This volume takes an in-depth look at the problems and practices involved in conducting formative assessments in middle school mathematics classrooms. In these chapters, researchers and teachers identify the challenges teachers faced as they attempted to implement new assessment procedures—moving from more traditional methods to an emphasis in the quality of student work. This authoritative book:

• Documents the shift from traditional ways of judging student performance (tests to measure what students know) to reform notions of mathematical literacy (documenting students’ growth in understanding specific content domains).

• Discusses four key steps in the change process that helped teachers to accomplish the necessary shift in assessment practices. Includes two chapters written by teachers that describe their personal experiences with implementing these new practices in the classroom.
• Outlines a professional development program that evolved as a consequence of the work done by the teachers and students discussed in this book.

Thomas A. Romberg is Bascom Professor of Education and Professor Emeritus in the Curriculum and Instruction Department at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.