Watermark and SCALE Launch Embedded Signature Assessments Pilot with Educator Prep Programs
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atermark, a pioneer in educational intelligence, announced last year its new partnership with the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity (SCALE).
As a next step, Watermark is making SCALE's Embedded Signature Assessments (ESAs) available in Watermark's ePortfolio and student assessment solutions during a spring 2020 pilot with educator preparation programs (EPPs) at State University of New York College at Cortland, Salisbury University, Concordia College at Moorhead, and Nazareth College.
SCALE's Embedded Signature Assessments (ESAs) are customized, formative assessment tools embedded within existing curriculum to develop important skills for quality teaching, including providing feedback and asking questions. When used in conjunction with Watermark's outcomes assessment solutions, EPPs will have more robust evidence of student learning to inform program improvement and provide data for accreditation.
Two initial ESAs will be available for these Watermark clients to pilot, Providing Effective Feedback and Using Effective Questioning Strategies.
Feedback is only effective when the action results in a desired change. Building excellent questioning skills is one of the most empowering tools teachers can pull from their toolbox to inspire student learning and engagement. Helping teachers build these skills is an important task for all education programs. That's why we're excited to participate in the pilot and to use SCALE's ESAs in Watermark. Both assessments and related tasks have been designed specifically to improve teacher candidate performance for skills needed to be successful in our profession, said Dr. Chris Widdall, School of Education at SUNY Cortland.
Dr. Raymond Pecheone, Executive Director and founder of the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning, and Equity, commented, ESA development is grounded in rigorous theory and pedagogy, and each ESA aims to prepare teachers and students for the challenges of a changing world - promoting equity and access for all learners in order to reduce disparities in student outcomes. With Watermark as our key partner, all stakeholders will be able to produce this level of actionable data more easily and quickly so they can promote continuous learning and improve outcomes for all students.
Upon the successful conclusion of this pilot, all educator preparation programs will have the opportunity to add SCALE's Embedded Signature Assessments to Watermark.
We look forward to this pilot so we can better support programs in providing the kind of feedback that helps candidates improve and grow, while also gathering valid, reliable data as part of their assessment process. Our partnership with SCALE underscores Watermark's strong roots in supporting educator preparation programs and reinforces our commitment to developing the solutions needed to meet the challenges of assessing teacher candidates, data collection, and accreditation reporting, said Kevin Michielsen, CEO of Watermark.
To learn how using SCALE's ESAs in Watermark can help your program improve candidate readiness, visit http//www.watermarkinsights.com.
✔️ Watermark and SCALE Launch Embedded Signature Assessments Pilot with Educator Prep Programs
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