Building Thinking Classrooms in Mathematics, Grades K-12: 14 Teaching Practices for Enhancing Learning (Corwin Mathematics Series)

by Peter Liljedahl

The Issue Whether formative or summative, assessment is fundamentally about the communication of information. For much of the 20th century, this information was seen, almost exclusively, as flowing from the student to the teacher for the dual purposes of informing teaching and producing a grade. The methods used to collect this information were either formal (tests, quizzes, assignments, projects, presentations, portfolios, etc.) or informal (observation, conversations, etc.). Whereas grading was typically informed by the more formal means of assessment, teaching was informed by both formal and informal means.