Lumos Podcast: Assessment Evolution in K-12 Education

Welcome to another exciting episode of the Lumos podcast where we break down the diverse assessment needs of KP school districts and how the requirement shape the selection of assessment solutions . I’m Callie Gilbert and I have a background in education as a high school English teacher and then progressed into educational leadership roles as an assistant principal at middle school campuses and a high school campus . So today we have two special guests who represent two sides of this story , the solution provider and the school administration . Boie Marx is a seasoned leader in educational publishing who has enjoyed leadership positions with multiple publishers across his successful career . He has been involved in ed tech , start up , turning around mid-level publishers and bringing thoughtful innovation to large core publishers . He has deep experience in print , blended and digital solutions while building success paths for core supplemental and interventional publishers . Welcome Bodi . Thank you , Kelly . Good to be here . And we also have Al Lewis who is an equity focused superintendent , committed to enhancing student achievement through data driven instruction and brings a wealth of expertise and educational leadership in his current role as superintendent principal at Weymouth Township School district . He has demonstrated excellence in overseeing district processes but management and cultivating strong stakeholder collaboration . His dynamic leadership extends to spearheading assessment initiatives including serving as a district test coordinator for NJSL A exams and OLSAT thereby reinforcing his dedication to enhancing educational outcomes through strategic assessment practices . Thank you al for being here . Thank you . Yeah , I’m excited to be here with you both . Wonderful . So I’m excited about our conversation today and for you all to just share from your experience and our listeners are excited to hear that as well . I just wanted to start off by speaking about strategic assessment planning . So assessment planning requires sound planning and forethought . If the ultimate goal is to have total buy in from all stakeholders and strong results planning is key to achieving that success . So how have you seen planning affect assessment culture ? Uh Well , I I can say that uh obviously I’ve worked in small districts like Weymouth , I’ve worked in really large districts like Gloucester Township , uh which is New Jersey’s largest K to eight district . Um Comprehensive assessment planning is critical to school success . Um You know , if you want to have high levels of academic achievement , you have to plan ahead and you have to give teachers a road map for not only the uh the uh standardized tests they’re that they’re gonna use , but also the curriculum assessments , chapter assessments , all of the , the many layers um of assessments that go into a fully functioning curricula and instructional program . Um You know , new teachers need to know what types of assessments they’re gonna use . Seasoned teachers need to know the sandbox with which they can innovate within . Uh But all of that takes forethought and planning and I know that that probably sounds a little basic . Uh but districts go through transitions , they go through different leaders , they go through different crises and a lot of times planning is done um all too often at the last minute . Um So I just can’t stress strongly enough that districts proactively develop a comprehensive assessment strategy . It it is crucial to student performance and I would uh Justin interject , I agree completely with al from a solution provider perspective . Um We’ve sort of make a diff , we’ve made it difficult to plan for a coordinate approach . You have the summit of assessment publishers who form a certain category . You have the new benchmark assessment providers , you have the formative assessment providers and of course , you have the teacher in his or her classroom when the door shuts . There was a great study by the RAND Corporation a couple of years ago that looked at assessment platforms and , and the lack of coordinations , the lack of cohesiveness and the lack of connectedness between all the missing the moving parts and assessment . And um we , we have made it difficult for , for , for educators to integrate all these different solutions into a cohesive package . Uh and I think the publisher that can do that is going to uh solve some , some huge disconnect problems in the classroom . Oh , absolutely . And just the need to balance standardized assessments with demand for personalized learning experiences is huge . So assessments need to be built effectively in order to produce effective results . So if you can’t trust your data , it fosters a culture that doesn’t celebrate data driven instruction . So how do you breathe and foster a culture that thrives and celebrates data and uses that to drive their instruction . How do you build that , that data driven culture in your learning community ? Yeah , I I think like most aspects of school leadership , it’s leveraged on relationships and when the leader has developed genuine authentic relationships with their uh you know , their coworkers , I think you can be transparent and candid about what data is used for . Um and for teachers to feel in particular , like they’re evaluative model , whether informal or formal that it’s not a gotcha mentality that it’s growth mindset oriented and that the goal is to have Children perform better and in turn , have teachers perform better . Um You know , I I think that’s really key . You , we wanna be able to showcase the data in a scientific manner and in a manner that is not skewed by bias . So uh being transparent from the forefront is key and then also being communicative about what the data says about student instruction and making sure that it’s rooted in the district’s mission for student achievement . Mm And I uh I , I would just add from a solution provider perspective that um data driven decision making has been the holy grail for , for so many years . Um Schools now have the devices , they now have the technology platforms to really work in a data driven culture , easier said than done . Um And uh I’ve been looking at quite a few of the of the products out there . There are so many reports that uh don’t really show progress are very , very difficult to interpret . I like data driven reports that uh you can sense uh uh what the what the data is trying to tell the educator , the administrator from 10 ft away , easily transparent . Um I also think that uh the notion of uh tracking progress , monitoring progress is so important and , and progress mapping is is is critical . The other thing is so , so many times the data just shows a a snapshot of what’s happening today . And I think the longitudinal reports that show progress across multiple grades um are going to become more and more relevant , particularly as the emphasis is on value added growth and and and progress uh for each individual student . But um certainly we’re in a position now where data can drive and inform instruction that said , I always believe that teachers know best and should have a way to , to intervene and customize and adapt and adjust the data as appropriate because they know their students probably better than the reporting that tries to quantify student results . Right ? I was thinking that uh end of course exams uh built maybe by , by the state and administered by the state , we’re not always empowering our educators to build their own , you know , assessments . And so I think that’s really important as well that we’re blending a