Instructor’s Manual
Classroom Assessment Principles and Practice for Effective Standards-
Based Instruction Seventh Edition James H. McMillan, Virginia
Commonwealth University Prepared by Susan A. Mauck, Ohio State
University
This instructor’s manual for Classroom Assessment: Principles and Practice
for Effective Standards-Based Instruction (7th Edition) by James H. McMillan
,Chapter 1–The Role of Assessment in
Teaching and Learning
Introduction
The activities suggested for this chapter will help emphasize the key points of this chapter,
regardless of whether or not the students have read the chapter. The activities help to set the stage
for the purposes of assessment in general and classroom assessment in particular. The chapter
will help students gain insights into the nature and purposes of classroom assessments and how
assessment is an on-going process that takes on many different forms.
The learning outcomes for Chapter 1 are:
1.1 Understand the nature of classroom assessment, its purposes and characteristics, and how
classroom assessment differs from other types of assessment.
1.2 Understand and be able to give examples of how classroom assessment of, for, and as learning
can be integrated with instruction.
1.3 Know how different contextual factors, such as high-stakes accountability testing and theories
of learning, influence teacher decision making about how classroom assessments are designed
and implemented in a specific classroom.
Suggested Activities
Activate Prior Knowledge
This activity is to get students to think about assessment experiences in their lives and reflect on
what made them either positive or negative.
• Ask students to think of a time when they felt good about an assessment event in their own
lives and write down a few ideas about what contributed to the positive experience.
• Next, ask them to think of a time when they felt bad about an assessment event in their own
lives and write down a few ideas about what contributed to the negative experience.
• Have students share what they wrote with a partner. After a few minutes, request that some
of the students share their thoughts with the whole class.
• Make two charts: Factors Contributing to Positive Experiences and Factors Contributing to
Negative Experiences. Ask students to summarize the two lists and then draw conclusions
or generalizations about positive and negative factors.
Understanding the Content
As a result of the following card sort activity, students will gain an understanding of the various
,types of and purposes for assessment.
Provide students with sticky notes, 3x5 note cards, or small slips of paper and ask them to quickly
write one way on each note or card to indicate the different ways they have been assessed as
students (~1–2 minutes). Next ask them to quickly do the same for the different ways they have
assessed students (~1–2 minutes).
Next, have students work together in small groups or as one large group to sort their cards into
similar categories. Once the cards are sorted, divide students into as many groups as there are
categories of cards. Give one category of cards to each group and have students come up with a
label for their category. Allow students to re-categorize some of the cards.
On a chart, list the categories down the left side (rows) and make columns across the top listing
the different users of the assessment information: teachers, parents, building administrators,
central office administrators, school board, public, students. Ask the following questions:
1. Who is the primary user of the data or information from the assessment method?
2. Who makes decisions based on the information?
Place a checkmark in the appropriate cells of the table to indicate which audiences use the
information. A question mark can be used to question whether the audience really uses the
information or merely looks at the scores. When the chart is completed, have the students make
inferences and draw conclusions based on the information in the chart.
Sample Chart
Supt/School Board
Central Admin.
Bldg. Admin.
Teachers
Students
Parents
Others
Public
Standardized tests √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Teacher-made tests √ √ √
Observation √
Oral questioning √
Homework √ √ ?
Classwork √ ?
Projects √ √ ?
Reports √ √ ?
Screening tests √ √ √ √
, Extend and Refine Understanding
An important use of a table like this is to be able to generate new understandings by drawing
conclusions. Ask students to examine the chart and draw conclusions about the different purposes
of educational assessment.
A major insight students should have is that there are four primary purposes of educational
assessment:
1 Diagnosis
2 Grading
3 Instruction
4 Accountability
As noted in the text, it is important to think about classroom assessment as a process that supports
and enhances student learning, not something that merely documents what students know,
understand, and can do. Another insight is that students are rarely users of the information. Discuss
whether and how students should be users of test information and how the information might be
made meaningful to them.
Students can re-sort the cards according to whether the assessment method is used primarily
before, during, or after instruction. After the cards are resorted, spread out the cards so that
students can see all the cards in the group. Ask:
• Which assessment methods are most likely to be motivating to students?
• Which assessment methods yield useful feedback to students?
• Which assessments are likely to provide the teacher with new information about the
student?
• Which assessment methods provide the most direct information about a student’s
performance without interference by confounding factors (e.g., guessing, emotions, or
motivation)?
Ask students to draw conclusions about the primary purpose of each category of assessment
(before, during, and after). Once students see that timing is related to purpose, ask them if they
have ever experienced a time when timing and purpose were confused. For example, have they
been graded on a paper or test that they thought was a pretest or strictly for the teacher to
determine their current level of knowledge or skill?
