The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is an integral measure of academic progress across the nation and over time. It is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what our nation's students know and can do in various subjects, such as civics, mathematics, reading, and U.S. history. The program also…

This article provides teachers with a toolkit for assessing students in the context of data-based individualization (DBI) in mathematics. Assessing students is a critical component of DBI because it provides teachers with information about what they may need to modify in their instructional programs. In this article, we provide teachers with…

At the end of 2021, the spread of the COVID-19 virus Delta variant and the start of the new school year combined to present many educators and administrators with the hardest year yet in the pandemic, in terms of both delivering instruction and assessing student learning. Students entered the school year with increased anxiety, and assessment was…

Despite decades of tenacious advocacy and improvement efforts to expand and enshrine rights for students with disabilities, many students with individualized education programs (IEPs) still lack access to high-quality, effective learning opportunities. This can be due to a range of factors, including low expectations, exclusion from general…

This study focuses on the culturally responsive leadership practices of a South Texas school principal. Texas ranks second out of 10 states with the highest emergent bilingual enrollment. Culturally responsive leadership integrates a dynamic view of the socio-political and cultural contexts in a school setting. As the student population becomes…

While the field advocates for a diversified and comprehensive professional role (National Association of School Psychologists, 2020), school psychologists have long spent most of their time in assessment-related activities (Farmer et al., 2021), averaging about eight cognitive evaluations monthly (Benson et al., 2020). Assessment practices have…

In Part 1 of this series, the authors briefly reviewed some challenges inherent in using standardized tools with students who are not well represented in norming data. To help readers clearly conceptualize the framework steps, the authors present two case studies that showcase how a nonstandardized approach to assessment can be individualized to…

Education can be transformed if we eradicate our fixation on big data like standardized test scores as the supreme measure of equity and learning. Instead of the focus being on "fixing" and "filling" academic gaps, we must envision and rebuild the system from the "student" up--with classrooms, schools and systems…

Statewide technical assistance providers support many school teams through training, consultation, and coaching to improve systems and outcomes for mathematics for every student. They have the opportunity to work with many school psychologists, who often indicate they are more comfortable engaging in systems-level work for literacy, behavior, and…

The process of analyzing student data to determine an appropriate instructional decision is crucial for student academic growth. This article details how teachers can make data-driven decisions to carefully design writing instruction. Steps are presented for teachers to follow throughout the data driven decision-making process in order to meet…

One of the most exciting products generated and refined through the Early Learning Network studies is a web-based classroom assessment tool known as OLOS -- the Optimizing Learning Opportunities for Students Observation System. The OLOS tool focuses on improving student outcomes by providing teachers with real-time data to support individualized…

Large-scale learning assessments can be used to generate performance and contextual data on student learning outcomes. They can be national, regional, or international; school based or household based. The UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) has conducted a qualitative study to explore both how and why learning…

This series of rapid briefs is being developed by the Wisconsin-Minnesota Comprehensive Center - Region 10 (WMCC10). The purpose of these briefs is to provide succinct and timely guidance on best practices for schools and school-based early learning programs regarding the assessment of student learning, with the goal of informing instructional…

Entering into a new decade with an even more diversified college student population will not only require more assessment models involving students but also deeper professional development of institutional representatives key to student learning. Reflecting upon the conversations over the last three years around culturally responsive assessment…

This Assessment News article introduces readers to a statistical approach to making sense of student assessment data in order to help teachers understand whether or not changes in practice have made a difference to learning. It Worked! is the brainchild of Darcy Fawcett, HoD Science at Gisborne Boys' High School, and Across-School Teacher for the…