How do state and district leaders cut through the clutter to make decisions on assessments for student success? Finally, there is unprecedented support on how to answer this question with the release of Ten Principles for Building a High-Quality System of Assessments, a collaborative effort led by Jobs for the Future (JFF), a national nonprofit that drives transformation in the American workforce and education systems.
Ten Principles, endorsed by 19 leading organizations and experts from education, research, workforce, and policy fields, provides a comprehensive roadmap for school leaders to improve current assessments and systems, focus on equity, and develop a learner’s academic proficiency, career skills, and civic aptitude.
“No single test can determine a student’s college and career path,” said Rebecca E. Wolfe, JFF associate vice president, Students at the Center initiative. “But simply piling on more assessments won’t provide timely intervention strategies if they’re poorly chosen and not aligned to what higher education and employers consider college and career readiness.
“The Ten Principles are a game-changer,” she continued. “They offer a comprehensive compilation of the best available information about designing a high-quality system of assessments, combined with nearly 20 of the country’s leading experts standing by to support states and districts to build a balanced system that doesn’t overburden students and teachers.”
The Ten Principles include the following:
- Capture the array of knowledge, skills, and behaviors needed for college and career readiness (i.e., deeper learning)
- Balance assessment of learning with assessment for and as learning through a comprehensive set of tasks and measures
- Advance equity and be inclusive of and accessible to all students
- Build educator and school capacity for designing and using assessments
- Align assessments to support learning and avoid duplication of testing
- Convey clear, coherent, and continuous data on student learning
- Include meaningful, ongoing input and collaboration from local communities and diverse stakeholders in the development and continuous improvement of the system
- Encourage cycles of review, calibration, and continuous improvement of assessments individually and as a collective system
- Employ high standards of coherence, validity, reliability, and fairness
- Protect data privacy
To view Ten Principles for Building a High-Quality System of Assessments, visit http://deeperlearning4all.org/10-principles-building-high-quality-system-assessments/
