So What Do They Really Know?

Book excerpt: So What Do They Really Know? Cris Tovani explores the complex issue of monitoring, assessing, and grading students' thinking and performance with fairness and fidelity. Like all teachers, Cris struggles to balance her student-centered instruction with school system mandates. Her recommendations are realistic and practical; she understands that what isn't manageable isn't sustainable. Cris describes the systems and structure she uses in her own classroom and shows teachers how to use assessments to monitor student growth and provide targeted feedback that enables students to master content goals. She also shares ways to bring students into the assessment cycle so they can monitor their own learning, maximizing motivation and engagement. So What Do They Really Know? includes a wealth of information: Lessons from Cris's classroomTemplates showing how teachers can use the workshop model to assess and differentiate instructionStudent work, including samples from linguistically diverse learners, struggling readers, and college-bound seniorsAnchor charts of student thinkingIdeas on how to give feedbackGuidelines that explain how conferring is different from monitoringSuggestions for assessing learning and differentiating instruction during conferencesAdvice for managing ongoing assessmentCris's willingness to share her own struggles continues to be a hallmark of her work. Teachers will recognize their own students and the challenges they face as they join Cris on the journey to figure out how to raise student achievement.