I think ASCD’s new article, Why Testing Shouldn’t Be the First Response to Last Year’s Learning Gaps, is a must-read for all educators this fall. It’s by Robert A. Bjork, Kate Jones, and Dylan Wiliam.

They do an excellent job sharing research and recommendations about assessment, student memory and retrieval practice, and how to apply it all to this fall. Spoiler alert: Giving high-stakes tests this month, or reviewing standardized test results from last year (or giving them this fall if your school didn’t do them in the spring) are NOT going to be helpful guiding instruction now.

I wish the people in our school district office would give up their fixation on spending precious negotiating time with our union’s bargain team on district assessments and, instead, read this article and encourage teachers to follow its recommendations!

I’m adding this info to several “Best” lists:

The Best Resources For Learning About Retrieval Practice

The Best Resources About Accelerated Learning

A BEGINNING LIST OF RESOURCES ON SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS AS WE MAKE BABY STEPS TOWARDS RETURNING TO A POST-PANDEMIC CLASSROOM

 

You might also be interested in The Power Of Stories, an older post I have shared about memory.