
Building a Better Assessment Future 2025
August 5 - 6, 2025At the 2025 Building a Better Assessment Future conference, we are placing students at the center of our assessment systems, practices, and policies. Join us…
Scroll down to watch our NEW video! You’ll learn what you’ll experience during MAC Reads 2024 and hear from our featured author, Karin Hess!
Rigor by Design, Not Chance: Deeper Thinking Through Actionable Instruction and Assessment
by Karin Hess
In Rigor by Design, Not Chance, veteran educator Karin Hess offers not only a clear vision of what makes learning deep and rigorous but also a systematic and equitable approach for engaging students of all ages in rich learning tasks. To that end, she outlines five essential teacher moves that foster thinking and learning:
Ask a series of probing questions of increasing complexity.
Build schemas in each content area.
Consider ways to strategically scaffold learning.
Design complex tasks that emphasize transfer and evidence-based solutions.
Engage students in metacognition and reflection throughout the learning process.
From there, Hess details how to create an “actionable” assessment cycle that will drive learning forward in any classroom.
Overview of MAC Reads 2024 and Interview with Karin Hess
At the 2025 Building a Better Assessment Future conference, we are placing students at the center of our assessment systems, practices, and policies. Join us…
Facilitate classroom-level, assessment-literate practice to improve student learning & achievement! Districts that implement—with fidelity—quality balanced assessment systems in every classroom show improved student learning and…
The Assessment Learning Network (ALN) kicks off the 2025-26 season with an in-person session that includes learning, networking, and a luncheon. Art is a…
Note: to register for a Season Pass (and save money!), click the button at right. To register for individual sessions, click the session title in…