What Makes Measurement Important for Education?

This contribution to the Special Issue of EM:IP on the topic of The Past, Present and Future of Educational Measurement concentrates on the present and the future and hence focuses on the goal of improving education. The results of meta-analyses were examined, and it was noted that the largest effect sizes were associated with actual use of formative assessments in classroom settings—hence classroom assessment (in contrast with large-scale assessment). The paper describes micro assessment, which focuses on in-classroom forms of measurement, and then expands this assessment approach to focus on frames beyond that in terms of summative end-of-semester tests (macro). This is followed by a description of how these approaches can be combined using a construct map as the basis for developing and using assessments to span across these two levels in terms of the BEAR Assessment System (BAS). Throughout, this is exemplified using an elementary school program designed to teach students about geometry. Finally, a conclusion summarizes the discussion, and also looks to the future where a meso level of use involves end-of-unit tests.