Assessment
Standardized testing. Formative assessment. Competency-based learning. Report cards. Explore EdWeek’s full coverage of student testing
Webinars on Assessment & Testing
Browse and register for free professional development on all forms of testing students, including formative assessment, standardized testing, and more.
Quality Counts
Special Report
Quality Counts 2001: A Better Balance
Standards, Tests, and The Tools to Succeed
- Assessment News in Brief What's Up With AP?About 1.24 million students—or nearly 40 percent of the class of 2018—took at least one Advanced Placement exam in 2018, for a grand total of some 4.22 million tests.Assessment News in Brief High School Graduation Rate Reaches Another All-Time HighThe U.S. high school graduation rate has risen for yet another year, to a new all-time high.Assessment Opinion Five Non-Negotiables in Assessment for LearningA successful performance-assessment system requires these five non-negotiable qualities.Special Report Projects, Portfolios, and Performance AssessmentsAlternatives to traditional testing aren’t new to schools but interest in them is resurging. What lessons did educators learn from the last go-around with performance measurement? What’s new now?Assessment Exploring Ways to Say So Long to Traditional Letter GradesSome teachers are ditching grades or using "no zero" policies to keep students more focused on learning and less intent on grade-grubbing.Assessment How to Assess Group Projects: It's About Content and TeamworkGroup projects founder when students don't work well together. Here's the latest thinking on evaluating students on both content mastery and collaboration skills.Assessment What Is Performance Assessment?Here's a handy glossary on terms like project-based learning, competency-based learning, and standards-based grading.Assessment Three Teachers, One Test Question: Will Their Responses Differ?Education Week asked three 8th grade teachers to evaluate real student responses to an open-ended question on the National Assessment of Educational Progress in social studies. Here's what they said.Assessment Scores Were Lower When Mass. Students Took PARCC Exams on Computers, Study FindsUnfamiliarity with technology contributed to lower scores for online test-takers in 2015, but the effects diminished over time, researchers found.Assessment Opinion Feedback Loops Lead the Way to MasteryElementary students and their teacher reflect on getting feedback from experts, in support of growing as a learner.Assessment Video Experience Education Week’s Summit on “Testing for Real-World Performance”Assistant Managing Editor Debra Viadero talks about the latest turn in education toward performance-based assessment and invites educators to the “Testing for Real-World Performance” summit on Tuesday, February 19, at 1 p.m. In this online event, Education Week journalists and guests will staff online “discussion rooms” on a host of topics, including: the problems and pitfalls of performance-based testing measures, ways to assess group work, alternatives to traditional grades, how some college admissions offices weigh performance-based measures, and video game-based formative assessments for elementary schools. You will get a unique opportunity to interact directly with the writers and experts who helped shape coverage of our new special report on performance assessment. After the discussions, watch writers and editors sum up the discussion in a series of livestreamed interviews.Assessment Opinion What Traditional Classroom Grading Gets WrongIt's time to make grades bias-resistant and fairer, writes Joe Feldman. Four key aspects of equitable grading can help.Assessment Opinion Beyond Classroom ManagementWant a class that functions smoothly and productively? Forget the carrots and sticks; make sure each student has appropriately challenging work instead.Assessment Report Roundup Grade RetentionThe United States spends $20 billion each year when some 2 million students repeat a grade, and a new study in the Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness suggests doing so may not help academically.Assessment Big Things You Need to Know Now About the PARCC and Smarter Balanced TestsA lot has changed with the PARCC and Smarter Balanced tests since they were first launched in 2015. Here's what you need to know to stay current.