Welcome to the Engaging Learners Academy Course in Grading and Assessment!
Join Dr. Katherine McKnight as she guides your journey from traditional letter-based grading to standards-based grading. Acquire research-based tools that will empower you to use formative assessment as an effective communication tool to motivate learners and improve teacher/student relationships.
In this course you will learn:
• About traditional letter grades: their origin, value, and limitations
• How skill mastery and development operate as indicators of student performance
• About compliance and power grading
• How to use formative assessment and descriptive feedback as the foundation for effective assessment
• The roles of checks for understanding, proficiency scales, and rubrics
• The ways in which quality of assessments can replace quantity of assessments
• To recognize the vital relationship between skill mastery, content learning, and educational standards
This Engaging Learners Academy course will prepare you to address grading challenges and familiarize you with the role that emotions often play in assessment. Most importantly, you’ll be equipped to design effective assessments in your own classroom.
15 HOURS OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Upon completion of the course each student will receive a certificate documenting 15 hours of professional development.
Course Curriculum
Dr. Katherine McKnight Ph.D.
Dr. Katherine McKnight is a dynamic presenter, dedicated teacher, and award-winning author. Dr. McKnight began her career in education over 30 years ago as a middle school and high school English and social studies teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. In addition to speaking at professional development conferences, she is a regular consultant in schools and classrooms in the United States and Internationally.
Dr. McKnight’s 15-year distinguished university career culminated in her assignment to Distinguished Professor of Research at National Louis University. She is the founder of Engaging Learners, an educational company built around her successful Literacy and Learning Center model. Her work in educational leadership, literacy and student skill development has resulted in unprecedented academic achievement in many struggling schools.
Dr. McKnight has received several awards for her publications and teaching at the university level. She has authored 20 books that support educational strategies to engage all learners. Her titles include the best-selling The Teacher’s Big Book of Graphic Organizers, winner of the 2013 Teachers’ Choice Award and Literacy & Learning Centers for the Big Kids, grades 4-12. Most recently, she founded Morning Meeting webinars during the COVID 19 pandemic as a weekly forum to bring together educators to engage in professional learning. To learn more about Dr. McKnight, visit her websites: KatherineMcKnight.com and EngagingLearners.com
