Standardized Testing

Education news, analysis, and opinion about assessments that allow for comparisons across students and groups of students
Image of students working on a computer.
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College & Workforce Readiness The 10 Most-Requested AP Exams of 2024
Students continue to most request AP course exams in the humanities.
Ileana Najarro, February 28, 2025
3 min read
Collage image of former President G.W. Bush signing NCLB bill.
Liz Yap/Education Week and Canva
Federal Then & Now Why Can't We Leave No Child Left Behind ... Behind?
The law and its contours are stuck in our collective memory. What does that say about how we understand K-12 policy?
Evie Blad, January 31, 2025
6 min read
Tight cropped photograph of a bubble sheet test with  a pencil.
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Assessment From Our Research Center Do State Tests Accurately Measure What Students Need to Know?
Some educators argue that state tests don't do much more than evaluate students' ability to perform under pressure.
Alyson Klein, January 30, 2025
2 min read
Custom illustration by Stuart Briers showing the silhouette of a female student wearing a backpack and with a tech dot matrix and ruler in the background. There is a speech bubble containing letters in different languages highlighted within a magnifying glass.
Stuart Briers for Education Week
Artificial Intelligence From Our Research Center Will AI Transform Standardized Testing?
AI has the potential to help usher in a new, deeper breed of state standardized tests, but there are plenty of reasons for caution.
Alyson Klein, December 9, 2024
10 min read
Custom cover illustration by Stuart Briers showing a butterfly with a motherboard pattern on its wings that has landed on a stack of books. There is an illuminating tech pattern coming from the butterfly and a blurred blue background showing a laptop.
Stuart Briers for Education Week
Special Report The Transformative Potential of AI: 6 Big Questions for Schools
When it comes to artificial intelligence, thoughtful leadership at the district, school, and classroom levels is more important than ever.
December 9, 2024
Collage illustration of a dramatic sky with black clouds and a tornado made of numbers with a small female looking up at the ominous tornado overhead.
Collage by Gina Tomko/Education Week and Getty
Mathematics Which Nation’s Students Are Defying the Math Anxiety Trend?
Math anxiety is up among students globally, but a few countries deviate from the pattern.
Sarah Schwartz, November 25, 2024
5 min read
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
Classroom Technology Opinion Has Technology Been Bad for Reading and Learning?
Education technology is supposed to build knowledge. We need to wrestle with the possibility that it might not.
Rick Hess, November 21, 2024
7 min read
Tight cropped photograph of a bubble sheet test with  a pencil.
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Assessment Massachusetts Voters Poised to Ditch High School Exit Exam
The support for nixing the testing requirement could foreshadow public opinion on state standardized testing in general.
Alyson Klein, November 6, 2024
3 min read
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DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Assessment Opinion Why Are Advanced Placement Scores Suddenly So High?
In 2024, nearly three-quarters of students passed the AP U.S. History exam, compared with less than half in 2022.
Rick Hess, October 8, 2024
10 min read
Student writing at a desk balancing on a scale. Weighing test scores against grades.
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty Images
Assessment Grades and Standardized Test Scores Aren't Matching Up. Here's Why
Researchers have found discrepancies between student grades and their scores on standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT.
Ileana Najarro, October 4, 2024
5 min read
Illustration of a man near a sheet of paper with test scores on which lies a magnifying glass and next to it is a question mark.
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Assessment Why Are States So Slow to Release Test Scores?
Nearly a dozen states still haven't put out scores from spring tests. What's taking so long?
Stephen Sawchuk & Sarah Schwartz, October 4, 2024
7 min read
An illustration on a red background of a silhouette of an individual carrying a ladder and walking away from a white arrow shaped sign post, with an arrow facing the opposite direction that has been cut out within the arrow shaped sign with cut pieces of paper on the ground below it.
DigitalVision Vectors
Assessment A District’s Experiment: What Happens When Schools Do Less Testing?
Los Angeles Unified will excuse some schools from periodic assessments. Supporters hope it will inspire new ways to measure learning.
Evie Blad, October 3, 2024
6 min read
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English Learners Quiz WIDA's Test for English Learners: Try Sample Questions
The WIDA ACCESS test is an assessment used by close to 40 states to determine if students must remain in English learner programs.
Ileana Najarro & Gina Tomko, May 24, 2024
1 min read