Oftentimes, educators notice a disconnect between the assessments they use in their classrooms and the broader assessment systems they work within. Let the faculty of the Assessment Learning Institute (ALI) meet you in this challenging context to help you more effectively use assessment to accelerate student learning. The activities in this year-long learning engagement empower and fortify teachers and instructional coaches in using classroom assessment to support student learning!
We welcome individual teachers or instructional coaches—new and veteran—who are seeking to refresh their thinking about assessment and deepen their knowledge about and implementation of effective assessment practices.
Participants will deepen understanding and knowledge about:
• assessment literacy;
• balanced assessment systems, specifically in the classroom setting;
• formative assessment as a through line;
• accurate, high-quality summative assessment selection and use; and
• student engagement as partners in the assessment process.
As a result, participants will begin to reexamine the use of and deepen their practices around:
• effective use of pre-assessment tools;
• development and use of quality instructionally embedded modes of assessment;
• use of authentic performance assessments, with an emphasis on prioritized standards; and
• the use of quality formative feedback based on clear success criteria.
Image of the Northern Michigan University logo
Image of the MEA Center for Leadership and Learning logo.
If competency is the goal, formative assessment is the pathway. In a competency-based system, formative assessment is not a strategy; rather, it is the engine…
What counts as evidence of learning, and how do we know when students are competent? This virtual session focuses on the role of summative assessment…
How do we communicate learning in ways that are accurate, meaningful, and actionable? Shifting to competency-based education requires rethinking traditional grading and reporting practices. In…
The 2026-27 ALN sessions focus on competency-based assessment systems that center student agency, deeper learning, and high-quality evidence. But what does this look like in real classrooms,…