Classroom Assessment KnowledgeBase

This KnowledgeBase archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.

The Classroom Assessment KnowledgeBase is an online resource for state departments of education to use as part of their professional development efforts with districts and schools. Organized around five elements, it brings together concepts, how-to guidance, tools, and resources about classroom assessment.

Task 1: Communicate with Students and Parents

Guideline: Progress reporting to students and parents is critical to the feedback loop for formative assessment. However, feedback is more than just passing along assessment results. Parents and students need to know the student's strengths and weaknesses associated with subject content and how to improve identified weak areas. Additionally, teachers need to be cognizant of how and what they communicate to students and parents. Special attention must be given to communicating with parents whose primary language is not English.

Practical Tips

Tip Sheet - Crafting Effective Messages

This Biodiversity Project document offers ten tips for crafting effective messages for communications plans.

References

Awareness of Cultural Differences in Parental Involvement

This Department of Education archived documents focuses on Bridging School-Family Differences.

Grading and Reporting

Developed by Education Northwest, formerly the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, Toolkit98 is designed to assist teachers to become better assessors of student learning. Chapter 4 addresses grading and reporting.

Writing to Linguistically Diverse Audiences

Writing effectively for an audience with a wide variety of backgrounds is difficult. This page provides several resources to help writers craft their message to reach the widest possible audience.

The contents of this website were developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education and are intended for general reference purposes only. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education or the Center, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Some resources on this site require Adobe Acrobat Reader. This website archive includes content and external links that were accurate and relevant as of September 30, 2019.