Differentiated Assessment Strategies: One Tool Doesn′t Fit All

by Carolyn Chapman, Rita S. King

Readers will become better teachers as they learn to assess students before, during, and after instruction while building a positive learning culture with this classroom-friendly guide.

Genres: Education

248 pages, Paperback

First published November 17, 2004

About the author

Carolyn M. Chapman

Reviews

[Virginia]

This is the second of Chapman's books I've read, and I felt the same about it as I did the first: Chapman talks in big, important ideas, but then doesn't always give you practical information about how to make them work. There are some wonderful templates, handouts, etc. within the book, but I felt myself always wanting a bit more information. For example, if I need to "establish a positive learning climate", how exactly does Chapman recommend I go about that. There are just too many times when I feel like the author expects/assumes the reader will know certain information that maybe they really don't.

[Anne]

Too much information and poorly organized. Not very useful for an overwhelmed teacher as a result.

[Jim]

This book was a tremendous disappointment. Instead of providing suggestions for effective assessment strategies based on sound pedagogical theory, it contains bulleted lists, charts, tables, and other formulaic window dressing in the guise of differentiated assessment. Relying on cutesy slogans and excessive exclamation points, the list of “how-to’s” in this book might be suitable for elementary instruction or for beginning teachers with absolutely no knowledge of assessment. If you’re looking for ready-made reproducible checklists and doodles to adorn your teaching, look no further. If it’s rigorous and useful analysis of formative assessment strategies and comprehensible suggestions for their implementation in a secondary classroom that you’re seeking, look elsewhere.