Thomas Guskey Summary

Thomas Guskey begins by briefly outlining the way in which many schools use assessments. Frequently, assessment is implemented as a tool for grading students at the end of the year when it is too late to assist them in reaching their academic potential or their grade level goals. Implementing assessments in this manner does little to improve teaching instruction nor do they allow students to learn from their mistakes and begin to understand that learning is, in part, a process of correction and reflection and not a race to the finish in competition with their peers. Instead, Guskey discusses the ways in which effective assessment should be used. Relevant and high quality assessments need to be an integral and ongoing component of classroom