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The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

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Testing and Assessment

Testing and Assessment

How to measure what students know is one of the most complex and controversial aspects of education. Our studies explore all aspects of measurement and assessment, techniques and technologies for assessment, test policy, and the use of tests in accountability systems. Our work also examines assessment in the workplace and its use in human resources planning. See also:

Office of Testing and Assessment

Download the booklet, Lessons Learned About Testing: Ten Years of Work at the National Research Council.

Reports

	Supporting Students' College SuccessThe Role of Assessment of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Competencies (BOTA) 2017 The importance of higher education has never been clearer. Educational attainment—the number of years a person spends in school—strongly predicts adult earnings, as well as health and civic... Read more

	Evaluation of the Achievement Levels for Mathematics and Reading on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (CNSTAT,BOTA) 2017 Since 1969, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) has been providing policymakers, educators, and the public with reports on academic performance and progress of the nation’s... Read more

	Measuring Human CapabilitiesAn Agenda for Basic Research on the Assessment of Individual and Group Performance Potential for Military Accession (BBCSS) 2015 Every year, the U.S. Army must select from an applicant pool in the hundreds of thousands to meet annual enlistment targets, currently numbering in the tens of thousands of new soldiers. A critical... Read more

	Education for Life and WorkDeveloping Transferable Knowledge and Skills in the 21st Century (BOTA) 2012 Americans have long recognized that investments in public education contribute to the common good, enhancing national prosperity and supporting stable families, neighborhoods, and communities.... Read more

	Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards (BOTA,BOSE) 2014 Assessments, understood as tools for tracking what and how well students have learned, play a critical role in the classroom. Developing Assessments for the Next Generation Science Standards develops... Read more

	Assessing 21st Century SkillsSummary of a Workshop (BOTA) 2011 The routine jobs of yesterday are being replaced by technology and/or shipped off-shore. In their place, job categories that require knowledge management, abstract reasoning, and personal services... Read more

	Incentives and Test-Based Accountability in Education (BOTA) 2011 In recent years there have been increasing efforts to use accountability systems based on large-scale tests of students as a mechanism for improving student achievement. The federal No Child Left... Read more

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	Reproducibility and Replicability in Science—This report recommends a range of steps that researchers, journals, academic institutions, and funders should take to improve reproducibility and replicability in scientific research. ►Read more
	*A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty*. This consensus study report from the Board on Children, Youth, and Families concludes that poverty causes negative outcomes for children, especially if it occurs in early childhood or persists through a large part of childhood. ► Read more
	*Communicating Science Effectively: A Research Agenda* points to cross-cutting themes for scientists and science communicators to consider in their work, as well as major challenges that should be studied to make science communication more effective. Read More