This webinar explores what a truly balanced assessment system looks like—and why so many districts unintentionally drift out of balance. Rather than treating assessment as compliance or accountability, this session reframes it as a tool to strengthen daily teaching and learning.

You’ll hear practical strategies for auditing current assessments, identifying imbalance, reducing unnecessary testing, and grounding your system in a clear instructional vision centered on how students learn. Whether you're a district leader or school administrator, this session offers a roadmap for moving from “more testing” to smarter assessment.

What You’ll Learn

• What a balanced assessment system actually means—and why it’s not a “seesaw” between state, interim, and classroom tests.
• How to identify imbalance using two simple diagnostic questions about impact on classroom learning.
• Why formative assessment has the strongest research base for improving student learning.
• How to conduct an assessment audit to reduce redundancy and eliminate low-value tests.
• What makes an assessment instructionally useful—and how to evaluate claims with real evidence.
• How to ground assessment decisions in learning theory rather than habit or compliance.
• When and how to de-implement assessments without disrupting coherence or accountability needs.

Key Themes Discussed

• Assessment should primarily support teaching and learning, not simply meet external accountability demands.
• Not all assessments serve the same purpose, and misunderstanding purpose leads to misuse.
• More data does not equal better decisions—quality and coherence matter more than quantity.
• Instructional vision must drive assessment design, not the other way around.
• Formative assessment strengthens student agency by making thinking visible and actionable.
• De-implementation requires intentional subtraction, not just continuous addition.
• Validity depends on evidence, especially when claiming an assessment improves instruction.

Who Should Watch This Webinar?

This webinar is designed for:

• District and school administrators.
• Chief academic officers and curriculum directors.
• Assessment and accountability leaders.
• Instructional coaches and PLC facilitators.
• Educators involved in curriculum and assessment planning.

Meet the Speakers

Scott Marion, Principal Learning Associate, Center for Assessment.
Carlo Schmidt, Product Leader, Formative by Newsela.