Clarifying What Makes Assessment Instructionally Useful
The way we talk about an assessment’s instructional usefulness can undermine the clarity we need to use test information well.
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Latest Posts
Reimagining Math Education: Teacher Experiences of Math Badging in High School
What happens when high schools adopt math badging? Our multi-state study examines benefits, challenges and lessons in reimagining math education.
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Interim Assessments: Useful Enough?
Are interim assessments instructionally useful enough to warrant districts’ time and money? Our study found a nuanced answer to that question.
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Fair and Justice-Oriented Assessment
Caroline Wylie and Margaret Heritage discuss their new book, which explores teaching and learning practices that can address opportunity gaps.
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Evaluating Generative AI Feedback in Classroom Assessment: A Meta-Synthesis
Generative AI is increasingly used to provide feedback in classrooms, but how effective is that feedback? Our study answers that question.
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Navigating Formative Assessment in Mathematics: Lessons from Rincon Valley Union School District
A recent project to build professional learning communities that support teachers in formative assessment shows the importance of flexible leadership.
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The Challenges of Assessing 21st Century Competencies
A new report from the Center explores the challenges of assessing 21st century competencies and offers practical advice.
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Redistributing Responsibility for Teachers’ Assessment Literacy
Understanding assessment and using it well should be the responsibility of the entire school community, not just its teachers.
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Teaching & Assessing 21st Century Skills: A Focus on Analytical Thinking
Guidance on defining and assessing analytical thinking, a skill that’s increasingly important to students’ future success.
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Instructionally Useful Assessments: Don’t Tell Us—Show Us
Education leaders and vendors claim that many assessments are “instructionally useful.” Such claims must be highly specific, and supported by evidence.
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Assessment Data Masquerading as Instructionally Useful Information
Which kinds of tests provide information that helps teachers adjust their instruction? We outline 10 key features of instructionally useful assessments
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Stop Trying to Use Commercial Interim Tests for Instructional Purposes
The concept of “strategic abandonment” sheds light on the appropriate uses of commercial interim assessments. Instructional utility isn’t one of them.
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Innovative Assessments: A Plea for Clarity and Humility
Before launching a project to build an “innovative” assessment for education, it’s wise to define what you want to move toward—and away from.
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Ethical Thinking as a 21st Century Skill
Like other 21st century skills, ethical thinking presents substantial challenges to educators who want to define, teach, and assess it.
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Assessing Students’ Creative Thinking
Guidance on defining and assessing creative thinking, a skill that’s increasingly in demand among employers.
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Building Professional Learning Communities
How my bicycle paceline taught me the seven things teachers need most in their professional learning communities.
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How to Choose Local Assessments
Choosing local assessments can be tricky. A new guide walks district leaders through the questions they should ask and the evidence they should request.
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What’s in a Name? The Challenge of Testing Terminology
We use a lot of assessment names—formative, interim, benchmark—without agreeing on their meaning and use. The cost? Public understanding and student learning.
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