An Educator's Guide to Developing and Utilizing Common Assessments

This workshop supports teachers in exploring the power of common assessments and their potential to transform classroom practice. Participants learn how to select appropriate test items, determine rigor levels, and ensure fairness and validity in assessments. The session emphasizes collaboration as educators work together to design grade-level and content-specific assessment items, with attention to aspects like distractor development. By the conclusion, participants understand how to maximize planning time to create meaningful assessments and how to use resulting data to guide instruction and improve student outcomes.

• Inconsistent or uneven measurement of student learning across classrooms and grade levels.
  
  
• Lack of clarity or rigor in assessment design, reducing fairness and instructional value.
  
  
• Limited teacher collaboration in creating assessments and using results to inform instruction.

1. Designing Rigorous, Fair Assessments
   Participants will learn how to select high-quality test items, set appropriate rigor levels, and incorporate fairness measures to ensure assessments reflect true student learning.
   
2. Collaborative Development of Assessment Items
   Educators will engage in hands-on collaboration to create grade-level and content-specific assessments, building shared accountability and consistency across classrooms.‍
3. Using Data to Inform Instruction
   Teachers will gain strategies to leverage assessment results to guide lesson planning, target student needs, and improve communication among colleagues about instructional priorities.