Research Wednesday | November 19, 2025
Challenging Misunderstandings About Student Assessment
It is no news that assessment, when properly done, can be a powerful tool to improve student learning and help teachers refine lessons and provide targeted feedback to students. The challenge for teachers, school leaders, and policy makers is that people, including experts in the field, can look at the same research and come to startlingly different conclusions about what the research means for the daily practice of teaching and leadership. More than two decades after No Child Left Behind, the legislation that made testing and accountability pervasive in all fifty states, there remain many misunderstandings about the proper use of assessment in schools.
Five Key Misunderstandings About Assessment
Misunderstanding #1:
Longer tests yield better information. Virginia was one of the first states to adopt academic content standards and implement statewide tests, several years before No Child Left Behind was passed. But in a September 29, 2025, article (https://virginiamercury.com/2025/09/29/education-department-pushes-back-on-claims-of-stalled-assessment-plan/) by Nathaniel Cline, it is clear that a vast gulf remains between different visions of effective assessment. While teachers have long complained that too much class time is devoted to administering tests and preparing students for them, there is a legislative mandate to create a new state test that meets the rigorous standards the state has adopted.
Misconception #2:
Rigor is defined based on an analysis of how few students pass the test. At the same time, fifty states claim to have “standards-based” assessment, meaning that student success was based on them meeting the standards. If teaching is successful, then the results of standards-based tests should improve every year. In response to political demands for greater rigor, many states increased the cut scores on state exams so that a student who was deemed “proficient” last year will, with the same test performance, be deemed not proficient in future years. That is like saying that if an athletic team scores too many points, the answer is not to study that team and replicate their success, but to move the goal posts or raise the height of the basket so that the same team, with the same coach and the same talented players, will score fewer points. That is neither a fair nor accurate way to assess student learning.
Misconception #3:
A test that is not administered at the end of a marking period is “formative.” This represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what the term “formative” means. An assessment is only formative if it informs teaching and learning. Students and teachers can ask, “Based on the results of the formative assessment I administered on Tuesday, how will teaching and learning be better on Wednesday?” One of the gravest errors in student assessment is not to use the data immediately – the same day or the next day – to make appropriate adjustments in teaching and learning strategies
Misconception #4:
The test must address every academic standard. This is a prescription for vast amounts of wasted time and delays the time by which students and teachers will receive the results they need for improvement. I have long advocated for “Power Standards™️” – narrowing the focus to only those standards that provide leverage, that is, a single standard addresses student competence in other standards and endurance, which are standards that recur at advancing levels every year.
Misconception #5:
The purpose of assessment is evaluation, which is then reflected in student grades. I dissent. The purpose of assessment and grading is to provide feedback to students and teachers, enabling them to improve their performance day by day and week by week. Once students and teachers understand that the initial assessment is the first round of feedback and not the final judgment, students will be more likely to respect and apply teacher feedback, knowing that every student is expected to use it to improve their performance. In practice, this means that teachers should never give “one-shot assessments, but always have a clear expectation that students show respect for teacher feedback by resubmitting work. Moreover, grades must reflect student achievement at the end of the marking period – never the average of performance throughout the semester.
Assessment and other forms of feedback are some of the most powerful teaching practices. Yet, much of the work that goes into creating and marking assessments is wasted because neither students nor teachers use assessment results to improve their performance. We have observed teachers who, after administering “micro-assessments” – very short, 5-7 question assessments on the learning objectives from that week - can provide feedback immediately, ideally in the same class period. Students can leave every class knowing that they are better than when they walked in. That’s real learning.
News from Creative Leadership Solutions
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CLS Newsletter November offers us the opportunity to embrace gratitude. We pause to reflect on the people, partnerships, and moments that have shaped our work. Gratitude is more than a feeling; it is a practice that strengthens our schools, our teams, and our leadership. CLICK HERE
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Fearless Instruction Our latest book, Fearless Instruction, has been released! It features a dynamic collection of voices united by a common purpose: to carry forward and evolve the foundational work of the 90/90/90 schools. Grounded in research and rich with practical strategies, this book is for educators ready to lead with clarity, collaborate with purpose, and teach with courage. Fearless Instruction can be purchased from Amazon by CLICKING HERE.