Over the weekend, I set out to make a list of the test-related things that I was thankful for this Thanksgiving. That daunting task proved more difficult than I anticipated. The constant attacks on testing have become more subtle and a little more muted, but they persist. Everything about testing seems up in the air, changes in technology happening faster than our ability to process them. Then I remembered that the past 25 years focused on compliance. The chaos itself is something to be thankful for. But let’s dig a little deeper than that.
Category Archives: Assessment
Putting Our Understanding of Assessment to the Test
Are the words test and assessment interchangeable, comparable, synonyms? Seems like a rather innocuous question. My take on it last week, however, hit that blogging sweet spot between striking a chord and striking a nerve. When that happens there’s only one thing for a self-respecting blogger to do, double down, add a bit of meat to the bone, and tackle the topic again.
Strengthening Our Links
I have little doubt that the future of standards-based assessment is going to be much more complex, multi-dimensional, and well, messy than the testing situations with which we are familiar and comfortable. That likely means we are going to have to lean more heavily on those other forms of linking educational assessments that don’t fit under that category of equating. As we are revising the Standards, now might be a good time to consider what linking might look like as we shift our attention from testing to student assessment.
It’s Time To Remember and To Repeat
This morning, I had the privilege of speaking (via Zoom) at the 8th International Association for Innovations In Educational Assessment conference in Nigeria. The theme of this conference as Assessment in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. While many hear AI and picture a brave new world of an assessment future heretofore unimagined, I find myself dreaming of the envisioned assessment past that was never fully realized and wondering with the support of AI, why not. Why not now? Why not us? Why not state-supported, school-based assessment as the norm?
Seeing The Forest and The Trees
In this week’s edition of How Charlie’s Mind Works we see how attending a conference on balanced assessment systems, discussing a blog post reflecting on said conference, listening to an episode of Freakonomics on air traffic control, attending a TAC meeting, preparing presentations for two upcoming conferences, falling asleep while watching a campy vintage horror film, and listening to the acoustic version of The Life Of A Showgirl on repeat coalesced into a blog post on balanced assessment and the future of state-supported student assessment.
Seeking Balance
Attending the Center for Assessment’s RILS conference last week got me thinking not only about what it takes to implement balanced assessment systems, but about balance, in general, and the barriers to achieving it.
The Life Of A Show-and-Tell Girl
As Executive Director of the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), Lesley Muldoon has many responsibilities that most of us will never see nor understand. But the public-facing aspect of her job is to serve as front person and ringmaster for the release of NAEP results. This week, she was put in an unenviable position because of that enigma known as 12th grade NAEP. Let’s not make her go through that again.
Looking In The Wrong Place
The world and the daily experiences of students have changed immeasurably since the CCSS were adopted in the early 2010s. Yet, our state tests continue for the most part to measure the same things in the same way. Incremental improvements focused primarily on increasing efficiency. We have to acknowledge that perhaps priorities have changed, and that we might be looking for answers in the wrong place.
Seeking Agreement on State Testing
When results from state assessments, NAEP, and the like are released we’re ready to jump right in with instant analysis to explain or explain away student performance. In our rush to judgments, rarely do we pause to ask ourselves, and more importantly, ask key stakeholders whether they agree with the results.
The Trusty Thermometer
I’m feeling a bit nostalgic for the good old days when standardized tests were described as “thermometers” – a relatively simple tool that did one thing and did it well. Thermometers, like standardized tests, are still ubiquitous. Why have we abandoned that easily understood metaphor?
Embrace the Absurd 