Assessment and Testing

The latest news about assessment, including articles, Commentary, and special features.

The Providence school district is in the middle of an initiative to recognize skills and give academic credit for learning taking place outside school.
—Gretchen Ertl for Education Week

R.I. Students Gaining 'Badges,' Credits Outside School

The Providence school district is in the middle of an initiative to recognize skills and give academic credit for learning taking place outside school. (February 5, 2013)

Spotlight on Assessment

Assessment is complicated in both practical and policy terms, raising myriad questions of how to best gauge student learning. This Spotlight looks at how schools and experts are approaching assessment.

Spotlight on ELL Assessment & Teaching

Teaching English-language learners is a complex endeavor that more and more schools are facing. This Spotlight examines assessment and instruction in the everyday world of ELLs and their schools.

Issue Backgrounder

For background on this topic, see:
Assessment

On-Demand Webinars

Creating Effective Classroom Assessments
In this webinar, Stuart R. Kahl, Ph.D., Deborah Farrington, M.Ed., and Ellen Vorenkamp, Ed.D., focused on the three key elements of creating effective classroom assessment, and how to build teacher capacity in each.

Common Assessments: What You Need to Know
Two groups of states aim to move past multiple-choice-only tests to include essays, projects, and other tasks designed to gauge deeper, more complex learning

PD Directory

The Professional Development Directory features courses and resources for teachers on:
Assessment/Testing

Get RSS Feed for This Topic Latest News

Researchers found value-added estimates of teachers' impact on student scores can be biased if academic tracking isn’t considered.
October 23, 2012 - Education Week
Chester E. Finn Jr. and Jessica A. Hockett write that exam schools offer a great high school education to students that is both free and competitive.
October 18, 2012 - Education Week
The U.S. Department of Education says the Pennsylvania Education Department "acted prematurely" when it changed rules for how charter schools can meet academic-performance standards on the annual PSSA achievement test.
October 16, 2012 - McClatchy-Tribune
El Paso, Texas's ex-superintendent faces 42 months in prison for conspiring to boost students' scores on state tests.
October 16, 2012 - Education Week
Schools are looking for alternatives to the tests that determine whether students must take remedial courses.
October 16, 2012 - Education Week
As many states move to put in place online testing by the 2014-15 school year, at least 20 have indicated they plan to use new computer-adaptive versions of the tests.
October 15, 2012 - Digital Directions
Educational technology experts identify common management and security problems associated with online testing and what schools can do to fix them.
October 15, 2012 - Digital Directions
Putting online testing in place in 46 states and the District of Columbia will require technology capacity not currently available in many school districts.
October 15, 2012 - Digital Directions
Desktops, laptops, netbooks, smartphones, and tablets are all being considered by states and districts, but there are important questions to ask before making a decision.
October 15, 2012 - Digital Directions
The new version of the assessment found that most students lack writing proficiency.
October 15, 2012 - Digital Directions

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