Back to Resource Center

Assessing assessments

Many students, parents, teachers, and school leaders feel like they’re drowning in assessments. With recent news of the testing cap from the Department of Education and the overhaul of NCLB, there’s been a lot of talk around addressing over-testing. As leaders reevaluate their assessments, we believe their approach should be grounded in the mindset: As few as possible. As formative as possible.

As few as possible. As formative as possible.

What are formative and summative assessments?

Summative assessments have a place in the school year,” says ANet’s Vice President of Assessment Alyse Pecoraro, “but teachers and leaders need high quality, formative assessments that accurately reflect the knowledge and skills that students need for success—not only in their current classrooms, but ultimately in college and careers.”

“A great assessment is aligned to what a student is learning and provides timely, actionable feedback to students, parents, teachers, and leaders.”

Our colleagues at Education First (Ed First) have assembled a toolkit to help systems update and streamline their assessment strategy. ANet worked with Ed First to create a Teacher Engagement Toolkit to help leaders include teachers in the process of making decisions around assessment strategy. That way, teachers deepen their understanding of the purpose, quality, and best use of assessments and ensure that the tests their students take truly impact teaching and learning in their classroom.

Achievement Network-10 small.png

Want more detailed guidance on assessment strategy?

Read our new white paper, Teaching Comes First: How School District Leaders Can Support Teachers, Save Time, and Serve Students with a New Vision for Assessments.

Get k12 Education Resources

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter to join our community and receive monthly selections of actionable resources, stories of best practices from across our national network of partner schools, districts and CMOs, and invitations to exclusive events. We're glad to be learning together alongside you.