Assessment- why it's pivotal for equity and student learning.

Assessments have gotten a bad reputation lately, and to me, that's unfortunate. Assessments were NEVER meant to be about teaching to the test and I hate it when people say that. Assessments were created to ensure we know how schools, teachers, and students are performing on a relative basis so we can celebrate success and deploy resources to those schools not meeting the relative bar. Assessments also were formed to ensure that ALL students around our state and country receive an equitable education. Prior to assessments, no one knew what students knew or could show they knew. Since assessments, we know there is an acheivement gap between different demographics. We know that since we've made closing that a gap focus, students from low-income backgrounds and students of color have performend increasingly better which equates to more at-risk students receiving a game-changing and academically rigorous education. Assessments did that. Teachers did that. Communities did that.

I also view assessments as ensuring students know where they stand in purusit of their academic progress. Without assessments, either summative or formative, students lack that basic understanding of how they're performing, the actions they've taken to perform at that level, and that ability to take agency over their own education. Understanding student academic performance is the moral comittment we enter into with parents when we agree to teach. We also receive a pay check to ensure that all students learn. Assessments and reflection allow us to do that.

However, with all good things, assessments have been used to do some awful things as well. Since math and reading are the focus of accountability, schools have increased time students spend in these subjects while reducing other subjects including science and the arts. This was NEVER the purpose of accountability or assessments. In fact, doing this is also an affront to equity. ALL students should have access to a well-rounded education infused with the arts, the sciences, and other subjects that aren't "accountable" in the current system. Also, this approach assumes that more time equates to better results. If a student is in a classroom with a teacher that is not reaching him/her, more time won't really matter. We must think more critically about the total approach to education and not just focus on accountability which should be linked to assessments but not be the end all, be all.