Assessment: How Should Teachers Assess Student Learning and their Own Performance?

Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch had a way of springing up all over the city, continually asking constituents, “How am I doing?” However, in recent years the phrase has been associated with elected officials who seem to reappear shortly before election day to solicit support for their campaigns. Whatever you think of politicians, it is a fair question that needs to be asked by officeholders as well as by schools and teachers. The problems in both cases are, “What criteria should we use to assess performance?” and “How accurate are measuring instruments?” In addressing these questions, I am going to use sports metaphors. If you are someone who hates sports, please bear with me.