Practical Strategies for Authentic Assessment for English/Language Arts

An aligned standards-based curriculum includes a strong match between the standards of the unit being taught, the assessment tools, and the instructional strategies. Assessments provide evidence of what students know and are able to do while instructional strategies provide the means and opportunities required to impact learning. Without clear alignment between instructional strategies and assessment, both student motivation and learning can be compromised.

Using the backward design process, the two-day AERO ELA Common Core Plus Pre-conference Workshop will provide participants the opportunity to create authentic assessments that will provide students with the opportunities to demonstrate achievement of clearly communicated learning outcomes.

In addition, the workshop will provide participants the opportunity to:

• Review and unpack AERO Common Core English/Language Arts Standards.
• Review performance assessment, including purpose and use of formative and summative assessment.
• Identify and apply appropriate Depth of Knowledge levels to the assessments.
• Using identified standards, develop rigorous assessments that focus on student learning and provide information about the learning to the teacher and the student.

Participants will learn the steps to create authentic assessments that inform instruction and effect student learning.

Advance Preparation/Prerequisites: For teachers at schools who have either adopted the AERO standards or who are in the process of adopting them. Please bring your laptop to this workshop.

Target Audience: English/Language Arts teachers.

Continuum Level: 2

NESA's Learning Continuum:

• Please sign up via the Spring Educators Conference registration form.
• If you are not staying on to attend the SEC, and will attend only the AERO Preconference, please write "AERO ONLY" in the Comments box on the SEC registration form.
• There is no additional registration fee to participate in the AERO ELA Pre-conference.
• Maximum participants: 30.

Save paper and effort where possible!

For your convenience, and to support our efforts in being "green", all handouts/files posted here have been notated with an A, B, C or D indicating the following:

(A) hardcopies needed at workshop
(B) electronic version on laptop is sufficient (for viewing during the workshop)
(C) required reading PRIOR to the workshop
(D) file not needed for workshop itself, but simply material of additional interest/reference

(B) AERO ELA Toolkit - LiveBinder