Charting the Future of Assessments

Assessment refers to a broad array of approaches for measuring or evaluating a person's (or group of persons') skills, behaviors, dispositions, or other attributes. Assessments range from standardized tests used in admissions, employee selection, licensure examinations, and domestic and international large‐scale assessments of cognitive and behavioral skills to formative K–12 classroom curricular assessments. The various types of assessments are used for a wide variety of purposes, but they also have many common elements, such as standards for their reliability, validity, and fairness—even classroom assessments have standards. We believe the future of assessment will involve a shift in emphasis on what skills will be measured, innovations in how we go about measuring them, the use of advanced technologies for test operations, and an expansion in the value and kinds of information that test takers will receive from taking the assessment. In this paper, we argue and provide evidence for our belief that the future of assessment contains challenges but is promising. The challenges include risks associated with security and exposure of personal data, test score bias, and inappropriate test uses, all of which may be exacerbated by the growing infiltration of artificial intelligence (AI) into our lives. The promise is increasing opportunities for testing to help individuals achieve their education and career goals and contribute to well‐being and overall quality of life. To help achieve this promise we focus on the evidence‐based science of measurement in education and workplace learning, a theme throughout this paper.