Instructionally Embedded Assessment: Theory of Action for an Innovative System

Amy K Clark,Meagan Karvonen

doi:10.3389/feduc.2021.724938

Abstract

Policy shifts in the United States are beginning to reduce the emphasis on using statewide assessment results primarily for accountability and teacher evaluation. Increasingly, there are calls for and interest in innovative and flexible assessments that shift the purposes of assessment and use of results toward instructional planning and student learning. Under the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority, some states are exploring options for replacing traditional large-scale summative assessments with innovative measures. However, many of these programs are still in early phases of planning and research and have not yet fully articulated how the innovative system achieves desired outcomes. This conceptual paper presents an argument in the form of a theory of action for a flexible and innovative assessment system already in operational use. The system replaces traditional summative assessments with large-scale through-year Instructionally Embedded assessments. We describe the components of the theory of action, detailing the theoretical model and supporting literature that illustrate how system design, delivery, and scoring contribute to the intended outcomes of teachers using assessment results to inform instruction and having higher expectations for student achievement, in addition to accountability uses. We share considerations for others developing innovative assessment systems to meet stakeholders’ needs.

Highlights

Reviewed by: Carla Evans, National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, United States Divya Varier, George Mason University, United States
Policy shifts in the United States are beginning to reduce the emphasis on using statewide assessment results primarily for accountability and teacher evaluation
We describe the components of the theory of action, detailing the theoretical model and supporting literature that illustrate how system design, delivery, and scoring contribute to the intended outcomes of teachers using assessment results to inform instruction and having higher expectations for student achievement, in addition to accountability uses

Summary

Introduction

Reviewed by: Carla Evans, National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, United States Divya Varier, George Mason University, United States. Beginning with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (2002) and later Race to the Top (2010), federal education policy emphasized using results from large-scale assessments in state accountability models and for teacher evaluation These assessments were designed to differentiate student achievement between performance levels or around the cut point(s) and did not provide teachers with actionable information for instructional decision-making. Comprehensive and balanced assessment systems—in which a variety of assessments administered throughout the year provide stakeholders with multiple sources of evidence for decisionmaking—emerged at the state and local levels to provide teachers with data throughout the year These systems often include administration of formative and interim measures, in addition to summative assessments (Gong, 2010; Marion et al, 2019). Stakeholders emphasize the criticality of cohesion across the suite of assessments (Marion et al, 2019) and the complexity of teachers using data from multiple measures (Mandinach and Gummer, 2013; Farrell and Marsh, 2016)

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