Blogs

Assessing competence and skills like critical thinking, problem-solving, and collaboration are high on the agenda for educators, employers, and policymakers looking to reimagine an education system fit for the future. In this blog, we discuss the advantages and challenges of assessing competence and so-called '21st-century skills', and how they might be integrated into the curriculum.

Desislava Dimitrova is an assessment expert with over 30 years’ experience in the educational sector. Having developed her knowledge base through both study and as a teacher in Bulgaria, Desislava was keen to get the answers to some of her most pressing questions around assessment – with the help of Cambridge Assessment Network she has been on a journey to find them.

In the past 40 years, the pace of technological change has been rapid. In those same years, assessment has remained largely the same. In this blog we ask, is digital assessment finally on its way, and if so what does that look like? From a lift and shift model to 'born digital exams, we examine how technology is shaping assessment, and discuss why the focus should be on what we want for the future of education, not what the tech can do for us.

As we might expect, there are both similarities and differences in mathematics teaching in England and the US. If we want to understand the differences, it is useful to look at the way that mathematics has been taught in the past and how such teaching has influenced teaching today. In this blog and the accompanying time lines we explore the main events and influences in mathematics education in the two countries.

The Digital High Stakes Assessment Programme is developing innovative assessments and using evidence to inform their design. This blog, a literature review of open book, open web assessments (OBOW), describes what we mean by OBOW, and the pros and cons of this assessment approach.

Comparability, or the extent to which standards are similar, between paper and digital assessments can be a concern. In this blog researchers Sarah Hughes and Gill Elliot explain what we mean by comparability when talking about digital assessment, and how our Digital High Stakes Assessment Programme is balancing innovation and comparability of outcomes.

What should assessment practitioners be aware of when considering accessibility and inclusion in assessment? Cambridge Assessment Network spoke with Senior Research Managers Sylwia Macinska and Carla Pastorino about universally designed assessment, equity of access and trends in assistive technology.

Digital assessment is growing from strength to strength. Besides innovative new assessments – including those integrated within learning tools – there’s demand for existing high stakes assessments to be available on screen. But it's not as simple as migrating all our existing paper tests onto screen. In this blog, we zoom in on the particularities of maths and science.

This is the final part of the latest 3-part series from Loic Menzies as part of our #MappingTheWay discussion series. “The Real Glue is Relationships” will ask whether, what we might need, is a more fundamental shift in focus towards continuity and relationships.

This is part 2 of the latest 3-part series from Loic Menzies as part of our #MappingTheWay discussion series. “Making Information Work for Young People” will zoom in on a topic that has been somewhat neglected in recent debates: the role and agency of young people themselves.

A lack of ‘system thinking’ has stymied the sector’s ability to gather, share and act on information about vulnerable young people’s needs. “Putting the Glue Back in the System” will set out some of the approaches education practitioners are attempting within the current system. Part 1 of a 3-part series that forms part of our #MappingTheWay discussion series with Loic Menzies.

In this blog, Dr. Neil Gilbride, Senior Lecturer at the University of Gloucestershire, talks about schools and why they are tricky places to navigate and understand. He then sets out the implications this has for the decisions teachers and school leaders need to make on a day-to-day basis.

How did different organisations offering assessments respond to the pandemic? and what could that tell us about the future of assessment delivery? Cambridge Assessment Network spoke with Sarah Corcoran, Director of e-Assessment Transformation at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) about moving to Computer-Based Assessment, and how learning and assessment in her industry is changing in relation to technology drivers.

This is the final instalment of a four-part blog series setting out the key considerations to come from our first #MappingTheWay event with Loic Menzies. This one looks at the different ways information and data can be interpreted - and the effect those interpretations have on stakeholders' behaviour.