role as the key designer in your students’ learning and success. In your coursework, you will apply diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to a unit from a current lesson plan or to a new unit that you design. Through these exercises, you will develop tools you can use right away in your classroom to ensure that your students are learning and using 21st-century skills. This course also focuses on learning through professional interaction, which includes collaboration with other educators—from colleagues in your school to peers online. The course also features the Teacher’s Lounge, a new online discussion board.
Teaching Tangibles
- Use ongoing assessments to help improve your students’ learning.
- Incorporate standardized testing as part of a broader set of assessment tools.
- Evaluate what comprises an effective rubric and how to build and apply one.
- Help your students measure, monitor, and modify their own learning.
Professional Interactions (Available with Online format only.)
Professional interactions give you a structured opportunity to explore specific course topics. Using in-person interviews, social media tools, education Web sites, and Canter communication tools, you can benefit from discussions with your peers, education specialists, and subject-matter experts. With each professional interaction assignment, the course material offers suggestions for identifying peer and expert resources and conducting interviews—but you choose the form of interaction that works best for you.
†Credits for up to four of these courses may be applied toward a Walden University M.S. in Education program. Please call 1-866-492-5336 and speak to an Enrollment Advisor for more details.
More Information
Download a course fact sheet to share with your supervisor, principal, and other teaching colleagues who may be interested in learning more about Canter graduate courses. The overview includes a description of the course as well as information on:
- Course topics and outcomes
- Course assessment criteria
- System requirements
- Featured education experts
Ellen Goldring, Ph.D.
Dr. Goldring is Professor of Education Policy and Leadership in Peabody College at Vanderbilt University. She is also a member of the Task Force on Developing Research to Improve Educational Leadership, cosponsored by the American Educational Research Association, the Laboratory of Student Success, and the University Council for Educational Administration. In addition to more than 60 journal articles and book chapters, she has published two books: Principals of Dynamic Schools: Taking Charge of Change (coauthor, 2000) and School Choice in Urban America: Magnet Schools and the Pursuit of Equity (coauthor, 1999). Her research focuses on understanding school reform that connects families, communities, and schools. She emphasizes the changing role of school leaders in complex community and organizational contexts.
Jay McTighe, M.Ed.
Jay McTighe has a rich and varied career in education. He served as director of the Maryland Assessment Consortium, was involved with school improvement projects at the Maryland State Department of Education, and coordinated statewide efforts to develop instructional strategies, curriculum models, and assessment procedures for improving the quality of student thinking. He is co-author of Assessing Learning in the Classroom, Assessing Student Outcomes: Performance Assessment Using the Dimensions of Learning Model (1993), and Understanding by Design (2005).
Richard Stiggins, Ph.D.
Dr. Richard Stiggins is founder and president of the Assessment Training Institute in Portland, OR, a company devoted to helping educators balance classroom and standardized assessments and to supporting teachers as they face the challenges of day-to-day classroom assessment. Dr. Stiggins has worked with the American College Testing program to create a guide that helps teachers align what they teach with the content covered by the ACT test. He has published numerous articles and is the co-author of But Are They Learning? A Commonsense Parents’ Guide to Assessment and Grading in Schools (1997) and Student-Involved Assessment for Learning (2004).
The following course materials are included in the cost of tuition and will be delivered directly to you:
- Textbook: Ahead of the Curve: The Power of Assessment to Transform Teaching and Learning, by D. B. Reeves
- DVD: Assessment for Student Learning
(For online format, the DVD is provided as a backup to streaming video online.)
If you order the print & DVD format, you will also receive the following*:
-
Study guide: Assessment for Student Learning
-
Course information packet
*For online format, the study guide and course
information packet are provided in your online classroom.
Prerequisite
This is a graduate-level course; therefore, you must have a bachelor’s degree or above to enroll and receive credit.
Earning Graduate Credit
Total coursework for this course is equivalent to a 45 contact-hour course. Graduate credit will be issued when you successfully complete the following course requirements:
• Collaborate with study partner(s) (Print & DVD format only).
• Collaborate with colleagues through discussion boards (Online format only).
• View video segments.
• Complete required text/journal readings, assignments, and the final paper.
Course Completion Deadline
Print & DVD format: coursework must be postmarked on or before October 31, 2012.
Online format: coursework must be submitted online on or before October 31, 2012.
System Requirements
Operating system for PC: Windows® XP, Windows Vista®, or
Windows® 7
Operating system for Mac®: OS X or higher
Processor: 1 GHz, 32/64 bit or higher
Memory: Minimum 512 MB of RAM; 1 GB recommended
Browser: Microsoft Internet Explorer® 6.0 or higher; Firefox® 3.6 or higher (also for Mac®: Apple® Safari® 4 or higher)
Internet connection: Broadband (DSL, cable modem, or similar) required
Software: Microsoft Word®, Adobe® Flash® Player 7 or higher (free), Adobe® Acrobat® Reader® version 8 or higher (free)
Monitor resolution: 1280 x 800 pixels or higher
Got a question about this course?
Give us a call 1-800-669-9011
