Today’s emphasis on standards and high stakes testing has made assessment, both formative and summative, a critical part of every class room. To help teachers better understand and effectively use assessment, this book draws from the numerous assessment resources published by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in recent years. Each title in NCTM’s assessment series addresses a different area of expertise. By combining the information from NCTM’s various books, the authors have designed dynamic, relevant professional development sessions for teachers to build a better understanding of what constitutes a comprehensive assessment system.

The NCTM resources cited not only promote the need for the ongoing use of formative assessment but also provide the data teachers need to understand the intricacies of large-scale, summative assessments such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAE), the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), individual state assessment, and standardized tests. This highly practical, comprehensive guide combines NCTM’s wealth of knowledge from experts in the fields of formative and summative assessment with research-based data and offers a library for understanding both formative and summative assessment.