Assessment

Assessments are a hot topic in today’s data-driven education culture. Even veteran educators are learning new and different ways to assess their students, compile data, and use that information to guide their teaching. However, as educators, administrators, and policymakers put their heads together to create more efficient and effective testing...

When the calendar turns to springtime, people everywhere start thinking about warm weather, new beginnings, and enjoying the outdoors. For teachers, however, spring signals the start of what can be a hectic, exhausting, and at times frustrating time of the school year—test season. 

Using assessment results to guide teaching is a hallmark of effective reading instruction. Indeed, today’s schools and classrooms are replete with data reflecting students’ reading strengths and struggles. But data can be both an opportunity and a challenge. The big question often is: How do I link what I know...

In education, there seems to be an acronym for everything. Response to intervention (RTI) and Multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) are two of the most commonly used acronyms, with mentions thrown into practically every department meeting, professional development seminar, and district conference. Though often discussed together, the two are not...

Anyone who has been teaching for a while—or has been a student themselves—has probably seen or experienced test anxiety in the classroom. While some level of stress is natural before taking a test, educators want students to feel motivated to succeed rather than anxious or overwhelmed by the thought of...

Education leaders frequently discuss using assessments to guide student learning, but it’s also important to recognize how assessments can guide educator efficacy and career growth. According to a 2010 white paper on teacher assessment and evaluation from the National Education Association (NEA), the purpose of assessment is twofold: to improve...

A decade and a half after the No Child Left Behind Act was passed by the federal government, standardized test scores continue to be the most common measure of success and failure for public schools across the United States. To answer the question “How are our schools doing?” everyone from...

In the spring of 2016, Finnish education expert Pasi Sahlberg and Boston-based writer Jonathan Hasak wrote an opinion piece for the Washington Post. Their topic? Identifying the "next big thing" in education. But what Sahlberg and Hasak identified was not so big after all. Before attempting to convince readers that small...

Good news for educators: Despite fears of a high teacher turnover rate, reports show that educators are actually staying in the classroom longer than we thought. The National Center for Education and Statistics found that only 17% of educators leave the profession after the first five years, which is a...

Teachers' ability to support student needs is greatly impacted by how well they are able to help make connections between the student performance data, appropriate instructional resources, and next steps in the instructional process. Efficient instructional programs make automatic recommendations as to the proper resources based on student data to provide...