Let’s Take Stock of High-Stakes Testing
At RILS 2024 We’ll Tackle Tough, Timely Questions
It’s no secret why many people have strong opinions about educational assessment. Results from many assessments, especially large-scale standardized tests, are used for consequential decisions affecting students and schools.
At the student level, for example, test results may be used as a criterion for grade promotion, diploma eligibility, or college admissions. For schools, test scores prominently influence school accountability ratings. This isn’t new. There is a long history of using results from large-scale assessments in consequential decisions.
An Unsettled Question
What do we know about the effectiveness of using test scores for consequential decisions?
Proponents may point to the importance of attaching stakes to tests as a mechanism to motivate performance, drive school improvement, and provide a variety of constituents (e.g., parents and communities) with transparent information to inform advocacy.
Critics, however, express concern that results from a single test are not sufficiently trustworthy to support consequential decisions. Other potential downsides could include narrowing the curriculum, reducing instructional time, and causing stress for students and teachers.
A debate has been roiling for decades over the question of whether using educational assessments for consequential decisions is on balance helpful or harmful. That debate remains unsettled. At the Center for Assessment, we don’t shy away from tough questions. We propose to lean fully into this issue at our annual conference the Reidy Interactive Learning Series (RILS)—in September. To be clear, we don’t assume we can settle the debate. But we do think we can learn more about consequential uses and identify strategies to mitigate unintended negative consequences.
Examining Consequential Uses
Before we can earnestly discuss the merits or drawbacks of consequential uses, we need to be clear on what we mean by consequences. We take the position that consequential uses of assessment refer to situations in which particular assessment instruments or assessment practices have significant or long-lasting effects on individuals or systems.
Effects can be experienced directly—through immediate impacts of the assessment information use—or indirectly, through longer-term or trickle-down effects within their systems of use. A direct consequence might involve prohibiting a 3rd grade student from being promoted to the 4th grade if they failed to perform at a prescribed level on a state test.
An indirect consequence may be that high-stakes testing detracts from professional fulfillment and causes more educators to leave the field. Indirect consequences could also be associated with opportunity costs, such as using time and resources for test prep instead of enriching instructional practices.
Moreover, we acknowledge that context is paramount in understanding consequences. What may work in one instance may be ineffective or even harmful in another. To fully understand direct and indirect consequences, we must consider how proposed uses interact with factors such as the experiences of students, the characteristics of the assessment, and the resources available to schools and communities.
RILS 2024
If we’ve convinced you that examining the consequential use of assessment is a significant question with broad implications, we hope you’ll join us at RILS this year. Our goal for the conference will be to share the best ideas to help ensure policies and practices associated with consequential assessment use are more likely to promote positive outcomes and reduce unintended negative effects. Here are some of the sessions we have planned:
- An overview of the prominent practices, findings, and frameworks associated with consequential uses of assessments
- A friendly debate between teams who will share the arguments for and against using standardized assessment for selected consequential decisions
- An exploration of vignettes to probe more deeply into the consequences associated with certain measures (e.g., 21st century skills), applications (e.g., artificial intelligence), or practices (e.g., classroom grading)
- An examination of strategies to learn from constituents and communities who are affected by consequences
- A review of the policy levers that influence consequences
- A strategy session to help put the ideas into action and to monitor impact
We have designed the conference to be highly interactive, with plenty of time for participants to share insights and experiences and discuss relevant problems of practices. We hope to see you there.
RILS will be held in beautiful Portsmouth, New Hampshire on September 26-27. Click here to learn more about the conference and to register.