Thursday, January 24, 2013

Assessing for Learning



Harada, Violet H., and Joan M. Yoshina. Assessing for Learning: Librarians and Teachers as Partners. 2nd ed. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, 2010. ISBN: 978-1-59884-470-2

Publisher's Description
In this book, theory is blended with practical application to provide a concise, up-to-date explanation of how school librarians can work with students and teachers to assess for learning in 21st-century schools.

Student assessment is the same as student evaluation. "Some students just don't learn certain skills easily; the best strategy is simply to teach it to them again in the same way." Anyone who holds these beliefs will be surprised to read a contrary view.

Coauthors Harada and Yoshina authored the first text that focused on learning assessment in a school library context. In this revised and expanded version of Assessing for Learning: Librarians and Teachers as Partners, they continue to shed light on the issue of school librarians helping students to assess for learning.

The book begins with a brief discussion of national reform efforts and the importance of assessment for effective learning within this context. The balance of the book provides numerous strategies and tools for involving students as well as library media specialists in assessment activities, emphasizing the importance of students assessing for their own learning. It also provides specific examples of how assessment can be incorporated into various library-related learning activities. All chapters in this second edition have been updated with additional information, and three new chapters on assessing for critical thinking, dispositions, and tech-related learning have been added.

Features
• Contains 116 rubrics, checklists, logs, and other tools that could be used in library-related instruction
• Bibliography provides relevant and useful books, articles, and online resources dealing with assessment

Highlights
• An updated edition of the original full-length text on assessment for learning in school library contexts
• Incorporates the new AASL standards (Standards for the 21st Century Learner, 2007) in all examples
• Contains three new chapters focused on key areas of the new standards school librarians are struggling with, such as assessing for rigorous thinking skills, assessing for dispositions or habits of mind, and assessing tech-related learning