Creating this Forecast
This forecast was created using approaches commonly found in futures thinking, which takes a structured approach to thinking about change and combines it with creativity to tell stories about the future.
The content was informed by primary and secondary research. That research included conducting interviews with education practitioners, researchers and changemakers scanning for signals of change related to the domain of formative assessment and examining both current conditions in the domain and constituents’ plans and intentions. In addition, a series of participatory workshops engaged others beyond the research team in making meaning of the research findings and shaping the content of this forecast. One workshop focused on surfacing and clarifying the forces of change and critical uncertainties shaping possible futures of assessment, and the other focused on creating images and ideas for asset-based formative assessment in 2034.
Acknowledgements
This forecast was created by Jason Swanson, Katherine Prince, Jeremiah-Anthony Righteous-Rogers and Maria Crabtree of KnowledgeWorks and Andrea Saveri of Saveri Consulting. It was commissioned by Assessment for Good.
Assessment for Good created the concept of asset-based formative assessment, which is the anchor of this forecast and their R&D agenda. Thank you to AFG colleagues who also helped shape this forecast and support the research process, Dr. Temple Lovelace, Darnell Cadette, Jen Baird, Dr. Lauren Kendall Brooks, and Lisa Chir. Thanks also to Dr. Yasmene Mumby, from the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund Communications team for supporting the digital production of this forecast.
Numerous KnowledgeWorks colleagues also contributed to the written forecast and research process, including Carla Brockman for proofreading and logistical support; to Todd Garvin for the design; and to Kate Westrich, Sean Andres and Shelby Taylor for supporting the written publication’s production. Futures of Assessment was informed by a mixed-methods research process—with generous contributions of time, expertise, and resources from many individuals. Their names and specific contributions can be found below.
Interviewees and Workshop Participants
- Chinwe Agorom
- Sabina Aurilio
- Nina Barbuto
- Susan Bell
- Juliette Berg
- Rhonda Broussard
- Valeria Brown
- Jonathan Peraza Campos
- Keith Catone
- Mary Helen Diegel
- Carla Evans
- Kameron E. Fields
- Satoya Foster
- Ulcca Joshi Hansen
- Bryanna Hanson
- Lee Johnson III
- Yoon Jeon Kim
- Cynthia KimJade Caines Lee
- Cristopher Lee
- Susan Lyons
- Maira Martelo
- Jeffrey Noel
- Miguel Angel Ovies-Bocanegra
- Jennifer Poon
- Catherine S. Ramírez
- Nayyir Ransome
- Vriti Saraf
- Josh Schachter
- David Sherer
- Dena Nicole Simmons
- Doannie Tran
- Devin Vodicka
- Ellen Vorenkamp
- Doris Zahner
- Colleagues from Assessment for Good
Special thanks to Rio Holaday who provided graphic recording support that captured the two-day workshop learnings that powered this forecast.
Assessment for Good is an Inclusive R&D program supported by the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF) focused on developing asset-based formative assessment tools to eradicate the persistent gap in opportunity experienced by students, aged 8-13, in classrooms across the US. Through achieving transformational improvements in how we understand and support a learner’s maximum potential, AFG seeks to:
- Improve our understanding of the skills that power learning, including uncovering new patterns of success across academic, emotional, and social domains that most contribute to understanding each learner’s unique growth and development trajectory across every context of their lives.
- Reduce student placement in negative and segregated learning environments by providing tools that leverage the latest advances in the learning and measurement sciences that unveil asset-based information about every learner’s experience
- Improve educator decision-making by providing vital learner experience data at the speed of teaching and learning – supporting educators at the exact moment where they are faced with one of the nearly 1,500 decisions they make each day.
KnowledgeWorks is a national nonprofit organization advancing a future of learning that ensures each student graduates ready for what’s next. For more than 25 years, we’ve been partnering with states, communities and leaders across the country to imagine, build and sustain vibrant learning communities. Through evidence-based practices and a commitment to equitable outcomes, we’re creating the future of learning, together.
Learn more at KnowledgeWorks.org
Saveri Consulting makes the future actionable for clients through research-based foresight, highly creative engagement experiences, visual maps and forecast artifacts. With over 20 years of experience in diverse organizational settings, Saveri Consulting partners with clients to create clear, strategic pathways to transformation and resilience in this complex world.
Advanced Education Research & Development Fund (AERDF, sounds like air-diff) is the first national nonprofit dedicated to advancing research and development in PreK-12 education.
Inspired by the U.S. federal government’s Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the health and energy sectors, AERDF pursues evidence-based breakthrough innovations through scientific discoveries and inventions that unlock new capabilities for addressing the most persistent challenges in teaching, learning, and assessment.
AERDF’s R&D programs – EF+Math, Assessment for Good, Reading Reimagined, and AugmentED – produce research insights that can be applied across PreK-12 education, technical capabilities that can be embedded in products and practices, and prototypes that offer adaptable solutions to foster student growth – all helping to catalyze transformative improvements in teaching and learning.