Assessment & Standards

State report cards: Why some fail the transparency test

If parents do not have a complete picture of academic achievement, attendance and other crucial student success indicators, are state report cards on district performance to blame?

Cultivating Growth: How to Build a Positive Assessment Culture

Date & Time: Monday, September 30th at 2 pm ET

In this webinar, we’ll explore innovative approaches to creating a positive assessment culture where students take ownership of their learning, teachers receive meaningful data they can use to hone their craft, and administrators and teachers are aligned in elevating student success.

ACT slim down: A look at the big changes the test is making

The newly shortened exam is designed to provide greater flexibility for students, who now face fewer questions and can choose whether to complete the science section.

9 ways state tests could be more useful to teachers

Additionally, researchers from FutureEd argue a two-tiered approach to state testing could work. Here's what that looks like.

How to close learning gaps with a new assessment culture

Imagine a world where a young child’s comprehension of a text written by Dr. Seuss could predict whether they will graduate from high school more than a decade later. This may sound as nonsensical as a plot from Dr. Seuss himself, but it’s not a work of fiction.

Asset-based assessment can capture the magic of learning

The best assessment processes allow a learner to be measured alongside milestones of their own developmental trajectory, not in comparison to arbitrary—and potentially outdated—standards that may or may not reflect their unique, lived experiences.

Want to improve test scores? Remove these non-academic barriers

An alarming undercurrent to current academic declines is a rising tide of maladaptive behaviors across all student populations.

Report: Educators, focus on these 5 concepts to make testing fairer

Creators of standardized assessments tend to avoid cultural topics in their questions based on "fairness and colorblindness." That practice, however, may be making these sometimes high-stakes tests less fair for Black, Latino and other underrepresented students.

High-dosage tutoring is working. Here’s how to make it work better

A new analysis shares guidance on how leaders can best augment everyday classroom instruction with high-quality, high-dosage tutoring.

See which states have the highest standardized test scores

Do standardized test scores provide accurate forecasts of college or workforce success? As this debate rages, there's no question that school leaders have to pay attention to the results.

Get ready to carefully assess growth and interventions in 2024

Tutoring, summer school programs and double-dose math will join an emphasis on strengthening student-teacher relationships as academic recovery takes on even more urgency.

New elementary and middle school rankings take a deeper look at test scores

New rankings of the nation's best elementary and middle schools consider demographics and other factors within individual states.

ACT scores are at a 30-year low. How does this impact K12?

The graduating class of 2023 has continued a six-year decline in ACT scores, according to new data released by the testing giant.

Nontraditional outcomes: Why schools are measuring 4 new types of student success

A loose coalition of 250 school leaders is experimenting with deeper learning, social-emotional skills, self-direction and career readiness as they and their teams seek new ways to equip students for success after high school graduation.

Recovery on hold? How academic growth sputtered in 2022-23

The road to recovery remains rocky as the academic growth that most students made in the 2022-23 school year failed to match pre-pandemic norms, according to data on grades 3-8 released Tuesday.

Math scores for this one group of students show historic, long-term decline

There are no "green shoots’" of academic recovery emerging, with the Nation's Report Card showing the largest-ever drop in math scores by 13-year-old students and decreases in reading.

How should we teach with AI? The feds have 7 fresh edtech ideas

Keeping humans at the center of edtech is the top insight in the federal government's first stab at determining how schools should teach with AI amid concerns about safety and bias.

8th-graders are failing to grasp how democracy works, report card shows

First-ever decline in civics scores raises alarms about students' ability become "full participants in American democracy,” say Nation's Report Card officials.

Big K12 deal: Learning giant HMH is acquiring testing titan NWEA

"The combined organization will harness the collective power of instruction and research-based insights to support educators in their efforts to drive better outcomes for students," the companies say in a news release.

Creating a Portrait of a Graduate: New Measures of College, Career, and Life Readiness

Thursday, April 20 at 2 pm ET

Attend this webinar to learn more about a new metric to determine if students are adequately prepared for college, career, and life, and some strategies for creating a more student-centered, holistic model of academic and career success.  

Leadership series: Six-figure teacher salaries? Yes, in this superintendent’s district

When Superintendent Scott Muri took the helm at Ector County ISD in 2019, it had an 18% teacher vacancy rate and was one of the lowest-performing districts in the state. Now, its teachers can make up to $100,000 a year.

How one college prep site rates your school system on 3 big priorities

It's hard to argue that superintendents and their leadership teams have three higher priorities than student success, school quality, and the safety of everyone who learns and works in their district.

Accountability and accreditation are not the same. Which is more important?

The metrics of state accountability systems are often out of sync with bigger-picture accreditation evaluations—and the disconnect hinders the ability of schools and districts to improve, according to a new report.

At least a dozen more Virginia high schools under fire for delaying National Merit awards

Administrators have also been accused of equity-driven attempts to level the playing field for students who didn't qualify for the scholarships at the expense of higher achievers.

What Florida’s 2023 Superintendent of the Year will offer at FETC

Superintendent of Putnam County Schools Rick Surrency will share his tour of Finland's schools in 2022, where his outlook on education changed forever.

3 helpful tips for district leaders to improve the power of digital assessment

With a few simple shifts that reduce stress and barriers, digital assessment can become representative of students’ knowledge, not their ability to use technology.

3 ways leaders can begin to reverse a widening achievement gap

The highest and lowest achievers in a typical fifth-grade classroom pre-COVID were separated by as many as seven grade levels. That has widened, new research shows.

More colleges are doing away with test requirements for good

At least 1,835 U.S. colleges have implemented test-free or test-optional admissions in the hopes of developing a more diverse pool of applicants, although student access to high school AP or IB courses will remain a factor in their acceptance.

Who is on the positive side of the growing gender gap in education?

The gap exists in every U.S. state, beginning in elementary school and lasting through college graduation, according to new research conducted by the nonprofit public policy organization Brookings.

Math and reading scores crash hard on Nation’s Report Card

A historic decline in math scores on the Nation's Report Card delivers perhaps the starkest verdict yet on the pandemic's "profound toll" on learning. 

How you can help ensure your students will succeed—without an SAT score

Enthusiasm continues to build for replacing standardized exams with more "authentic assessments" such as research projects, presentations and portfolios of other high school work.

See who made the 2022 Blue Ribbon Schools list

297 schools were recognized for their achievements academic excellence and their progress in closing learning gaps.

What are the 4 things driving a decline in satisfaction with schools?

There is a drastic satisfaction gap between the opinions of education held by parents of K-12 students and their fellow Americans.

How far have math and reading scores dropped? It’s staggering

The first Nation's Report Card of the pandemic shows math and reading declines that are historic and, in some cases, unprecedented.

6 things we still don’t know about the size of interrupted learning

Educators may not know that "consistent exposure to instruction" was a bigger factor in interrupted learning than race and income.