Softening the Edges

Softening the Edges

Discover the difference between soft edges and hard edges regarding alignment between students’ and teachers’ needs and the assessment practices that are meant to meet them. This book asserts that assessment must have soft edges, smoothly guiding students through their learning and engaging them so their confidence grows and their experiences are positive and relevant.

• Understand the language of assessment and softened assessment edges.
• Spot the indicators of hard and soft edges in classroom practices.
• Learn how to educate for the whole student to meet students’ cognitive, social-emotional, physical, and ethical development needs.
• Examine the importance of a learning continuum.
• Visualize the qualities of a shared space that supports students’ and teachers’ learning

Related Topics

Assessment Instruction Student Engagement

“Softening the Edges beautifully entwines narrative and practical processes, tools, and questions to inspire a new vision for assessment—its design, its use, and its scope. It is practical and nuanced to reflect the important influence of context, the teacher’s voice, and the student’s whole self. White positions reflection at the center of this softening that shifts assessment from a solely technical endeavor to one that captures its power to transform both teacher and student. This is an essential read for educators intentionally traveling down the path to reimagining assessment, and it is a much-needed voice in the arena of classroom assessment.”

“While accounting for the importance of data collection, Katie White makes room for a more compassionate view of assessment—one that accounts for the lived experiences of students as well as teachers. She explains how to create softer-edged yet academically rigorous assessments that return the focus of school to where it belongs: the curious, creative, vulnerable human beings who are learning and teaching in schools.”

“Katie White’s Softening the Edges reminds all of us of the purposefulness of the work that we do every day and the joy that mindfulness brings to true learning. White’s work lays the groundwork for powerful professional development for teachers. It gives hope that discovering and uncovering curriculum learning is far more powerful than simply covering it. Teachers and students are on this incredible learning journey together.”

Free Resources

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   Essential Assessment