Black, Wilson, and Yao (this issue) lay out a comprehensive vision for the way that learning progressions (or other "road maps") might be used to inform and coordinate formative and summative purposes of assessment. As Black, Wilson, and others have been arguing for over a decade, the effective use of formative assessment has great potential to…

In their article "Innovations in Setting Performance Standards for K-12 Test-Based Accountability," Kristen Huff and Barbara S. Plake (2010) lay out three preconditions for continued investment in standard-setting methodology and practice, all focused on the sound development and use of achievement level descriptors (ALDs). Among these…

Schilling et al. (this issue) have done a commendable job in illustrating a comprehensive process of validating assessments of teacher knowledge (and, more broadly, other types of tests as well). On one hand, the concrete illustration of a process that often remains murky and incomplete is profoundly heartening, as it provides a rigorous model for…