Edutopia Sessions: Assessment for New Teachers

Grading, evaluation, assessment—what’s the difference, and how do they each help you support your students? In this hour-long workshop, our panel of veteran and early-career teachers unpacks the purpose and implementation of these practices. You’ll gain insights into how to create meaningful assessments, target what’s truly important, and keep your goals clear and reliable.

Our panelists share practical strategies to help you navigate this complex landscape so that you can determine what matters most for your students’ growth.

Additionally, the panelists compiled resources they thought would be helpful. You can find the Google Doc here—it includes a curated selection of answers to audience questions, as well as a reading list on essential topics like the importance of formative assessment, how backward design can aid in planning for assessments, the keys to effective feedback, and much more.

More From Edutopia

In addition to this session on assessment for new teachers, Edutopia has published A Starter Pack of Resources for New Teachers. This pack includes advice from longtime educators on classroom design, building community, assessment, tech integration, working with families, professional learning, and more.

You don’t have to read everything right away. It’s a great page to bookmark and revisit whenever you need advice or fresh ideas.

Assessment for New Teachers

Thank you to everyone who attended the session on assessment for new teachers. We’re especially grateful to our moderator and panelists:

• Monte Woodard is a middle school science teacher in Washington DC and community facilitator for Edutopia.
• Laura Thomas is a former teacher and librarian, and she is currently core faculty at Antioch University New England. Laura is also an author, as well as a key member of Edutopia’s editorial and community teams.
• Jay Schauer is an educator of over 40 years focusing on science and math. Jay recently retired as the new teacher mentor for his district, and he writes on a range of topics for Edutopia.
• Audra Lynam is in her third year in education. She shares her experiences on Edutopia as a new teacher, focusing on solutions to common problems.

We were so pleased to bring you this Edutopia session on assessment for new teachers. If you have questions, please feel free to ask in the comments—our team of community facilitators is ready to support you.