New Guidance: 3 principles for assessments during instructional recovery and beyond
Kate Shanahan
ANet’s guidance provides concrete, actionable advice for schools and districts on how to approach the use of assessments and data to address amplified learning loss.
The COVID-19 pandemic has left students across the country vulnerable to amplified learning loss. How are you identifying and responding to learning loss right now? How do you plan to address it this fall? And what is the role of assessment—of any kind—during periods of virtual learning and instructional recovery?
“The right approach to assessments can be key in identifying and responding to learning loss. But what should assessments look like right now?”
Rather than aiming for a quick fix that returns students to a status quo that already had too many students inadequately engaged in learning, we have an opportunity to try to create more equitable systems that address the underlying issues of marginalization. Now is the time to step back and think about the questions you need to answer in order to drive student success and educational equity in your district. What data do you need to answer those questions?
The right approach to assessments can be key in identifying and responding to learning loss. But what should assessments look like right now?
In a new report, we outline three guiding principles for assessments during instructional recovery—and beyond:
Establish a tiered approach to collecting data by identifying the data you need for all, some, and a few of your students.
Prioritize data close to instruction.
Use data to increase student and family engagement.
The guidance provides descriptions and rationales for each principle, as well as reflection questions and recommended action steps for leaders. We’ve also compiled resources to support you in applying these principles to your assessment strategy.
We have grounded our recommendations in nearly 15 years of experience working directly with schools and districts on assessment strategy. But, these guidelines were built to help you meet today’s challenges. They also reflect the challenges we are seeing and the work we are doing alongside nearly 1000 schools in 100 systems in our nationwide network.
Access the full white paper here.
Need a partner in this work?
Learn more about our support to systems here, or reach out to Dr. Kia Young Tate, our VP of Partnership Development, directly.