Assessment systems are becoming a common fixture in the American educational system. Like many states, Illinois teachers are using three levels of assessments to collect a richer picture of their students’ learning: Type 1 (national standardized exams), Type 2 (district-level exams) and Type 3 (classroom assessments). Here, educators can find a growing number of free resources that support classroom-level assessment of student learning.
The Assessing with Primary Sources project at Southern Illinois University offers educators assessments that use Library of Congress primary sources to assess the literacy skills found in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). Regardless of a students' background knowledge about a topic, these assessments focus on questions about how a source communicates an idea or argument, not simply what is stated in a source.
The emphasis in these assessments is skill acquisition, not content knowledge. Too often, students think that they should have seen a source before it appears on an exam. This is not necessarily a requirement for these assessments. Instead, the focus can be whether or not students can apply a skill to a new and novel situation (i.e. a new source). That is, can students cite evidence to support a claim or corroborate arguments or identify a main idea in a source they are analyzing for the first time? If they have been given opportunities to acquire these skills, then the answer is yes.
Teachers who have participated TPS@SIU professional development workshops and courses on assessment have created the assessments found on this page. To learn more about these opportunities, visit our professional development page.
Classroom Assessments Created by Educators for Educators
