DITCH THE TEST: ASSESSING WITHOUT TESTING
It is easy to test and report content knowledge. When students take a test they receive a score. Some “smart” people such as Bill Gates get high scores, while others such as Stephen King have mediocre test scores. Some people are good at taking tests and others take test-prep courses to raise their scores, but that does not make them smarter.
There are many ways to be smart. Large-scale tests do not measure a person’s emotional intelligence or will to succeed. In fact, Daniel Kahneman explains that higher IQ and SAT scores correlate with a bigger “bias blind spot” that makes them more vulnerable to believing their answers are correct.
People are too complex for one score designed to predict college success or 12 years of cumulative records to foretell their future. What is needed is a landscape of assessments, inclusive of and reaching beyond standardized tests.
A SPECTRUM OF ASSESSMENT 
A panorama of assessments displays a student’s knowledge, understanding and skills throughout the taxonomy. It may reveal how their interpersonal trees reach to the sky, but their swamp of emotions results in indecision.
STEALTH ASSESSMENT is what happens when students do not feel as if they are being tested. With EdPuzzle a teacher can embed questions in a video and gather responses as students watch. More and more digital games can assess during learning; from historical events to fossils, and digital literacy to coding.
INTEGRATED ASSESSMENTS are blended directly into teaching and learning. Examples include formative assessments such as entrance slips, empty outlines, Humpty Dumpty, and 3-2-1. Alternatively, if a teacher is required to use a communal selected choice test, space can be provided for students to annotate their response; for example: “I picked B, but based on what you said in class about it, parts of C are also correct because…”
Assessment is about the process of learning, not merely the final outcomes. An SAT score may show an individual’s potential but other measures are also essential to show analysis and synthesis. Comprehensive methods are essential to get a full picture of each learner’s strengths and struggles.