Are Your Assessments Actually Measuring What Matters?

This isn't just about assessment design. It's about measuring what matters — and doing it in ways that are credible, useful, and actually help students grow.

 

Here’s a question worth sitting with: If you asked your team right now what evidence would prove students have actually learned something, would everyone give the same answer?

Or would you get a mix of responses — some focused on the test, others on participation, a few on the project at the end of the unit?

The truth is, most curriculum conversations focus heavily on what we’ll teach and how we’ll teach it. But we often rush past the more critical question: How will we know if they learned it?

This isn’t just about assessment design. It’s about measuring what matters — and doing it in ways that are credible, useful, and actually help students grow.

 

 

Start with the End in Mind

The best curriculum isn’t built around what you’ll cover. It’s built around what students will be able to do as a result of the learning.

This is the heart of backward design:

1. Desired Results — What do we want students to know and be able to do?
2. Evidence — How will we know when they’ve learned it?
3. Learning Plan — What experiences will help them get there?

Most of us were trained to start with Step 3. We plan the activities, the lessons, the resources. Then we figure out the assessment later — often right before the unit ends.

But when you flip that script and design the assessment before you plan the instruction, everything sharpens. You get crystal clear on what matters. You stop teaching around the edges and start teaching toward the target.

 

Not All Assessments Are Created Equal

If you’ve ever felt like your assessments aren’t giving you the information you actually need, you’re not alone. Many assessments ask students to demonstrate knowledge in ways that don’t mirror how that knowledge will ever be used.

Think about it this way: if you’re learning to play soccer, you don’t just run drills forever. You scrimmage. And eventually, you play the game.

The same principle applies to learning in the classroom. Strong assessment design includes three types of evidence:

Drill and Practice — This efficiently measures foundational knowledge and skills. Can students decode words? Do they know their multiplication facts? Can they identify the parts of a cell? These assessments are designed to be evaluated as “yes” or “not yet.” They’re quick, clear, and useful for identifying gaps.

Rehearsal and Scrimmage — These are scaffolded opportunities for students to test out their thinking in a simulated context. Document-based questions, application problems, dress rehearsals for a presentation, drafts of written work — these give students a chance to practice in a safer space before the “real” performance.

Authentic Performance — This is the game. Students apply their learning independently in a genuine context. They create something for a real audience. They solve an actual problem. They perform for people beyond the teacher. This is where learning becomes visible in its truest form.

When your assessment plan includes all three types, you get a much fuller picture of what students know and can do. And students get a much richer learning experience.

 

Design Assessments That Inspire Learners and Learning

Good assessments should be:

• Grounded in real-world applications — supplemented as needed by more traditional school tasks, but never disconnected from authentic use
• Useful feedback to the learner — students should be able to see where they are and where they’re going
• A reliable measurement of desired results — they should align tightly to what you said mattered in Stage 1 of your design

 

Try This in Your Setting:

1. Audit one upcoming assessment. Look at it through the lens of backward design. Does it measure what you actually want students to know and be able to do? Or is it measuring something adjacent — like recall when you want application?
2. Map your assessments to the three types. For an upcoming unit, identify where students will drill and practice, where they’ll rehearse or scrimmage, and where they’ll demonstrate authentic performance. If one type is missing, consider adding it.
3. Make formative assessment routine, not reactive. Build in regular checkpoints — not just before the big test. Use simple strategies like exit tickets, think-pair-shares, or quick writes to gather real-time data on student understanding.
4. Co-design success criteria with students. Before the summative assessment, involve students in defining what quality work looks like. When they understand the target, they’re far more likely to hit it.