How does a test taker’s response, indicated through a selection or entry in a digital assessment, get evaluated and scored by a machine? It's easy to understand that computer code can be programmed to score a multiple-choice item. If the correct answer is selected by the test taker, that selection is compared to the correct answer in the scoring program and if it matches, it is then recorded as correct. But what happens with more sophisticated technology-enhanced items or items that require written responses like essays?

Writing your own items is one way to gather evidence from students about their knowledge and skills. This evidence can support inferences you make about student learning to help with decisions about the next unit of instruction, placement in learning groups, needs for remediation, and other classroom choices. For writing TEIs, there are some special considerations. Here are five tips to writing your own TEIs.

Back to school 2020 will be like no other in history. As districts, schools, and families begin to work through educational plans for the new academic year, educators must address student learning loss during the extended spring school closure—known as the COVID slide. School reopening plans will vary, depending on many safety, social, and economic factors. However, one thing will be certain: teachers must have valid ways to reliably assess where students are in their progression of learning.

The circumstances in which we find ourselves as educators at this moment call for flexible and reflective thinking about the goals toward which we might aim and the goals that we might set for our students. I believe we will need to adjust our goals, and likely readjust them again at a later time. Ultimately, this means we will need to be flexible with expectations.

RTI/MTSS is complex, consisting of multiple components and moving parts. Among the components, Tier 3 is one of the most challenging to implement. There is little research specific to Tier 3 intervention in early childhood settings and there are many more questions than answers.

Comprehending written text is an essential life skill. Because of its importance, school personnel need to understand which reading skills are critical to the development of reading comprehension.