A consensus on diagnostic testing

By Dale Chu The Collaborative for Student Success recently released the results from a national survey of over 5,500 education professionals, which gauged their perspectives on what schools must do this fall to help students “catch up” from the unprecedented disruption in learning engendered by school closures due to the coronavirus. Notably, the poll showed […]
Why not a race to the top for diagnostic testing?

By Dale Chu With spring testing canceled, the need for some form of high-quality diagnostic testing this fall seems to be gaining steam. For the moment, states and districts are still largely focused on basic needs and technology, but I expect the conversation around diagnostics to pick up as we near the end of the […]
New science assessments in Massachusetts

By Dale Chu Just because spring testing is on hold doesn’t mean innovation in assessment has come to a halt. Last week, Massachusetts got the green light from the U.S. Department of Education to develop new science assessments for grades 5 and 8 under ESSA as part of the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority or IADA […]
The testing terminator

By Dale Chu All 50 states including the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Bureau of Indian Education have sought or received an initial waiver from the U.S. Department of Education to suspend spring testing. Given the extensive disruption in learning, pressing the pause button now makes sense. It’s hard to overstate the implications […]