Standardized Testing

Education news, analysis, and opinion about assessments that allow for comparisons across students and groups of students
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Whitepaper
Design for Improvement: The Case for a New Accountability System
Assessments in more frequent intervals provide useful feedback on what students actually study. New curriculum-aligned assessments can le...
Content provided by Cognia
 Toy wooden numbers
Marat Sirotyukov/iStock/Getty
Mathematics What Is a Math Screener, and How Can They Help Young Students? 3 Things to Know
Identifying and supporting students early on can pay big dividends later. But math intervention differs from reading, researchers say.
Sarah Schwartz, February 28, 2024
5 min read
Yuma Police Department forensic technician Heidi Heck shows students in Jonathan Bailey's fifth grade science class at Barbara Hall Elementary School how fingerprints show up under a special light during a presentation about forensic science on March 1, 2023.
Yuma Police Department forensic technician Heidi Heck shows students in Jonathan Bailey's fifth grade science class at Barbara Hall Elementary School how fingerprints show up under a special light during a presentation about forensic science on March 1, 2023.
Randy Hoeft/The Yuma Sun via AP
Science The NAEP Science Exam Is Getting a Major Update. Here's What to Expect
For the first time in 20 years, "the nation's report card" is updating how it gauges students' understanding of science.
Sarah D. Sparks, February 8, 2024
4 min read
Assessment Spotlight Spotlight on Assessment
This Spotlight will help you evaluate effective ways to offer students feedback, learn how to improve assessments for ELs, and more.
January 16, 2024
Image of topics for reading excerpts.
Illustration by Laura Baker/Education Week via Canva
Reading & Literacy There's a Design Flaw With Many Reading Tests. Here's One State's Fix
Louisiana is piloting a test measuring knowledge of the texts and curriculum kids have been exposed to, not random passages.
Libby Stanford, January 15, 2024
9 min read
Sixth-grade students use their Chromebooks for an exercise during class with their teacher Jen Howe at Portage West Middle School in Portage, Mich., on Nov. 29, 2023.
Sixth-grade students use their Chromebooks for an exercise during class with their teacher Jen Howe at Portage West Middle School in Portage, Mich., on Nov. 29, 2023.
Emily Elconin for Education Week
Reading & Literacy From Our Research Center Reading Comprehension Challenges and Opportunities, in Charts
Learn where students struggle, what types of materials educators use, and their perceptions of students' stamina and pleasure reading.
Stephen Sawchuk, January 15, 2024
6 min read
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Whitepaper
Understanding 'Through-Year' Assessment: What Everyone Should Know
This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reconsider our assessment systems. Discover a fresh approach with Through-Year Assessment.
Content provided by New Meridian
Image of people at voting booths.
LPETTET/E+
Social Studies What the Research Says Civics Is About Skills, Not Just Facts. How Do Schools Measure Students' Readiness?
Most state assessments aren't testing how students civically engage in their communities, a new report finds.
Sarah D. Sparks, December 19, 2023
4 min read
A student looks at questions during a college test preparation class at Holton Arms School in Bethesda, Md., on Jan. 17, 2016. The SAT exam will move from paper and pencil to a digital format, administrators announced Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, saying the shift will boost its relevancy as more colleges make standardized tests optional for admission.
A student looks at questions during a college test preparation class at Holton Arms School in Bethesda, Md., on Jan. 17, 2016. More states are looking to abandon high school exit exams as support for standardized testing cools.
Alex Brandon/AP
Assessment More States Could Drop Their High School Exit Exams
There's movement afoot in nearly half the states that still mandate high school exit exams to end the requirement.
Libby Stanford, November 30, 2023
4 min read
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Education Secretary Miguel Cardona speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in his office at the Department of Education on Sept. 20, 2023 in Washington.
Mark Schiefelbein/AP
Assessment Cardona Says Standardized Tests Haven't Always Met the Mark, Offers New Flexibility
The U.S. Department of Education is seeking to reinvigorate a little-used pilot program to create new types of assessments.
Alyson Klein, November 28, 2023
7 min read
Image of a person using a computer, with glasses, papers, and pencil on the desk too.
iStock/Getty
Assessment If ChatGPT Can Write Virtually Anything, What Should a National Writing Exam Test?
That's a question the board that oversees the National Assessment of Educational Progress is confronting amid AI's rapid ascendance.
Libby Stanford, November 17, 2023
6 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Assessment Opinion Grades and Tests Can Undermine Learning. Do They Have To?
Students grow and change, but their assessment records never do. Should this change?
Rick Hess, October 26, 2023
7 min read
Close up of student holding a pencil and filling in answer sheet on a bubble test.
iStock/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness The SAT Is Making a Comeback. Here's a Look at the Numbers and What They Tell Us
More colleges have made the test optional, but students are still taking the SAT in droves.
Ileana Najarro, October 25, 2023
5 min read
Illustration of students
Muhamad Chabib alwi/iStock/Getty
College & Workforce Readiness What the Research Says ACT: Only 1 in 5 High School Graduates in 2023 Fully Prepared for College
More than 40 percent of new high school graduates did not meet any of ACT's college-readiness benchmarks.
Sarah D. Sparks, October 11, 2023
2 min read