Assessment – Page 2 – Embrace the Absurd

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?

Everything Looks Worse in Black and White

There’s a lot to reflect on as we reach the midpoint of 2025, but one story that’s stuck in my craw is the performance of Black and White students on the 2024 NAEP tests. Not the achievement gap per se, we are all too well aware of that, but rather the lack of overlap between the two groups. I’m not sure what to make of that.

Educational Testing: To Protect and To Serve

I’ve concluded that you can learn a lot about a field from its conference themes. How it views itself, how it thinks others perceive it, and how it wants others to see it. As my colleagues refresh their Rocky Mountain High at the second of three national gatherings in Denver this conference season, I began to ponder an appropriate theme for educational testing.

Innovative or In Over Our Heads

Why is innovating in educational assessment so difficult? Is there an invisible string, a common thread, connecting the chain of so-called innovations that have either never produced fruit, died on the vine, or failed to even sprout?

Approaching The Limit of Equating State Tests

Since my last post, several people have asked what I meant by my claim that virtually every decision related to the operation of state testing programs since 1990 has made equating more difficult. In this post, I make my case and discuss whether in the calculus of equating state tests we are approaching our limit.

Fundamentals and Flaws of Standards-Based Testing

I am excited to use this week’s blog post to introduce my new book, Fundamentals and Flaws of Standards-Based Testing: Lessons Learned Across Three Decades in Educational Assessment, published by and available from Routledge.