Testing Trends: Considerations for Choosing and Using Assessments
As its title suggests, this ECS publication provides an overview of the current state trends in assessment. Among the topics covered are:
current state challenges in choosing assessments
shifting and declining consortia assessment membership
state blending of assessments
dual role of some college entrance exams
various uses of assessment results and their limitations
amount of testing time and quantity of tests, and
assessment opt-outs.
The author provides specific state assessment examples related to each topic.
This article’s title provides a good overview of its purpose. The author describes current assessment trends as well as many associated issues, supported by specific examples. The methods and references are excellent. What I believe most readers will take away from this article is the great deal of flux surrounding state assessments.
Communications quality is excellent. This is an easy-to-read article, relatively concise but with enough detail and supporting examples that make it a must-read in 2016. Nice design as well.
Utility should be very high, especially by state department of education policymakers who are often interested in what other states are doing. Evidence of effectiveness is not addressed, but the timeliness of this topic supported by strong examples suggests a potential impact on learning.