Category Archives: Measurement

Shove Those Deficits Up Your Assets

I have seen the light!  Praise be the ivory tower, I have seen the light! Enough already with talk of learning loss, achievement gaps, and labels like substantially below proficient. Cast off the cloak of deficits and wrap yourself in the warmth of potential and growth. I confess that it took me too long toContinue reading “Shove Those Deficits Up Your Assets”

It’s Time, for a Change

As we approach the one-year anniversary of watching Americans struggle to read graphs, interpret data, and cope with the harsh reality that even the tiniest percentage of a very large number is still too many individual stories, there may have never been a time when there was such universal agreement that it’s time for aContinue reading “It’s Time, for a Change”

Seeking Comparability in an Incomparable Year

The past year has been a year like no other. We experienced a summer like no other, a World Series like no other, an election like no other, followed by a Thanksgiving, Christmas, Presidential Inauguration, and Super Bowl like no other. How can we possibly expect to produce comparable state test results in this schoolContinue reading “Seeking Comparability in an Incomparable Year”

Ninety-five Theses on State Testing

“Out of love for the truth and from desire to elucidate it, the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and Sacred Theology, and ordinary lecturer therein at Wittenberg, intends to defend the following statements and to dispute on them in that place. Therefore he asks that those who cannot be present and dispute withContinue reading “Ninety-five Theses on State Testing”

The Three Ps of State Testing

We are all familiar with the Three Rs, reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic, which have been the focus of federally-mandated assessment and accountability systems for the this first quarter of the 21st century. Those actually involved in education in the 21st century undoubtedly also have intimate knowledge of the Four Cs (critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity),Continue reading “The Three Ps of State Testing”

Assessment by Any Other Name, Please

Edy’s Pie, Ben’s Original Rice The Chicks, Lady A The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs The Washington Football Team The Altria Group, American Outdoor Brands Corp. WW, Dunkin’ One of the legacies of 2020 is a spate of name changes, most for the same underlying reason.  As demonstrated by final rows of theContinue reading “Assessment by Any Other Name, Please”

When it seems the magic slipped away

A blog year in review If there was ever a year in which it seems the magic of large-scale, K-12 testing had slipped away, 2020 was that year. Our field  found itself under attack for its racist past and a present in which tests produce outcomes that have a disproportionately negative impact on non-white and economicallyContinue reading “When it seems the magic slipped away”