Key points:
- End-of-year statewide assessments are vital, but are flawed in several ways
- A “through-year” system administers shorter tests throughout the year that can give teachers immediate feedback
- See related article: 3 new trends in student assessment
All around the country, school has ended for students and summer break is underway. In many schools, students spent the last few weeks of the year sitting for standardized tests to assess the year’s instruction. Unfortunately, those tests will be locked away until they’re graded at some point this summer, with parents and educators not learning results until late in the summer, or in some cases, after students start school next year. By that time, students will have a new set of teachers, and these teachers a new set of students with different learning styles and needs.
There is no question that assessments provide useful data. Historically, these tests have been used to help direct resources to schools and districts around the state. Republicans have declared it’s a good check on a system we pour our valuable taxpayer dollars into. Democrats have asserted that this information is the most impactful tool for advocates, communities, and families to ensure that every child is being served by the school system. And while these are important metrics, these tests don’t always suit the immediate needs of kids.
In the wake of the pandemic’s disruption, our student assessment rituals and rationales are showing their age. End-of-year statewide assessments are vital, and when done well, they can measure how a system is serving the students we promise to prepare for college, career, and life. But they are flawed in several ways. Most notably, they give teachers too little information, too late to adjust lessons for the year. The good news is that a new and more comprehensive approach is in development that can give the system those valuable measures while providing teachers with actionable data that can directly impact classroom learning—and it can do so in real time.
A “through-year” system administers shorter tests throughout the year that can give teachers immediate feedback, providing them real-time information to personalize and accelerate student learning in their current grade. At the end of the year, these tests can then be combined to provide education officials with what they need to make data-driven decisions for upcoming years.
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