Key factors:
The vast majority of educators consider their faculty or district has an assessment-focused tradition, however there are gaps in K-12 evaluation literacy and familiarity with state requirements, based on the 2023 State of Evaluation in K-12 Schooling report from Instructure and Hanover Analysis.
With post-pandemic studying loss a continued focus, educators and directors are counting on each formative and summative K-12 evaluation knowledge to direct classroom instruction. Nevertheless, they’re involved about K-12 evaluation literacy; the worth positioned on assessments; high quality and reliability; figuring out the precise know-how to ship knowledge; and successfully balancing evaluation with instruction.
Whereas 81 p.c of educators consider they’ve an assessment-focused tradition, there are discrepancies in evaluation literacy, a scarcity of consolation with state requirements, and the burdensome nature of the present evaluation mannequin. Solely 62 p.c of educators really feel proficient in evaluation literacy and 51 p.c have considerations over the adverse affect of assessments on tutorial time. This emphasizes the necessity for related skilled improvement alternatives, using embedded (or in-course) assessments, and systemic enhancements that create an impactful and supportive evaluation surroundings for each educators and college students.
The findings counsel 5 frequent traits and finest practices to drive extra balanced evaluation in K-12 colleges:
1. Evaluation literacy must be prioritized. There’s a have to spend money on skilled improvement for academics to construct confidence in evaluation design and observe, in addition to learn how to successfully use the information to drive studying.
- 4 out of 5 educators understand their district or faculty tradition to be “assessment-focused,” but solely three out of 5 think about themselves “evaluation literate.”
- With lower than two-thirds of educators (64 p.c) feeling snug with their present state requirements, additional efforts are wanted to advertise standards-aligned evaluation.
Laura Ascione is the Editorial Director at eSchool Media. She is a graduate of the College of Maryland’s prestigious Philip Merrill Faculty of Journalism.
