Assessment-Powered Teaching

The purpose of Power Teaching is to change teachers’ attitudes toward testing by illustrating the power that meaningful assessment brings to the art and science of teaching. The book also shares efficient and practical tools and strategies for using formative and summative assessment results to actually enhance teaching effectiveness and students’ learning. Using testimonials from “power teachers,” the text shows classroom teachers how they too can use assessment analyses to inform their teaching, provide motivational feedback to their students, and monitor their students’ progress toward learning targets and standards. This handy reference argues that testing can be a power tool for helping teachers rather than an intrusion on academic freedom and valuable instructional time. A key distinction of the book is its coverage of using technology to collect and analyze assessment data. Nancy W. Sindelar is consultant to schools across the country in the areas of standards-based curriculum and assessment alignment (including alignment to the Common Core State Standards), collection, use and interpretation of student test data, teacher mentorship and the development of high-performing teacher teams. By focusing on data-driven instruction, She has helped schools move from state academic “watchlists’ to “most improved status, based on state test scores. Sindelar is an Executive Consultant on assessment for the American Association of School Administrators (AASA). The author of Using Test Data for Student Achievement: Answers to No Child Left Behind, she also teaches graduate courses at California State University and Roosevelt University, specializing in leadership of effective organizations, school supervision, school law, school curriculum and educational assessment. She brings more than thirty years’ experience in public education, as a teacher, department chair, assistant principal and assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and assessment as well as a university professor. She received her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University, a master’s degree from DePaul University, a certificate of advanced studies from Concordia University, and a doctor of philosophy degree from Loyola University of Chicago. She was a visiting scholar with the English faculty at Cambridge University, England, served a four-year term as president of Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy Alumni Board and currently is a board member of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park.