Making Meaningful Assessments
- Cheryl McDonough
- Dec 22, 2025
- 1 min read
Updated: 3 hours ago
Our recent work in PBL and CTE classrooms has caused us to think about, and reassess, what makes meaningful assessment. Research suggests that meaningful assessment should:
Steer teaching and learning as a process - not an end point - with short, middle, and long cycles. (Fisher and Frye)
Ensure that students genuinely understand material and cannot succeed by accident (like some multiple choice, T/F, matching, etc.) — they should be virtually "un-cheatable." (Hernandez)
Demand critical or creative thinking and problem solving.
Require students to recognize and use strong evidence.
Include authentic tasks with relevance to students and content. (Wiggins)
Type One Writing is an exceptional tool for short cycle assessment (What do you currently know about the subject or task, and what do you want/need to know?) Immediate feedback and action drive powerful learning.
The Power of Retrieval to Strengthen Learning and Provide Meaningful Assessment
Type Two Writing was created as a middle cycle assessment - we just didn’t know it! Assessing where students are as part of the learning journey and not waiting until they reach the destination is a best practice that we have long understood.
Type Three, Four, and Five Writing are mid- to long cycle assessments that are authentic tasks requiring critical thinking, integration of strong relevant evidence, and genuine understanding of material. Students benefit from the clearly-defined criteria and skillful feedback of the instructor.
Read the Collins Writing Exchange from October 2025 for more ideas.
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