Forum: Do Policy-Makers Use Educational Assessment?

Date01 May 2019
DOI10.1177/0002716219843266
Published date01 May 2019
Subject MatterPolicy Forum
252 ANNALS, AAPSS, 683, May 2019
DOI: 10.1177/0002716219843266
Forum: Do
Policy-Makers
Use
Educational
Assessment?
843266ANN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMYFORUM: DO POLICY-MAKERS USE EDUCATIONAL ASSESSMENT?
research-article2019
A
key step in preparing this volume was an
authors’ workshop (convened in September
2018). For each draft article, invited discussants
provided technical commentary, advice on edi-
torial style, and suggestions for how to reinforce
the theme of educational assessment as a useful
form of empirical evidence. The ensuing discus-
sions were, themselves, immensely useful—to
the authors and editors—as we went about pre-
paring final versions.
In pursuit of answering the fundamental
question motivating this project, we invited two
distinguished policy-makers to the workshop,
and later engaged them in a lengthy interview
to elicit their views on evidence generally and
on testing and assessment specifically, in their
respective “real worlds” of policy, practice, and
research. Carl Cohn and Rebecca Maynard
each have decades of experience at the local,
state, and federal levels.
An edited version of our two-hour conversa-
tion follows (CC = Carl Cohn; RM = Rebecca
Maynard).
Editors: We want to start with a general question
about the uses of scientific evidence—by which we
mean research-based, empirical, systematic knowl-
edge—in policymaking. Not necessarily limited to
educational assessment, how have you found
research to be useful, and what have you done to
promote its use?
CC: As an urban superintendent, I was con-
stantly trying to figure out how to motivate
and inspire the adults who work with kids.
Sometimes superintendents speak a lot
about kids; I approached the job from the
point of view that the only way we are going
to get a better outcome for kids is by mak-
ing sure that there is a trusting relationship
with those who actually work with kids all
day long. There was not a lot of evidence to

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT