Sample Evidence Outline

Sharon Doetsch-Kidder

*Note: I did not fill out this outline completely. There is enough here for you to get the idea. Your outline should be as complete as possible. I. Introduction Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) recently changed its assessment system in early primary education, so that students in grades K-2 receive a more comprehensive progress report based on specific learning objectives, rather than letter grades in general subject areas. This reporting system is improving student learning through better assessment, which enables targeted instruction, and it helps parents understand how they can help their children progress in specific areas. FCPS should expand its use of this system, replacing traditional letter grades with curriculum-based assessment at all grade levels in order to improve teaching and learning for all its students. Students often do not understand traditional grades. A. Traditional grades do not tell students/parents what specific information and skills students are expected to learn (Jamison, 2009, p. 234). B. Education researcher Jennifer Cho (2005) argues that students often do not understand what letter grades mean or what they need to do to improve them (p. 67). Traditional grades may negatively impact students learning. A. High school counselor George Garcia (1999) reports that grades often affect students self-esteem. Students come to think of themselves as good students or bad students, rather than seeing themselves as engaged in a process of learning (p. 34). B. Psychologist Maria Jadallahs (2011) study of students in 300 US high schools found that students who get lower grades often come to think of themselves as stupid and may give up easily (p. 113). C. High-achieving students may think that their work deserves high grades because they are used to getting them, rather than developing skills to evaluate the quality of their work (Jones, 2010, p. 298). Curriculum-based assessment helps students understand what they should be learning A. By identifying specific objectives, curriculum-based assessment makes it clear how students are progressing in different areas. Ex: Math versus represents numbers accurately and demonstrates an understanding of numbers relationships (FCPS, 2011, p. 16) B. (and so on ) By requiring teachers to do more assessment of specific skills, curriculum-based assessment improves teaching and learning. Drawbacks/criticism of curriculum-based assessment (This section would explain and respond to criticism of the new system)

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Curriculum-based assessment would benefit students at higher grade levels, also.