Rate My Professor Natalie Bolton

Bolton's research specializations encompass assessment literacy, standards-based grading and reporting, program evaluation, cognitive sciences, education policy, student achievement, and social studies/civic education. Her work includes analyzing P-12 classroom assessment design, the impact of lesson study on social studies teachers' practices and student learning, and supporting K-12 schools transitioning to standards-based grading systems. She conducts program evaluations with local partners in the St. Louis region. Key publications include "Classroom Assessment for Student Learning: Doing it Right—Using it Well" (2020), "How to Grade for Learning: Linking Grades to Standards" (2017, Corwin Press), "A Large Scale Study of the Assessment of the Social Environment of Middle and Secondary Schools: The Validity and Utility of Teachers' Ratings of School Climate, Cultural Pluralism, and Safety" (2008, Journal of School Psychology), and "Cell Phones in the Classroom: Teachers’ Perspectives of Inclusion, Benefits, and Barriers" (2013, Computers in the Schools). Bolton received UMSL's Gerald and Deanne Gitner Excellence in Teaching Award in 2012. She teaches graduate courses on instruction, learning, assessment, education research, quantitative statistics, and program evaluation, embeds formative assessment in her teaching, serves on doctoral committees as a research methodologist, and consults with schools and organizations internationally on assessment and grading practices.