Understanding Diagnostic Assessments As the school year progresses, parents often hear a lot of educational jargon. One phrase that frequently comes up is diagnostic assessment. But what exactly does this mean? How does it differ from a mid-year assessment, and why are they both important for your child’s academic journey? This guide will
What Is Equity in Education? In education, the term "equity" is often misunderstood, many confusing it with the concept of equality. While both concepts relate to fairness, they are fundamentally different in how they approach supporting students. So, what is equity in education, and why is it essential for ensuring that all students
Why Districts Fail to Track Individual Technology Program Results—and How They Can Start Federal Programs departments, the custodians of Title I funding, play a crucial role in determining the allocation of resources to improve math and reading proficiency in K-12 schools. Yet, a glaring gap exists: most districts fail to consistently track the
Humanize Data to Help Your Students Grow In today's educational landscape, data is king. Schools collect vast amounts of information about student performance, but all too often, this data remains locked in spreadsheets or is used solely for administrative purposes. The challenge is to humanize data—transforming raw numbers into meaningful insights that can
Systemic Math Struggles in Urban Schools Urban schools across the United States are facing a hidden crisis—one that impacts the futures of countless students: systemic struggles in math performance. By the time students reach middle school, what may appear as low proficiency in math is, in fact, a much deeper issue. These students
Diagnostic Assessments for Students Diagnostic Assessments for Students: A Complete Evaluation Guide for Educators and Parents Diagnostic assessments are tools that gauge a student's academic skill set. These evaluations pinpoint a student’s strengths or areas where more practice is needed, offering an in-depth understanding of learning needs. Far from the typical classroom
How Misunderstanding Diagnostic Assessments Leads to Poor Data Use and Lower Student Outcomes In today’s educational landscape, precision in diagnosing student needs is paramount. As an educational test developer dedicated to providing highly diagnostic assessments in math and reading, I am acutely aware of the discrepancies in the market regarding what constitutes a
Summer Learning Loss In a study of 18 million first to sixth-graders, researchers looked at test scores over the course of five summers. The study, published in the American Educational Research Journal, showed that kids can lose up to 40% of a school year's learning over summer break–and the effect was cumulative if
Comprehending Standards-Based Testing: Exploring Constraints, and Examining its Influence on Equity Traditional standards-based testing has long been the primary method for assessing K-12 students in the classroom. State standards provide a framework for teachers to instruct and students to learn. Administrators use temporary assessments, often provided by the states or other benchmark tests,
The Hierarchy of Instruction in Math with Let's Go Learn Math competency and 21st-century employment are inextricably linked. However, no matter how you slice it, U.S. student scores on NAEP mathematics assessments demonstrate that year-to-year student achievement is faltering. Further, multiple subgroups are impacted by dismal performance. A recent movement using the umbrella
