Embedded Formative Assessment [Perfect Paperback]

I admired everything about this book, including the context that educators must seek new ways to help students learn at higher levels not because those educators have been deficient or uncaring but because the students they serve face future challenges unlike those of previous generations. Wiliam establishes the research base for his recommendations but translates that research into very practical applications that readers could begin to apply immediately in their schools and classrooms. The book is a tremendous tool to help veteran teachers better utilize the power of assessment to improve student learning. I recommend that collaborative teams of teachers study the strategies Wiliam presents, work together to implement some of the strategies in their classroom, gather evidence of the impact of the strategies on student learning, and then collectively analyze that evidence in order to become more effective in using the strategies. I also highly recommend that this book be required reading for every undergraduate student planning to enter teaching.

This is a truly compelling book! So many of Wiliam's ideas resonated with me, and several ideas challenged my current thinking. I read this over a long weekend. I had planned to begin implementing the strategies in this book as I was writing the following week's lesson plans. However, it didn't work that way. When I went to school Monday morning and began teaching the lessons that I had planned BEFORE reading the book, I realized that if I wanted each student in my classroom to meet the learning targets, I had to totally revise all of my lessons for that week! The book had changed my thinking radically and decisively. I am amazed to think about how my lessons have changed in just one month. I am so glad that I read this book. Each teacher should read this book!

After having taught for 40 years, I finally discovered a singular, research-based, answer to my questions about accurately assessing students in such a way as to encourage them to study for knowledge than merely for the grade. Professor Wiliam's Embedded Formative Assessment is a gem of a book for both the beginning as well as the seasoned teacher, providing not merely the "how"s but also the "why"s of formative assessment. It is clearly written, packed with very useful strategies that can be put to work "tomorrow," and substantive in its explanations. How I wish this book were available in 1970 when I earned my teaching certificate! After having taught within the German system through Fulbright, I returned home with some answers about non-toxic assessment practices, but after having read Professor Wiliam's book, I just wish I had the opportunity to return to the classroom and put into practice the brilliant suggestions he offers that turn students into active learners rather than grade chasers. And as a former staff development director, I recognize the value of this book as a basis for a continual segment in a comprehensive staff development program. I strongly recommend Wiliam's book for the following:
· Student Teachers who wish to learn how to assess accurately;
· Education Professors charged with teaching student teachers how to assess students accurately and fairly;
· Staff Development Directors who wish to have a powerful impact on the practices of experienced teachers;
· Department Chairs wishing to get some assessment consistency within their departments;
· Principals who wish to give their schools some very useful directions in order to curb the number of "failing" students in their schools.
I cannot give enough praise for the content of Dylan Wiliam's book, Embedded Formative Assessment, but I will recommend it to any educator who wants to change the culture in her students from one of "study-for-the-grade" to "study-for-the-knowledge."