Tests require a special kind of savvy, a kind of critical thinking and knowledge application that is not always a part of classroom reading experiences. Who better to teach you how to prepare your students for reading tests than someone who has written them? Charles Fuhrken has spent years working with several major testing companies and contributing to the reading assessments of various testing programs. What he' s learned about testing can help teachers who are interested in teaching effective reading strategies as well as preparing students for reading tests. What Every Middle School Teacher Needs to Know About Reading Tests (From Someone Who Has Written Them)' offers extensive, practical strategies to help students perform well on test day. This ready-to-use, easy-to-understand resource provides a wealth of information about reading tests, including high-quality preparation materials, samples of the most frequently assessed reading standards, and engaging core-reading activities. Charles takes the mystery out of reading tests; he explains how students can learn the language of tests and apply their knowledge of reading to standardized tests. In addition to providing information about reading tests that will help students feel prepared and confident on test day,' What Every Middle School Teacher Needs to Know About Reading Tests' provides a wealth of resources that can be incorporated into a teacher' s everyday reading work, including vocabulary development, literary techniques, interpretation, comprehension, and more.

When he was a student struggling to concentrate on dreadfully boring passages of standardized reading tests, Charles Fuhrken remembers thinking to himself, 'Who writes this stuff?' He had no idea that one day it would be him. ' Fuhrken has spent years working as a writer for several major testing companies, and he believes that what he's learned about testing could be very usefuleven liberatingfor teachers interested in teaching effective reading strategies as well as preparing students for reading tests. In What Every Elementary Teacher Needs to Know About Reading Tests (From Someone Who Has Written Them), Fuhrken' takes the mystery out of reading tests. He explains how reading tests are created, how standards are interpreted and assessed, and how students can apply their knowledge of reading to standardized tests.' ' What Every Elementary Teacher Needs to Know About Reading Tests sets the record straight about the myths and realities of tests and offers extensive, practical strategies that help students perform well on test day. This ready to use, easy to understand resource provides a wealth of information about reading tests, including high-quality preparation materials; samples of the most frequently assessed reading standards; and more than thirty engaging, core-reading activities. ' Tests require a special kind of savvy, a kind of critical thinking and knowledge-application that is not always a part of classroom reading experiences. That's why teachers need to provide students with sound, specific information about reading tests. Only then can students feel prepared and confident on test day. '

Learn how to assess students in a way that truly impacts learning. In Rigor and Assessment in the Classroom, bestselling author Barbara R. Blackburn provides a broad range of practical strategies for increasing the rigor and usefulness of your formative and summative assessments. You’ll discover how to... Create an environment where students are expected to learn at high levels; Evaluate and check student learning in a way that ensures growth; Strengthen the validity and reliability of your assessments; Plan assessments in conjunction with planning the instruction; Differentiate assessments to increase the rigor for all students; Enhance the effectiveness of your grading system and feedback; Use performance-based assessment to enhance rigor; and Design clear, reader-friendly rubrics and scoring guides. Each chapter includes ready-to-use tools, examples across the subject areas, and "Think About It" questions to help you reflect on what you’ve read. Many of the tools are also offered as free eResources at www.routledge.com/9781138936140, so you can easily print and distribute them for classroom use.

The fifth edition of this comprehensive resource helps future and practicing teachers recognize and assess literacy problems, while providing practical, effective intervention strategies to help every student succeed. DeVries thoroughly explores the major components of literacy, offering an overview of pertinent research, suggested methods and tools for diagnosis and assessment, intervention strategies and activities, and technology applications to increase students' skills. Updated to reflect the needs of teachers in increasingly diverse classrooms, the fifth edition addresses scaffolding for English language learners, and offers appropriate instructional strategies and tailored teaching ideas to help both teachers and their students. Several valuable appendices include assessment tools, instructions and visuals for creating and implementing the book's more than 150 instructional strategies and activities, and other resources. New to the Fifth Edition: Up-to-date and in line with ILA, CCSS, and most state and district literacy standards, this edition also addresses the important shifts and evolution of these standards. New chapter on Language Development, Speaking, and Listening covers early literacy, assessment, and interventions. New intervention strategies and activities are featured in all chapters and highlight a stronger technology component. Updated Companion Website with additional tools, resources, and examples of teachers using assessment strategies.

Lead the change that you want to see in your school! Is your school or district heading in the right direction? In this essential guide for leaders, Lee Jenkins shows how to unite and energize your team as never before, while helping your students to love learning and crave achievement. A trusted advisor to numerous districts, Jenkins knows how to successfully transform school culture – for the long-term. Beginning with an introduction from scholar Michael Fullan, each chapter presents compelling insights and strategies for leaders, addressing how to Evolve your leadership style to guide, empower and serve Apply the principles of continuous strategic improvement as an antidote to win/lose approaches to school accountability Develop a healthy, positive culture of achievement by deeply engaging your students in their own progress and success Turn to this resource and prepare to lead positive change, from the classroom to the staff room and beyond. "This book creates a whole picture approach to school improvement while shunning the current top down model in favor of a school-led plan. The approach not only increases school performances, but values the school-level leadership and instructional faculty." Amanda Mayeaux, Career Management Specialist Iberville Parish Schools "If your district is ready to move from arbitrary to observable, from fractured to focused, and from silos to systems, you’ve found the book that can move entire organizations from a goal mindset to a growth mindset. Lee Jenkins provides common-sense strategies that impact the efficiency and effectiveness of our classrooms, with a clear focus on student growth. In an educational era saturated with the latest remedy for what ails us, Lee provides a refreshing cure by offering simple solutions for lasting change." Dr. Jane Stavem, Associate Superintendent for Instruction Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln, NE