September 2026
Before renewing an assessment, look at the last round of results. What did your team do with them? What changed for students? Ask whether teachers had time to study student work and the curriculum and coaching support to decide what to teach next.
This issue brings together guides and case studies to help your team answer those questions. Start with Rethinking the Test Pile: Every Test Needs a Purpose and a Plan for Action. Drawing on Education First’s research and accounts of Achievement Network’s work in schools, it helps teams examine what each assessment is for, how results connect with curriculum, and what teachers need to act on them.
For early learning, Measures of Early Success compares emerging approaches to understanding children’s skills and classroom interactions. The guide to Belonging, Well-being, and Mental Health helps teams choose a measure and plan how to interpret students’ responses and provide support.
Before Adoption helps teams review safety, privacy, and security in technology-enhanced assessment, including AI. High School Should Open Doors asks how assessments and extended transcripts can show what students have learned, and what graduates’ next steps can tell districts about advising and access to opportunities.
Two case studies look at what it takes to turn evidence into action. From Evidence to Instructional Practice follows Achievement Network’s work in Madison, Carlsbad, and Honey Dew as educators interpret student responses and decide what to teach next. The Public Life of a State Test examines New Meridian and Montana’s MAST through-year assessment: whether scores support their intended uses, reports help educators, and the benefits justify the demands on schools.
Choose one resource for a conversation your team is already having. Who will use the evidence? What support will they need? Set a time to return to the question that started the conversation: did the response help students?
What decision is your team working through? We’d like to hear which resources would help.
Best,
Dr. Eric Tucker and the Study Group