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Assessment for Learning: A Productive Next Step for Every Student is a Course

Assessment for Learning: A Productive Next Step for Every Student

Ended Aug 13, 2021

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Full course description

Workshop Series Information

Dates: Monday, August 9; Wednesday, August 11; and Friday, August 13

Time: 10:00 - 12:00 pm EST

Location: Online (Zoom) 

Who Should Enroll?
The online workshop series has been designed as a professional development opportunity for 4-12 educators.

Workshop Description:

Assessments and grades can be a burden for students and teachers alike. We spend so much time commenting and correcting, and all that red ink runs the risk of being overwhelming and demoralizing if students even take the time to read it. How can we rescue assessments from being a necessary evil to being one of the most powerful opportunities for promoting learning?

In this three-part workshop, you will revise one of your existing assessments or graded assignments so that it becomes a more effective tool for student learning. In each session you will learn about the counterproductive psychological and cognitive effects of traditional methods of grading and providing feedback. You will then learn strategies for minimizing or avoiding these effects and how to shift focus from assessment of learning to assessment for learning. In Part 1, you will practice converting your comments and corrections into concrete calls to action. In Part 2, you will create a roadmap for learning in which every student has a productive next step. In Part 3, you will learn how to summarize student progress in ways that supplement or even replace traditional letter grades. Each session provides ample time to work on your assessment with feedback from the instructor. 

Program Benefits:

After participating in this session, educators will:

  • Write concrete, focused, actionable feedback
  • Identify a productive next step for every student
  • When grades are necessary, minimize their counterproductive psychological and cognitive effects 
  • When grades are not necessary, provide a more useful summary of student progress  

Certification of Completion:

The Lynch School is a state-approved provider of Professional Development Points. 10 PDPs will be provided upon completion of the workshop sessions and the course evaluation survey. 

Please note that all participants from outside Boston College will not receive academic credit nor a transcript documenting their participation in this workshop series. However, all participants will be awarded a certificate of completion to apply to their professional development plans. 

Fees & Policies:
Tuition includes all instructional materials. Participants receive a certificate of participation and professional development points. 

Registration closes August 9th at 10:00am. Refunds will only be granted up until the start of the first workshop at 10:00pm on August 9th. No refunds will be granted for registration or technical errors on the participant's part (such as incorrect name/email, login failure, etc.).

Additional offerings from the Lynch School Professional & Continuing Education Office can be found on our website

Workshop Presenter

Nathaniel Brown
Nathaniel J.S. Brown, PhD

Nathaniel J. S. Brown, PhD, is an Associate Research Professor in the Measurement, Evaluation, Statistics, and Assessment department in the Lynch School of Education and Human Development at Boston College. Dr. Brown works on reforming assessment and grading practices, studying the cognitive and psychological effects of grades, and designing alternative methods of assessment for learning that promote growth mindsets, establish a formative classroom culture, and support learning regardless of achievement level. His expertise spans classroom assessment, standardized assessment and psychometrics, cognition and learning in STEM disciplines, and research methodology.

He received his BS in Chemistry from Harvey Mudd College, MSc in Chemistry from Cambridge University, and PhD in Science and Mathematics Education from UC Berkeley. Prior to joining Boston College in 2012, Dr. Brown was faculty in the Learning Sciences department at Indiana University Bloomington.