We work closely with state and local education agencies to design and enact assessment inventories that result in assessment systems that are aligned with the U.S. Department of Education’s principles for good assessments. These principles, outlined in the 2015 Testing Action Plan, encourage state and local education agencies to review their assessment systems to ensure that students are taking high-quality and fair assessments that reflect rigorous learning expectations for all students. The Testing Action Plan calls for state and local education agencies to administer assessments that are:
- Worth taking
- High quality
- Time-limited
- Fair – and supportive of fairness – in equity in educational opportunity
- Fully transparent to students and parents
- Just one of multiple measures
- Tied to improved learning
Our assessment inventory process encompasses both review and research phases to comprehensively understand assessment tools and practices. We support state and local education agencies in reviewing existing assessment systems and determining how assessment tools align to the Testing Action Plan principles for effective assessment practices. The design process considers state and district learning objectives and seeks to collect actionable data that can be used to make decisions that strengthen assessment systems.
As part of the assessment inventory process, we also provide research and analysis supports to more comprehensively understand assessment systems. This may include conducting interviews and focus groups to collect data on how assessments are being used at the school and local levels, informing how assessment systems are impacting classroom instruction. We provide research support to conduct valuable data collection and analysis into the assessment practices at different contexts and how state, district, and local assessment systems interact with one another.
WestEd is ready to work with states and districts to design a sustainable, comprehensive assessment inventory approach that supports efforts to develop coherent, aligned, and balanced assessment systems, helping agencies identify and focus on the high-quality assessments that inform instruction, while also identifying unnecessary assessments that detract from your objectives.
Contact Us
To learn more, contact Tiffany Katanyoutanant at [email protected]