Summarize and Integrate
Before leaving this chapter, have students review the assessment standards for teachers
presented in the textbook. Then, have them review the list of factors that contribute to positive or
negative assessment experiences and ask them to relate the list of factors to the card sort
categories and the assessment standards for teachers. Students should find connections and draw
conclusions. Ask:
Classroom Assessment Principles and Practice for Effective Standards-
Based Instruction Seventh Edition James H. McMillan, Virginia
Commonwealth University Prepared by Susan A. Mauck, Ohio State
University
This instructor’s manual for Classroom Assessment: Principles and Practice
for Effective Standards-Based Instruction (7th Edition) by James H. McMillan
,Chapter 1–The Role of Assessment in
Teaching and Learning
Introduction
The activities suggested for this chapter will help emphasize the key points of this chapter,
regardless of whether or not the students have read the chapter. The activities help to set the stage
for the purposes of assessment in general and classroom assessment in particular. The chapter
will help students gain insights into the nature and purposes of classroom assessments and how
assessment is an on-going process that takes on many different forms.
The learning outcomes for Chapter 1 are:
1.1 Understand the nature of classroom assessment, its purposes and characteristics, and how
classroom assessment differs from other types of assessment.
1.2 Understand and be able to give examples of how classroom assessment of, for, and as learning
can be integrated with instruction.
1.3 Know how different contextual factors, such as high-stakes accountability testing and theories
of learning, influence teacher decision making about how classroom assessments are designed
and implemented in a specific classroom.
Suggested Activities
Activate Prior Knowledge
This activity is to get students to think about assessment experiences in their lives and reflect on
what made them either positive or negative.
• Ask students to think of a time when they felt good about an assessment event in their own
lives and write down a few ideas about what contributed to the positive experience.
• Next, ask them to think of a time when they felt bad about an assessment event in their own
lives and write down a few ideas about what contributed to the negative experience.
• Have students share what they wrote with a partner. After a few minutes, request that some
of the students share their thoughts with the whole class.
• Make two charts: Factors Contributing to Positive Experiences and Factors Contributing to
Negative Experiences. Ask students to summarize the two lists and then draw conclusions
or generalizations about positive and negative factors.
Understanding the Content
As a result of the following card sort activity, students will gain an understanding of the various
,types of and purposes for assessment.
Provide students with sticky notes, 3x5 note cards, or small slips of paper and ask them to quickly
write one way on each note or card to indicate the different ways they have been assessed as
students (~1–2 minutes). Next ask them to quickly do the same for the different ways they have
assessed students (~1–2 minutes).
Next, have students work together in small groups or as one large group to sort their cards into
similar categories. Once the cards are sorted, divide students into as many groups as there are
categories of cards. Give one category of cards to each group and have students come up with a
label for their category. Allow students to re-categorize some of the cards.
On a chart, list the categories down the left side (rows) and make columns across the top listing
the different users of the assessment information: teachers, parents, building administrators,
central office administrators, school board, public, students. Ask the following questions:
1. Who is the primary user of the data or information from the assessment method?
2. Who makes decisions based on the information?
Place a checkmark in the appropriate cells of the table to indicate which audiences use the
information. A question mark can be used to question whether the audience really uses the
information or merely looks at the scores. When the chart is completed, have the students make
inferences and draw conclusions based on the information in the chart.
Sample Chart
Supt/School Board
Central Admin.
Bldg. Admin.
Teachers
Students
Parents
Others
Public
Standardized tests √ √ √ √ √ √ √
Teacher-made tests √ √ √
Observation √
Oral questioning √
Homework √ √ ?
Classwork √ ?
Projects √ √ ?
Reports √ √ ?
Screening tests √ √ √ √
, Extend and Refine Understanding
An important use of a table like this is to be able to generate new understandings by drawing
conclusions. Ask students to examine the chart and draw conclusions about the different purposes
of educational assessment.
A major insight students should have is that there are four primary purposes of educational
assessment:
1 Diagnosis
2 Grading
3 Instruction
4 Accountability
As noted in the text, it is important to think about classroom assessment as a process that supports
and enhances student learning, not something that merely documents what students know,
understand, and can do. Another insight is that students are rarely users of the information. Discuss
whether and how students should be users of test information and how the information might be
made meaningful to them.
Students can re-sort the cards according to whether the assessment method is used primarily
before, during, or after instruction. After the cards are resorted, spread out the cards so that
students can see all the cards in the group. Ask:
• Which assessment methods are most likely to be motivating to students?
• Which assessment methods yield useful feedback to students?
• Which assessments are likely to provide the teacher with new information about the
student?
• Which assessment methods provide the most direct information about a student’s
performance without interference by confounding factors (e.g., guessing, emotions, or
motivation)?
Ask students to draw conclusions about the primary purpose of each category of assessment
(before, during, and after). Once students see that timing is related to purpose, ask them if they
have ever experienced a time when timing and purpose were confused. For example, have they
been graded on a paper or test that they thought was a pretest or strictly for the teacher to
determine their current level of knowledge or skill?
Summarize and Integrate
Before leaving this chapter, have students review the assessment standards for teachers
presented in the textbook. Then, have them review the list of factors that contribute to positive or
negative assessment experiences and ask them to relate the list of factors to the card sort
categories and the assessment standards for teachers. Students should find connections and draw
conclusions. Ask:
