New Book Offers a Technology-Supported, Balanced Approach to Assessment

Bloomington, Ind. (January 18, 2022)— In Rebooting Assessment: A Practical Guide for Balancing Conversations, Performances, and Products—published by Solution Tree—author Damian Cooper, together with Jeff Catania, provides strategies and resources for establishing performance-based, balanced assessment in K–12 classrooms.

Cooper argues that classroom assessment practices have stagnated. Educators are not taking full advantage of technology-driven advancements to incorporate student performances and conversations with students as valid metrics for assessing what students have learned. He calls for a technology-supported reboot of assessment and shows readers how to accomplish this in their classrooms, schools, and districts.

“Assessment is a valuable and essential tool for teachers to measure learning and determine necessary course corrections for instruction based on data about what students know, understand, and can do,” he explains. “But educators frequently don’t use assessment in ways that enable these goals.”

The book provides real-world case studies and differentiated implementation options that educators can use to identify their current level of knowledge, gain confidence, and hone their skills. Readers receive tools and strategies for creating a more reliable assessment process that enhances learning for every student.

“[Rebooting Assessment] is my attempt to nudge student assessment into the modern era through a technology-supported and balanced approach that includes conversations and performances as key components in a teacher’s toolkit,” says Cooper.

Rebooting Assessment: A Practical Guide for Balancing Conversations, Performances, and Products is available to order at SolutionTree.com.

About the Author
Damian Cooper is an independent educational advisor who specializes in helping schools and school districts across North America and internationally to improve their instructional and assessment skills. In his varied career, Damian has been a secondary English, special education, and drama teacher; a department head; and a librarian. He has specialized in student assessment for more than 30 years. Damian served as assessment coach to the School Division of Nelson Education. Prior to that, he was coordinator of assessment and evaluation for the Halton District School Board in Burlington, Ontario. Damian is a cofounder and past president of the Canadian Assessment for Learning Network (CAfLN).

Damian's international reputation rests on his wide-ranging experience as an educator, his deep understanding of assessment, and his no-nonsense, common-sense approach to what works in schools.

Damian's publications Talk About Assessment: Strategies and Tools to Improve Learning (2007), Talk About Assessment: High School Strategies and Tools (2010), and Redefining Fair: How to Plan, Assess, and Grade for Excellence in Mixed-Ability Classrooms (2011) are all bestsellers.

Jeff Catania led a variety of K-12 program areas for the Halton District School Board in Burlington, Ontario, including applied learning, assessment and evaluation, information technology in the classroom, mathematics, and restorative practices. He conceived and launched Halton's ongoing bring your own device (BYOD), cloud computing, eLearning, and mindfulness programs for staff and students.

Jeff has facilitated hundreds of staff learning experiences across North America and is a contributing author to Talk About Assessment: High School Strategies and Tools (with Damian Cooper) and The Joy of X: Becoming a Mathematics Teacher in Grades 7-12 (with Shirley Dalrymple and George Gadanidis).

Jeff now enjoys farm life, provides mathematics therapy, facilitates a support group for betrayed partners, and leads adult learning experiences to explore and deepen peace, joy, flow, and love.

Learn more about Solution Tree.