Educational assessment is at a crossroads. Fundamentally, the same crossroads that we stood before in 2010. That time we took the more well-worn path and that has made all the difference. Now we have a second chance to take the road less travelled by and see where that takes us.
Category Archives: Assessment
Tell Me Why
At a recent TAC meeting, the state reported pressure to make the test shorter – again. I questioned whether there was a right answer. Will the test ever be short enough? When people are asking for changes to test length, content, or uses, what do they really want?
When Will They Ever Learn?
I spent a morning this week taking standardized Reading, Writing, and Mathematics tests. First takeaway, standardized tests are not meant for 65-year-olds (as long as I can still draw the clock face). Why did I put myself through that exercise? It’s all for the blog.
Striving for Imperfection
“The day the child realizes that all adults are imperfect, he becomes an adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise. Alden Nowlan”
We appear to be adolescents – still learning how to deal with imperfection.
Mind over Matter over Measurement
It’s gut check time for educational measurement and assessment. So much is going to be asked of us over the next 5-10 years and we need to respond. First, however, we must accept that where PK-12 education leads, we must follow.
The SAT: Sometimes It’s Better to be Lucky
The SAT finds itself in the news again due to
A. Unforced errors
B. Unfortunate events
C. Unintended consequences
D. All of the above
Looking Back at the Future of Assessment
Describe your vision for the future of assessment. Now try to do it without jargon or buzzwords; with enough detail that someone might be able to implement it, but not so much that it’s obsolete before it happens. A lesson from the past on picturing the future.
Call Off the Recovery Effort
When the results of NAEP testing underway now are released next year, at least as important as actual student performance will be the way that those results are framed. My initial plea for something other than the recovery of learning lost to the pandemic.
The Year Is The Only Thing That’s New
It’s a new year and we have resolved to make it a good one. But what is really “new” about the new year, and what can we learn from the New Year’s Resolution process to make better use of large-scale assessment results.
My Assessment Christmas List
My Christmas offering to you this year is my vision for the components of the oft-mentioned, but never seen balanced assessment system. Something tangible for all of us to believe in before we are no longer able to hear the bell. Merry Christmas!
Embrace the Absurd 