The U.S. is in the midst of an important shift in K-12 education. Nearly all states are beginning to implement college- and career-ready content standards and are in the process of developing new aligned assessment systems to measure whether their students have the knowledge and critical skills they need to be ready for tomorrow’s jobs.
These new systems are in direct response to educators and parents asking for assessments that are more than just “bubble tests,” and provide better information to inform and improve teaching and learning in our classrooms.
ED is asking the public, and in particular experts in assessment, to respond to the following questions related to our peer review of state assessment systems. This is the first step in its process to review and revise its system to evaluate state tests.
What types of evidence can and should a state provide to demonstrate that its system meets the elements of a high-quality assessment system?
What benchmarks or rubrics can ED establish to help evaluate the evidence submitted by states?
What are best and most-promising practices that ED should consider for providing guidance to states in documenting the quality of their assessment systems and to peers regarding how to evaluate that documentation?
Do you have ideas for how ED should evaluate states’ assessment systems? Do you have thoughts on how we should support states during a time of transition to new, higher standards?
The Department is asking for your input between now and September 30, 2013.
For more specific information on the information that the Education Department is seeking, please visit: http://www.ed.gov/blog/2013/08/help-ed-improve-how-we-evaluate-state-assessment-systems
