What Parents Want from Student Assessments
It is quite clear that student assessments are quickly becoming the driving force in public education. In state after state, we are now using student assessment to drive funding, teacher evaluation, and institutional direction. While many may squabble on what types of assessments to take and how to apply them, there is no denying that student assessment is now ruling the day.
So what is that parents (and teachers) actually want from the learning assessments administered in our classrooms? That is the question that the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) and Grunwald Associates asked earlier this month, and some of the responses were surprising. All told, Grunwald Associates surveyed more than 1,000 K-12 teachers, more than 1,000 K-12 parents, and 200 district administrators. The findings included:
* 90 percent of parents said monitoring their kids' progress in school, knowing when to be concerned about progress, and determining preparedness for the next stage of learning was "extremely" or "very" important;