Methodological review demonstrates assessment selection frameworks for educators, highlighting improved alignment of test types with screening, diagnostic, and progress-monitoring decisions.
Many educators are frustrated by assessment practices because the data they collect often do not match the question they are trying to answer. The evidenced-based solution is to select assessments with appropriate technical adequacy and efficiency based on the decision being made. The current paper defines various types of assessment (i.e. formal and informal, direct and indirect, norm-referenced and criterion-referenced), describes approaches to estimating reliability of the data and validity of the decisions, and provides guidelines for selecting measures for screening, diagnostic, and progress-monitoring decisions. Understanding educational decisions and the types of data that can be used to inform each could help teachers and other professionals better consume data, link data to instruction, and consult with others about how to best accomplish each assessment purpose.
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Burns et al. (2026) studied this question.
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