Facing Challenges of a New Era of Educational Assessment

Educational assessment is undergoing rapid change in American schools. The changes are easy to see. But the underlying causes are not so easy to detect. As a result, we have yet to realize the depth of the change taking place and its importance for the future of our educational system. In fact, over the past 2 years, we have seen the end of a six-decade assessment era and the beginning of a whole new era, in my opinion. In this article, I describe the old era in terms of its origins, characteristics, and the reasons for its demise. Then, I turn to the new era, discussing how it will be different and detailing four critical challenges to be met by the assessment community if we are to make a smooth transition between apparently conflicting eras.