Decisions about assessment are often built on myths about teacher professional judgment and subjectivity that prioritize standardized assessment over classroom assessment. Ken O'Connor and Matt Townsley discuss some of the most common myths and explain how to dispel them by developing clear guidelines in which teachers can exercise their judgment,…

Technical difficulties and other unforeseen events occasionally lead to incomplete data on educational tests, which necessitates the reporting of imputed scores to some examinees. While there exist several approaches for reporting imputed scores, there is a lack of any guidance on the reporting of the uncertainty of imputed scores. In this paper,…

This commentary focuses on one of the positive impacts of COVID-19, which was to tie societal inequity to testing in a manner that could motivate the reimagining of our field. That reimagining needs to account for our nation's dramatically changing demographics so that assessment generally, and standardized testing specifically, better fit the…

A January 2024 survey found that 72 percent of parents had considered a new school for their children in the past year. And in 2025, Texas and Tennessee are poised to become the next states to enact education savings account (ESA) programs, potentially giving millions more students the education options that their parents want for them. As a…

The purpose of the current review is to examine three frequently employed types of assessment: (a) standardized tests, (b) screening, and (c) behavioral assessment. The aims are to advocate for best practices with evidence-based assessments (EBAs) and provide guidance to implement EBAs within applied settings. Information regarding the current…

With mathematics education dominated by practices of standardized test alignment, the quest for mathematical understanding is adrift despite so much talk about the importance of STEM subject matters. To add to the confusion there has long been worries among educators about any curricular programs or instructional practices that can be labeled…

Students are assessed by coursework and/or exams, all of which are marked by assessors (markers). Student and marker performances are then subject to end-of-session board of examiner handling and analysis. This occurs annually and is the basis for evaluating students but also the wider learning and teaching efficiency of an academic institution.…

A Vygotskian approach to assessment is proposed by invoking the distinction between the development of lower and higher psychological functions. Higher psychological functions are specifically human and develop with the use of cultural tools via mediation. Accordingly, a distinction is made between tests that are based on association, which have…

Language teaching activism is a political movement for educational transformation where the role of teachers and languages, as a medium of instruction and literacy, are fundamental for equity and social justice. This paper analyzes the reflections from elementary school teachers from Austin (Texas, U.S.) and Oaxaca (Mexico) during a collaborative…

In recent years, the Indonesian government has put greater emphasis on promoting critical thinking in the education system, including the notion of critical thinking in national examinations, curriculum, and graduate outcomes for school education. Nevertheless, as in many testing-oriented countries, fostering critical thinking in the Indonesian…

As some argue that the system of enacting classroom-level student activist work around literacy assessment isn't worthwhile, this article considers that system and the status quo, largely defined by the standardized testing enterprise. The focus is on the value of everyday, classroom-level advocacy work around assessment--also known as…

Historically, colleges have used standardized testing to determine whether a student is ready for college-level work or requires developmental courses first, but this method has been criticized as inaccurate. To obtain more accurate placements, nearly three-quarters of colleges now use multiple measures assessment (MMA) systems. These systems…

K-12 schools continue to insist on the use of Standardized Assessment Measures (SAMs) as the gold standard method for evaluating learning outcomes. And SAMs obviously lack the capacity to equip the futuristic learners with the necessary skills to thrive during these on-going time-space disruption by COVID, climate change, and social inequities…

This paper furthers the understanding of literacy being developed through this Special Issue by bringing a pluralistic, complex account of literacy into conversation with assessment. The rise of neoliberalism in education--and its related focus on standards, accountability, and efficiency--has seen literacy positioned as the "core…

High quality student outcome measures provide the foundation for effective learning assessment. These outcomes can be organized into different categories, such as skills or habits of mind, and evidence types, such as direct or indirect. Prevailing models of assessment, however, focus only on the distinction between direct and indirect evidence…