Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work

by Robert J. Marzano

In Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work, Robert J. Marzano provides an in-depth exploration of what he calls “one of the most powerful weapons in a teacher’s arsenal.” An effective standards-based, formative assessment program can help to dramatically enhance student achievement throughout the K–12 system, Marzano says. Drawing from his own and others’ extensive research, the author provides comprehensive answers to questions such as these:

• What are the characteristics of an effective assessment program?
• How can educators use national and state standards documents as a basis for creating a comprehensive, topic-based assessment system?
• What types of assessment items and tasks are best suited to measuring student progress in mastering information, mental procedures, and psychomotor procedures?
• Why does the traditional point system used for scoring often lead to incorrect conclusions about a student’s actual knowledge?
• What types of scoring and final grading systems provide the most accurate portrayal of a student’s progress along a continuum of learning?

In addition to providing teachers with all the tools they need to create a better assessment system, Classroom Assessment and Grading That Work makes a compelling case for the potential of such a system to transform the culture of schools and districts, and to propel K–12 education to new levels of effectiveness and efficiency.

Genres: Education, Teaching, School, Professional Development

189 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 1, 2006

Reviews

[Azat Sultanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best book I've read on the practicalities of classroom assessment

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool ideas, but it would have to be adopted at a district level. No teacher could do this on her own.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best thing I can say about this book is that I have now finished reading it and it's no longer on my TBR shelf. I knew this was an older book and that some of the material would be dated. I was not expecting that it would advocate for report cards with no letter grades. There is NO WAY my school or parents of my students or students themselves would go along with this.

I tried, I really did, but I had several issues. After a chapter in which he explains why grades are useless, he introduces a grading system based on a rubric. The rubric is used for every class topic, which is assessed multiple times. And it is apparently valid because it makes a bell curve.

So, that leads me to the biggest issue: I teach students with learning disabilities. I'm looking at this system and how he describes student performance and I'm thinking, this is why my kids underestimate themselves. They get thrown onto a rubric that by definition someone has to be a the far left side of. And that was usually them.

He did have some techniques and ideas that I liked. For example, a classroom assessment can be designed with three levels of questions. Student answers to these questions would tell the teacher whether the student has mastered the basics or begun to apply the knowledge. I also liked his advocacy of having life skills as part of the curriculum--how to behave in a classroom, work completion, etc. Over all, though, sometimes I felt like I was reading an extended advertisement for grading software.

[Crystal]

grad school book

[Bruce W.]

A very good text aimed specifically at K-12 but with ideas that could be converted to higher education. Marzano rightly observes that state and national standards address more material than can be covered adequately in the time frame most primary and secondary schools have. Marzano advocates that school districts select those standards they feel best meet their needs and develop an assessment strategy that best addresses those standards. Central to this strategy is the elimination of traditional grading strategies that lump all learning into one grade and breaking apart reporting so that the principal standards are individually assessed on a competency based scale. At the end Marzano even advocates restructuring primary and secondary schools to abolish the traditional grade-level structure (an early 20th century tradition) and establish competency based groupings of students.

Marzano's vision is inspiring and he provides good research-based models for his suggestions. Implementation is blocked only by the unwillingness of systems to change.

[Wendi Klaiber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great book if your school is doing standards based grading. It goes into quite technical detail on how to give summation and formative grades. Since my school does not do standards-based grading, much of the content was inapplicable. However, I am using some of the rubrics that were presented in this book, the idea of types of problems given on an assessment to truly allow for the superior grade, and the importance of student self-reflection of their level of mastery of the content throughout a unit.

[Jess Lawton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although very dry, the book did challenge me to look further at standards based report cards. I liked the examples the book had and want to modify my assessment. However, it also reinforced that my current class structure is sound. I am interested in further pursuing school reform by looking into the Reinventing Schools Coalition. I also want to further researach the Chugach Model because I completely agree that the element of time equals learning is obsolete and change needs to occur.

[Ben Posner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the single most powerful books I have read on educational philosophy to date! I can't think now of going back to the way I used to do things, and my kids enjoy knowing that their final grades are based on their progress in my class and not just on an average of different assignments!

[Whitney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really anxious to read this one, but I didn't like it as much as I've enjoyed the others. The reading was significantly more dense than his others. I actually had to make myself a graphic organizer to get through some of it. It's good stuff, but not as user friendly as his others.

[Tenebris-Lupus · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an incredibly informative and transformative work. Marzano breaks down assessment to its core and rebuilds it to work for every student. While, this is a very dry read with no simple answers, the text provides a framework for any education professional to build from.

[Clickety · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wee bit on the difficult side for me, but still get-throug-able. Chock full of useful data on making assessment effective.

[Mr. Wiegel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been written with many less pages. Very repetitive. Decent examples. Tough to read large sections in one sitting.

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought provoking with standards based assessment