The people who are primarily responsible for getting classroom assessment tools and practices into the hands of teachers are those people who are responsible for curriculum (i.e. superintendents, principals, administrators, and curriculum support people) and those people who facilitate the actual adult learning process by facilitating development sessions for teachers.

Those Who Set Direction

Curriculum leaders are showing an interest in classroom assessment for a number of reasons. Some have become intrigued with the potential benefits for their schools through their own research or through reports they have heard from other leaders and peers. Some are looking to assessment for learning to help them solve a problem or raise standards in their school districts. Others are responding to demand from the grass roots, when it is the teachers, or even parents, themselves who are asking for resources and materials.

Whatever the reason, over the past few years we have seen a growing wave of interest and desire for workshops, books, videos, and assistance. Their role is not an easy one, because the demand is growing and the supply of materials and guides is still in a nascent stage: this has yet to go mainstream (don't be discouraged; it took over one hundred years to get to where we are today, so change will happen slowly and organically at the cultural level).

How to proceed? Curriculum leaders face an especially difficult challenge in that there are so few examples of successful implementations. We have worked with a number of schools and districts for over a decade, but it was really a pioneering effort because this was so new to everyone involved.

Fortunately, we are now able to apply the lessons learned to new school districts, but you can still expect this to be a multi-year implementation process touching all levels of the organization (we suggest three years as a minimum commitment, and five is more realistic).

But don't be daunted by this requirement. The benefits of classroom assessment start to appear after the very first learning session, as teachers begin to challenge old paradigms and discover new ways to come alongside their learners and help them learn. This is not flavor-of-the-month, but it will have an impact from the first month on.

What can curriculum leaders reasonably expect as an outcome of the introduction of assessment for learning? Primarily, more engaged learners who do better than before by every measure because they are learning better, and more engaged teachers who feel that they are making increasingly positive contributions to their students' learning.

In short, expect classroom assessment to begin to transform your school community in positive ways. This is what has been happening in other communities.

As a leader, you will have many other questions. What does a typical district-wide implementation look like? What level of time commitment is required of teachers? Of facilitators? Of administrative staff? How do you set goals? How can you measure the results? How can you tell when things are off track and when interventions may be required? What are the barriers to implementation, and what are other schools doing to overcome these barriers? How do you evaluate, measure or assess the results of an implementation's integration with other programs such as NCLB? What are the budgetary implications?

Those Who Facilitate Adult Learning

Successful classroom assessment starts with passionate people who love to work with teachers and guide them through the concepts and practices they need to help their students learn.

All around North America and in other parts of the world, we have seen lead learners who act as facilitators in their schools and districts and help teachers get a handle on assessment for learning. They will frequently lead small groups and learning circles several times per year, giving teachers the guidance and feedback they need to make classroom assessment work for them.

The beauty of this model is that facilitators do not require a Ph.D. or years of training to get started. Assessment for learning is still a relatively new approach and therefore lacks the foundation of trained experts who can quickly get the teacher population up to speed. Facilitators are stepping into this gap with excellent results.

Facilitators typically lead learning sessions such as full-day workshops, and more frequently, one to two hour group sessions where educators have the opportunity to focus in on a single concept in assessment for learning. These include topics such as the following (which are taken from a resource for facilitators produced by Connections Publishing).

• Making Self-Assessment and Goal Setting Work
• Setting Goals
• Exploring Self-Assessment
• Involving Students in Communicating Their Learning
• Student-Parent-Teacher Conferences
• Learning to Set Criteria with Students

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