Curriculum Guides

Assess for Mathematical Power...

What Is a Grade?

Grades should demonstrate the depth of mathematical knowledge or power,

rather than grades based on a student's relative position in the class

or on percentage points...

A+

B+

Assessment Practices

Major Shifts in Assessment Practices

Toward	Away From
Assessing students's full mathematical power-	Assessing only students' knowledge of specific facts and isolated skills-
Comparing students' performance with established criteria-	Comparing students' performance with that of other students-
Giving support to teachers and credence to their informed judgement-	Designing "teacher-proof" assessment systems-
Making the assessment process public, participatory, and dynamic-	Restricting students to a single way of demonstrating their mathematical knowledge-
Developing a shared vision of what to assess and how to do it-	Developing assessment by oneself-
Using assessment results to ensure that all students have the opportunity to achieve their potential-	Using assessment to filter and select students out of the opportunities to learn mathematics-
Aligning assessment with curriculum and instruction-	Treating assessment as independent of curriculum or instruction-
Basing inferences on multiple sources of evidence-	Basing inferences on restricted or single sources of evidence-
Viewing students as active participants in the assessment process-	Viewing students as the objects of assessment-
Regarding assessment as continual and recursive-	Regarding assessment as sporadic and conclusive-
Holding all concerned with mathematics learning accountable for assessment results-	Holding only a few accountable for assessment results-

National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, p. 83.

Web Author: Perry Brown

Last Update: 01/26/98