formative assessment , summative assessment and allowing them to just customize their material based on what they need . I agree with that . So I wanna transition into another topic , uh consulting and considering all stakeholders is key when developing assessment plans , how do you think this feedback is shaping and transforming K 12 assessment based on the stakeholder feedback that we’re getting ? I I think at all levels it’s key , right ? I mean , from from the in the trench kind of perspective , right ? Parents are our partners in education and I think as parents and students provide feedback on the assessments that are going on in the schools , schools can customize it just like bie said , like taking the foundation and making it custom to each community and their values . School’s mission . Uh getting that kind of like really organic refinement process going is key . And then I think from , you know , larger perspective like state and national , I mean , there’s certainly with social media , no shortage of opinion and no shortage of soapbox or audience to listen to it . Um I can say specific to New Jersey where I am . Um you know , obviously the standardized tests were made by a committee of teachers and administrators . I sat on the State Science Assessment committee um for a year and the amount of public feedback that’s gathered by the New Jer , New Jersey Department of ED is impressive and they are listening to stakeholders , they are listening to feedback from all um you know , all parts of the continuum politically . Um and , and using that to create something that is really unique to New Jersey on a national level . You know , I think Bodie can probably talk more to this than I can . But from what I see from my national network of superintendents , um everybody has an opinion on standardized testing . I think everybody sees the time crunch that teachers are under . No one wants to spend a month on standardized tests and test prep . They want something that is concise and impactful . Um And like Bodie said , and that the results are concise and impactful and communicative . Um I think like all things in education , it’s a slow burn . Uh Education itself is a dinosaur uh tends to progress very slowly and that’s where Ed Tech can kind of help push the needle a little bit for us . Um Because right now we all recognize the problem and potential solution , but we’re just not there yet . Yeah , it’s been interesting to watch the evolution of assessment over the last uh 2025 . Years starting with no child left behind . Um Then , of course , as COVID had obviously a huge impact when it basically eliminated end of year summit of assessment for in every state for at least a year and sometimes two years , which forced people to take a look at as Alice said , how much time is being spent on assessment ? Um There are those who believe that assessment is , is critical and we’re not going to change the , the process that we have right now . There’s a certain uh inertia built into the K 12 system . But I think those forward thinking people are always looking at , what are we assessing ? How are we assessing it ? Are we looking at the whole child ? Um And um uh the the other great thing about this , the the the movement to more online data and reporting uh is the fact that um publisher solution providers have access to analytics that allow them to reform , revise , update their their platforms , listening to customer feedback , listening to parents . The data is becoming more and more transparent and available instantly as opposed to waiting for 3 to 4 months to get the results from a print based summit of assessment test that you take in March and you don’t get the results until November . Um Everything’s happening much more quickly with a lot more visibility . Although I think the jury is still out on what the final role of these different assessment platforms is , is gonna be , uh and again , I think it’s gonna be a coordinations between solution providers and educators , administrators and , and , and families to , to , to come up with the right uh coordinate cohesive solution . Absolutely . And I think empowering our teachers uh as campus and district professionals and leaders to give them time , time is always of the essence . There’s never enough of it . I think I’ll touch on that a bit but allowing them time to develop professionally and being really intentional with our professional development so that they can give good feedback and that they can uh be successful in their assessment initiative and feel empowered but also knowledgeable of their approach to teaching with their students . Um What do you think it means to build inclusive assessment practices ? And I think they boo touched on with the pandemic , right ? It really exposed um really the the inflexibility of standardized assessment even though um you know , to my knowledge , all standardized assessments now are offered digitally for a variety of reasons . Um They’re still in some states more than others . They have accessibility features you’re able to accommodate at the district level . Um But they can’t truly mirror custom assessments that align to IEP goals or individual student needs . Um I mean , certainly having a braille exam or version of the exam is helpful . Um but it doesn’t meet the needs of every single learner of any type of diverse need . Um And that’s where there has to be a balance at the other levels of assessment and providers can offer that um where standardized testing cannot . Um you know , looking ahead , I , I think districts have a uh a burden to plan very far in advance and gather resources and have a firm plan um for leaders at the building level of how they’re going to accommodate for diverse learners . Uh Because if you wait until March and the test is in April , you , you really missed the mark . You have a plan ahead for the student and having them simply not participate in the exam is not always the best option . And now you’ve missed valuable data to collect with that student . Um You know , I’ve seen everything from students on homebound instruction using hot district hotspots to access the secure test materials . Uh Like I said , New Jersey offers a couple of different versions of the exam to meet different needs . Um But it’s , it’s a balance , right ? And it’s like everything , it’s , it’s a little bit of touch and go and you , you hope you can meet their needs . But planning ahead will , will be more than half the battle . II . I think Alice has said it beautifully and accurately . I don’t have much to add except that uh the diversity of the student population uh is respected by solution providers um who tend to write to the , the 80% uh and ignore the 20% that have special requirements , very , very difficult when you’re looking at issues like return on investment . But again , in terms of a holistic system , um meeting all learners needs uh becomes more and more of a , of a mandate for solution providers . Absolutely . Well , that brings us to the end of today’s insightful conversation on navigating the maze assessment requirements in K 12 school districts . And I just want to extend a heartfelt . Thank you to our incredible guests who have shared their expertise and perspective on this complex and crucial topic . So , thank you so much . Thank you , Kelly . Thank you for having me . Nice talking with you both . All right . And just a big thank you to all our listeners as well . Your engagement and interest in these conversations make it all worthwhile . So stay tuned for more engaging discussions and until next time . Thank you . Take care and goodbye . Bye .

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