Assessment – Page 9 – Embrace the Absurd

Something is Not Quite Write

Nagging Issues That Can Affect the Utility of Assessments Charlie DePascale Starting with the direct assessment of writing, the inclusion of items requiring students to produce written responses may be the most significant development in large-scale assessment in the past three decades. We now stand on the cusp of a new wave of advancesContinue reading “Something is Not Quite Write”

State Assessment and High School

A Square Peg for a Round Hole Charlie DePascale We have reached a stalemate. It has been nearly five years since ESSA and the assessment flexibility it offered to states, particularly at the high school level, became law. Next week, we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the release and almost immediate and universal adoption ofContinue reading “State Assessment and High School”

The All-Decade Team – State Assessment Version

As we begin the 2020s, let’s take a moment to look back at some of the state assessment moments that defined the 2010s Last week, the New England Patriots announced their all-decade team for the 2010s. The Patriots release was quickly followed by local media offering their own selections of all-decade teams for the Celtics,Continue reading “The All-Decade Team – State Assessment Version”

Why is this time different?

The K-12 testing industry survived, even flourished, during past economic downturns. There are signs, however, that this time might be different. There have been two major economic downturns in the past twenty years: the bursting of the Dot-Com bubble in the early 2000s and the Great Recession of 2008. Much like the proverbial cockroach inContinue reading “Why is this time different?”

A good day ruined

Charlie DePascale After a wonderful late summer day spent enjoying a rare weekday afternoon baseball game in Boston, I sat down last night and looked at my Twitter feed. There among the trending items was this headline The University of Texas’s Secret Strategy to Keep Out Black Students Without even clicking to look at theContinue reading “A good day ruined”

Gold Standard?

Charlie DePascale Disclaimer: I did not have access to my laptop and was forced to prepare this post on my Surface tablet. I apologize in advance for any effect that had on the length or quality of the post. By any metric, 2017 was, and continues to be, a very bad year forContinue reading “Gold Standard?”

A Letter to Santa

Dear Santa, I am the next generation of large-scale assessment and I am 4 1/2 years old. I have been very good this year. At least I have tried very hard to be good. I have been reliable and fair. I think that I have been valid, but Uncle Steve says that’s not forContinue reading “A Letter to Santa”

If I Did It

Confessions of a Psychometrician By OJ Simpsons Paradox with Charlie DePascale Charlie – As we waited six long months for the release of the 2017 NAEP results, some wondered whether we would ever know the whole story; what really happened that February when NAEP reading and math went digital. Now that those results have beenContinue reading “If I Did It”

Implausible Values

Equating in the early part of the 21st century Charlie DePascale Our field is facing a crisis brought on by implausible values. The values which threaten us, however, are not the assessment results questioned above. Those are only the byproduct of the values which our field and society have adopted with regard to K-12 large-scaleContinue reading “Implausible Values”

A cautionary tale

Charlie DePascale Earlier this month I traveled to Lawrence, Kansas to attend the NCME special conference on the confluence of classroom assessment and large-scale psychometrics. In a panel discussion titled, “I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore” Kristen Huff, Karen Barton, Paul Nichols, and I shared the perspective that when bringing together classroom assessmentContinue reading “A cautionary tale”