inFormative Assessment: When It?s Not About a Grade (In A Nutshell Series)

Use assessment as a powerful tool to inform instruction and learning!

With practical, informed assessment techniques, you can increase your instructional effectiveness and demonstrate improvements in student learning. This research-based book, part of the In A Nutshell series, provides a succinct yet substantive discussion about formative assessments and how they impact the teaching/learning cycle. The authors present results-oriented methods, offer invaluable tips, and examine three types of inFormative assessments:

• Routine inFormative Assessments to weave into everyday instruction
• Reflective inFormative Assessments to foster self-assessment for students and teachers
• Rigorous inFormative Assessments to provide continuous tools that inform teaching practices and student learning

Robin Fogarty is President of RFA: A Robin Fogarty Company, a Chicago-based, minority-owned, educational publishing/consulting company. Robin received her doctorate in curriculum and human resource development from Loyola University of Chicago. A leading proponent of the thoughtful classroom, Robin has trained educators throughout the world in curriculum, instruction and assessment strategies.

She has taught at all levels, from kindergarten to college, served as an administrator, and consulted with state departments and ministries of education in the United States, Puerto Rico, Russia, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Great Britain, Singapore, South Korea, the Netherlands, the Kingdom of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Robin has published articles in  Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan, The Journal of Staff Development and The Middle School Lournal. She is the author of numerous publications, including Brain-Compatible Classrooms, Literacy Matters, Ten Things New Teachers Need, How to Integrate the Curricula, The Adult Learner, A Look at Transfer, Close the Achievement Gap, Twelve Brain Principles, Nine Best Practices, and From Staff Room to Classroom: Planning and Coaching Professional Learning, How to Teach Thinking Skills Within the Common Core: 7 Key Student Proficiencies of the New National Standards, Invite! Excite! Ignite! 13 Principles for Teaching, Learning and Leading K-12 classrooms

Robin received her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education at SUNY, Potsdam, NY, and her Masters in Instructional Strategies from National Louis University in Evanston, IL.  She is known as the teachers’ teacher and has mentored numerous colleagues in the art and science of working with the adult learner. She brings a wealth of knowledge and passion to all endeavors, has a wealth of knowledge in the field and conducts highly interactive PD sessions.

A third-generation educator with teaching experience from elementary through the university level, in addition to K-12 administrative experience, Gene Kerns serves as vice president of training and certification for Renaissance Learning, Inc. With more than a decade of experience in leading professional development sessions, as well as taking on the role of presenter at national and international conferences, Kerns has knowledge and know-how of the adult learner. In addition, he has the experience to work across the generations with a genuine quality that is laced with anecdotes, humor, and heartfelt passion. Former clients include the New York State Unified Teachers, New Jersey Principals′ Association, Illinois Coalition of Essential Schools, and the Ministry of Education of Singapore. Kerns received his bachelor’s and master′s degrees from Longwood College in Virginia. He also holds a doctor of education degree from the University of Delaware, with an emphasis in education leadership. Informative Assessment: When It’s Not About a Grade is Kerns′ first publication.