Rebooting Classroom Assessments w/ Damian

Damian Cooper joins us on the show to discuss rebooting classroom assessments. Damian is a former high school English, drama & Special Education teacher, and an independent education consultant. He specializes in helping schools and school districts across Canada, the United States, and internationally to improve their instructional and assessment skills. In the session, Damian expounds on his career journey dating back to the 70s, navigating between his consulting business & the dynamic technology changes in classrooms, the future of standard-based grading, and why the pandemic was a silver lining for educators in accelerating the enforcement of alternative terms of assessment! Moreover, we delve into why assessments must be a shared responsibility and not something that teachers only do to students, cheating problems in assessments, as well as standard grading versus shared-based reporting. Ultimately, Damian explains the features of student portfolios, why report cards are just a crude summary of what has been going on in the classroom, and using brief video snippets to assess students' learning progression throughout the term. Tune in for more! Timestamps [00:40] Upcoming events [02:30] About our guest “Damian Cooper” & how he started his career in international schools [04:20] Navigating consulting business & dynamic technologies in the classroom [05:22] The most inspiring thing about standard-based grading & its future [08:03] Damian’s favorite assessment [11:25]Retraining teachers on assessments without putting extra burden on them [15:13] Addressing the cheating problem in assessments [16:24] Standard grading report versus shared-based reporting [20:08] Advice to schools administrators responsible for ensuring the school has a guaranteed & viable curriculum, yet assessments are individually personalized [23:24] Features & benefits of a student portfolio [29:22] How to connect with Damian Cooper [29:56] Book recommendations on grading & reporting systems Mentioned Books/ Newsletter ● Get Set, Go: Creating Successful Grading and Reporting Systems by Thomas R. Guskey ● On Your Mark: Challenging the Conventions of Grading and Reporting by Thomas R. Guskey ● Canadian Assessment For Learning Newsletter ● Rebooting Assessment: A Practical Guide for Balancing Conversations, Performances, and Products by Damian Cooper Let’s Connect Connect with Damian Cooper on; ● Website: http://www.planteachassess.com/ ● Twitter: https://twitter.com/cooperd1954 ● Email:  [email protected] Connect with Dr. Dana Specker Watts on Twitter: https://twitter.com/teachwatts Connect with Mike Pierre on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ayitis_SigmaMan More Resources ● Head over to iss.edu/events to see future PD's