Assessments should support student outcomes, inform instruction, foster meaningful learning experiences and ensure student success in higher education or whatever pathway they choose. Education First’s approach combines human-centered design with an equity lens to redesign assessments. For example, through our work with the Innovative Assessment and New Measures Grant Program, an initiative supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation, our coaching and facilitation helped state education agency and charter school leaders reimagine traditional means for assessment and design solutions alongside assessment experts and people most proximate to the problem (e.g., students, educators and families).
From California to Florida, we have supported efforts across the country. Our equitable design framework, informed by Christine Ortiz’s methodology1, centers on people—particularly those from historically marginalized communities—to help decision-makers better understand and tailor assessment redesign solutions to match the unique context of their community. Assessment redesign with a focus on equity includes equitable design principles and practices, such as:
Our coaching and technical assistance support decision-makers, stakeholders and expert advisors to learn new approaches to state assessment redesign. Learn more about our work and success.
1 Ortiz Guzman, Christine M., Just Design, The equityXdesign Book.
