Rethinking Student Assessment

AS WE NAVIGATE the effects of the public health crisis, education leaders must continue to learn from each other. With that in mind, the AASA leadership team last November launched Leader to Leader, a series of monthly, one-hour Zoom sessions focused on ad-dressing the unique needs of education leaders during the pandemic.

Some of the nation’s most thoughtful leaders have contributed their insight and experiences, sharing ideas and best practices about topics such as equity and inclusion, the financial impact of COVID-19 and trauma-skilled learning and leading.

A session in February focused on the bold steps leaders can take to rethink student performance, to focus explicitly on the assets students bring to the table, to reimagine a systematic approach to measuring what matters most to communities and to reflect on what we have learned about student performance during the pandemic. We have brilliantly responded in ways none thought possible.

Now we must take bold steps to use lessons we have learned during the past year to make lasting changes in the way we educate and assess our nation’s youth — to free ourselves from the remnants of No Child Left Behind and its overreliance on testing and recognize those achievements communities hold to be of equal or more value than a standardized test score.

In 2015, assessment focused on meaningful learning that supported and promoted student achievement and met system accountability needs. Fast forward to 2021, and we find ourselves in a world where stakeholders should insist on measures that include a subset of the standards, including a change from multiple measures to a deeper insight into student mastery of complex and cognitively demanding standards.

In the post-pandemic, will we now find ourselves left with unanswered questions about best moving forward or will we take the lessons learned and apply them in the most meaningful and sustaining ways?

This change, coupled with what we have learned during the pandemic, calls for leaders to evaluate and rethink student performance. As leaders, we must ensure that the value of educators, highlighted during the pandemic, is not forgotten but instead is recognized as a vital and meaningful part of the students’ pathway toward a successful future.

What matters most regarding student performance? Daily access to healthy food, reliable home broadband, an adult advocate built into the school design and each student’s individual learning path to graduation, are a few things emphasized in successful districts.

Now is the time to think about how to best measure student performance on indicators of success. While students are becoming producers rather than just consumers of information and active participants in their own learning rather than passive receivers, we can take bold steps in shifting away from assessment systems that discourage opportunities for all students to show their true potential.

By creating and fostering responsive connections, we can be certain students are not lost in our systems. Ensuring high-quality remote learning through real-time instruction can and should be measured differently from how a student randomly performs on a test one day. What a tremendous opportunity we have if we just take the time to focus on the gift students bring to school each and every day.

During the past year, it has been a pleasure to participate in the Leader to Leader series. All sessions are recorded and can be found online. Join us in June for the next session to discuss ways you can ensure social and emotional well-being for yourself, your staff and your students.