An engaging introduction to fresh ideas for conceptualizing, enhancing, and assessing OTL.

Providing all students with a fair opportunity to learn (OTL) is perhaps the most pressing issue facing U.S. education. Moving beyond conventional notions of OTL - as access to content, often content tested; access to resources; or access to instructional processes - the authors reconceptualize OTL in terms of interaction among learners and elements of their learning environments. Drawing on socio-cultural, sociological, psychometric, and legal perspectives, this book provides historical critique, theory and principles, and concrete examples of practice through which learning, teaching, and assessment can be re-envisioned to support fair OTL for all students. It offers educators, researchers, and policy analysts new to socio-cultural perspectives an engaging introduction to fresh ideas for conceptualizing, enhancing, and assessing OTL; encourages those who already draw on socio-cultural resources to focus attention on OTL and assessment; and nurtures collaboration among members of discourse communities who have rarely engaged one another's work.

1. Introduction Edward Haertel, Pamel Moss, Diana Pullin and James Gee
2. Assessment through the lens of 'opportunity to learn' Diana Pullin and Edward Haertel
3. A sociological perspective on opportunity to learn and assessment Hugh (Bud) Mehan
4. A sociocultural perspective on opportunity to learn James Paul Gee
5. Individualizing assessment and opportunity to learn: lessons from the education of students with disabilities Diana Pullin
6. Cultural modeling as opportunity to learn: making problem solving explicit in culturally robust classrooms and implications for assessment Carol D. Lee
7. Opportunities to learn in practice and identity James G. Greeno and Melissa S. Gresalfi
8. Game-like learning: an example of situation learning and implications for opportunity to learn James Paul Gee
9. Sociocultural implications for assessment I: classroom assessment Pamela A. Moss
10. Issues of structure and issues of scale in assessment from a situative/sociocultural perspective Robert J. Mislevy
11. Sociocultural implications for assessment II: professional learning, evaluation, and accountability Pamela A. Moss, Brian J. Girard and James G. Greeno
12. Assessment, equity, and opportunity to learn Diana Pullin.