SOFTENING the edges
Assessment Practices That Honor K–12 Teachers and Learners
KATIE
WHITE
FOREWORD BY
CASSANDRA ERKENS
Copyright © 2017 by Solution Tree Press
Materials appearing here are copyrighted. With one exception, all rights are reserved. Readers may reproduce only those pages marked “Reproducible.” Otherwise, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without prior written permission of the publisher.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: White, Katie, 1977- author.
Title: Softening the edges : assessment practices that honor K-12 teachers and learners / author, Katie White.
Description: Bloomington, IN : Solution Tree Press, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016051337 | ISBN 9781943874071 (perfect bound)
Subjects: LCSH: Educational tests and measurements--United States. | Educational evaluation--United States. | Individualized instruction--United States. | Competency based education--United States.
Classification: LCC LB3051 .W48845 2017 | DDC 371.27/1--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016051337
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Acknowledgement
I have worked for the North East School Division (NESD) in Saskatchewan, Canada, as a teacher, administrator, and system leader. This book is dedicated to my education colleagues, who have willingly (and sometimes unwillingly) listened to me in classrooms, hallways, workshops, and offices as I lived much of the content you will read in this book. It is through powerful conversations, co-planning and co-teaching, facilitating professional learning, and, above all, listening, that I have learned how to be a teacher in the true sense of the word. I will forever be grateful to the NESD.
I also dedicate this book to the students of the NESD. Their faces, their minds, and their hearts are the reason I get up every day and devote my life to this work. Many of them probably don’t even know my name, but I hold their future in my mind as a beacon that guides my work.
Lastly, I acknowledge my family, who keeps me propped up in the moments I need it and inspires me to be the best whole person I can be. To my dad, who was my teaching hero; to my mom, who lives the definition of wholeness; to my husband and daughters without whom I am lost, I thank you. You have made sure I live with softened edges.
Solution Tree Press would like to thank the following reviewers:
Alfredo Barrantes
Director, Assessment and Data Management
Cartwright School District 83
Phoenix, Arizona
Stacie Beaman
First-Grade Teacher
L. J. Daly Elementary School
Fayette, Missouri
Jeff Bush
Government and Economics Teacher
Kent Innovation High School
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Sandra Kitts
Kitts Consulting
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan
Canada
Jim Knight
Fourth-Grade Teacher
Pearl S. Buck Elementary School
Levittown, Pennsylvania
Stacie Nickols
Coordinator of Elementary Social Studies
McKinney Independent School District
McKinney, Texas
Heidi Paterson
Science Teacher
Preeceville School
Preeceville, Saskatchewan
Canada
Will Remmert
Principal
Eagle View Elementary School
New Prague, Minnesota
Jim
