Standardized Testing
Education news, analysis, and opinion about assessments that allow for comparisons across students and groups of students
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?
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.
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.
Student Achievement
What the Latest Student Test Results Reveal: 5 Things to Know
Academic achievement is improving more quickly in math. But the data are hard to interpret.
Assessment
Q&A
Q&A: Top NAEP Official Talks About the Future of Nation's Report Card and More
Statistics commissioner Peggy Carr says persistent chronic absenteeism is partly to blame for historically low test scores.
Assessment
States Eye Assessment Throughout the Year as Frustration With Standardized Testing Mounts
Some states are working to transition to through-year testing models in an effort to make standardized tests more relevant to educators.
Assessment
From Our Research Center
Educators Feel Growing Pressure for Students to Perform Well on Standardized Tests
Many say they feel more pressure now than before the pandemic to ensure students perform well on the annual, state-required exams.
Assessment
Q&A
Picking an Interim Assessment? Do This First, Say School Leaders
Two district leaders explain how they evaluate interim assessments—and why having access to external reviews would be "huge."
English-Language Learners
Improving Assessments for English Learners: Advice From Experts
There are better, more accurate ways to gauge English learners' academic progress, researchers say.
Assessment
A District Is Happy It Made This Standardized Testing Change
One Mississippi district jumped through hoops to switch to a set of tests its teachers think will help students become independent learners.
Assessment
NAEP Results Are Often Politicized. Could Rescheduling It Help?
Administering NAEP in non-election years will shield it from further politicization, the board that oversees it said.
Social Studies
Understanding the Sharp Drop in History and Civics NAEP Scores: 4 Things to Know
Knowing about these trends in social studies education helps put the new NAEP results in context.
Social Studies
Opinion
How To Fix the Shockingly Low NAEP History and Civic Scores
We need more civics and history in literacy lessons and more deliberate literacy instruction in civics and history, argues Susan Pimentel.
Student Achievement
History Achievement Falls to 1990s Levels on NAEP; Civics Scores Take First-Ever Dive
Eighth graders' scores in U.S. history and civics dropped on the test known as the “Nation’s Report Card."