The road to better math scores begins with early numeracy
Conversations about assessment often begin with state test scores.
With great flexibility comes great responsibility
At first glance, Kirsten Baesler occupies an unlikely place in today’s education landscape. As the Trump administration works to return education to the states, the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education has emerged as one of its most forceful advocates for strong assessment and accountability systems.
Dynamic Assessment or Dynamic Branding?
A new white paper on assessment innovation, Modernizing Measurement, argues that advances in technology and artificial intelligence have made traditional statewide summative tests increasingly obsolete.
Vermont’s Persistent Delay in Test Reporting
By Dale Chu To date, 49 states and Washington D.C. have released their Spring 2025 summative test results. Only Vermont remains a holdout, with official statewide results now not expected until early 2026. That simple fact encapsulates a systemic problem that’s persisted for years: Vermont’s inability to provide timely, transparent academic performance data. To be […]
A tale of two states: How cut scores shape the story of student learning
Illinois and Virginia are sending two very different signals about what it means to be on track.
States are obscuring student math performance
By Dale Chu The Center on Reinventing Public Education’s new State of the American Student 2025 report delivers a sobering verdict: most states are failing to give parents and the public a clear view of how students are doing in math. At a time when the Nation’s Report Card shows persistent struggles—particularly among historically marginalized […]
Texas pushes school boards to act on early learning data
By Dale Chu Texas is taking a bold step to keep its youngest students from falling behind. As part of its new spending package, local superintendents must report K–3 reading and math assessment results to their school boards and make them available to parents. While these are brief “screeners” rather than high-stakes exams, the move is […]
The rare case of a testing cut worth applauding
By Dale Chu Testing can feel like a zero sum game: too many assessments eat into classroom time while cutting tests risks compromising accountability. (Look no further than the latest hullabaloo from Oklahoma to see how tricky the tradeoffs can be.) But in Tucson, a local teachers union recently helped one Arizona district navigate a […]
Could Oklahoma’s waiver end state testing as we know it?
If you only read last week’s press release, you might think Oklahoma had just liberated its students from a tyrannical testing regime. The headline blares: “END of Government Mandated End-of-Year Testing,” complete with vows to “return power back to the states” and give it to parents, plus multiple nods to the Trump administration.
From labels to lower bars: a three-state snapshot of testing policy
By Dale Chu From Missouri to Texas to Illinois, state leaders are debating the nuts and bolts of annual assessments. Whether it’s recalibrating score reports, lowering proficiency bars, or scrapping tests entirely, the constant is that state testing policy remains under pressure. Missouri adds a “grade-level” mark to test reports Missouri lawmakers recently passed legislation […]