What happens in Spain, among the euro zone's largest economies, matters. Its high unemployment (over 26%), burgeoning public debt, and banking crisis will be formative for the zone's future.

Carol Ann Tomlinson and Tonya R. Moon take an in-depth look at assessment and show how differentiation can improve the process in all grade levels and subject areas. After discussing differentiation in general, the authors focus on how differentiation applies to various forms of assessment--pre-assessment, formative assessment, and summative assessment--and to grading and report cards

The starting point of this book was the realisation that research studies worldwide provide hard evidence that development of formative assessment raises students' test scores. The significant improvement in the achievements of the students in this project confirms this research, while providing teachers, teacher trainers, school heads and others leaders with ideas and advice for improving formative assessment in the classroom.

MAKING FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT WORK Effective Practice in the Primary Classroom

• What does formative assessment look like in practice?

• How are formative assessment and learning connected?

• What are the issues involved in implementing formative assessment?

This book explains and exemplifies formative assessment in practice. Drawing on incidents and case studies from primary classrooms, it describes and analyses how teachers can use formative assessment to promote learning. It argues the case for formative assessment with reference to socio-cultural perspectives on learning, and examines this in the context of current assessment policy.

What Teachers Really Need to Know About Formative Assessment

What does formative assessment look like, and when should I use it? What kind of planning does it require, and what kinds of data does it generate? How will formative assessment improve my teaching and help my students succeed in a standards-based environment? How does it relate to my application of multiple intelligences theory, to differentiated instruction, and to everything else I m already doing in my classroom?In this volume, author Laura Greenstein has gathered what you really need to know in order to make formative assessment a seamless part of your everyday practice.