ABSTRACT
One of the pressing problems with using high-stakes standardized tests for accountability purposes is that they do very little to aid teachers in promoting student learning. This chapter describes what that research says about what social studies teachers and learners deserve, because the research is rooted in the idea that assessment fundamentally needs to cultivate strong learners and promote deep learning. Committee stressed the importance of a cognitive model for guiding teaching practice, developing useful assessments, and making evidence-based interpretation. A number of scholars and organizations have developed observational tools useful for classroom-based assessments in social studies. Without robust learning models in all key social studies subjects and the assessment tools and practices that can flow from them, those in the community are ill-equipped to engage successfully in conversations about policy. To be blunt, with the possible exception of history, the community lacks vigorous evidence- and learning-model-based assessment examples to counter the widespread misuse of high-stakes tests as accountability tools.
