Charting the Future of Assessments. Full Report

Abstract

Assessment refers to a broad array of approaches for measuring or evaluating a person's (or group of persons') skills, behaviors, dispositions, or other attributes. Assessments range from standardized tests used in admissions, employee selection, licensure examinations, and domestic and international largescale assessments of cognitive and behavioral skills to formative K-12 classroom curricular assessments. The various types of assessments are used for a wide variety of purposes, but they also have many common elements, such as standards for their reliability, validity, and fairness--even classroom assessments have standards (Klinger et al., 2015). The authors believe the future of assessments will involve a shift in emphasis on what skills will be measured, innovations in how one goes about measuring them, the use of advanced technologies for test operations, and an expansion in the value and kinds of information that test-takers will receive from taking the assessment. In this paper, the authors argue and provide evidence for the belief that the future of assessment contains challenges but is promising. The challenges include risks associated with security and exposure of personal data, test score bias, and inappropriate test uses, all of which may be exacerbated by the growing infiltration of artificial intelligence (AI) into people's lives. The promise is increasing opportunities for testing to help individuals achieve their education and career goals and contribute to well-being and overall quality of life. To help achieve this promise the authors focus on the evidence-based science of measurement in education and workplace learning, a theme throughout this paper. The first section of the paper reviews evidence for the value of assessment and discusses how the role of assessment may expand as skills become the new currency. The many purposes of assessment are discussed, from high-stakes examinations and selection tests to low-stakes formative assessments. The emerging challenges to testing and assessment, related to perceptions about their value, their focus, validity, fairness and equity concerns, are reviewed. The authors conclude the first section with a discussion of the prospects for the future of assessments, including the capacity of assessment to provide useful information to test-takers, the importance of identifying key skills and advancing methods for assessing hard-to-measure skills, and the importance of providing opportunities with personalized feedback. The remaining sections of the paper address those themes. The intended audience for this report is broad-ranging from the international scientific community in areas engaged in assessment, particularly education and workforce, to policy-makers and funders in those areas. The authors try to strike a balance between technical detail and accessibility to the broad audience.