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"Testing is a major challenge in education. Agreeing on what’s to be tested and how it’s to be administered is a matter of much debate. It’s also a big business... [Common Core testing may include] adaptive computer-based testing to the existing assessments forms, which in many states include short-written responses. While efforts like these continue, there remains a chasm between the progressive vision of a 21st century learning environment, and a decidedly 20th century assessment style. 
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Experts who work on technology-enhanced assessment have a few ideas to replace those tiresome multiple-choice tests that so many people complain about. Take this one, for instance: "A middle school student sits down at a computer and watches an animation of a spring that powers a racecar in a pinball machine. Prompts lead her to think about what gives the spring its power: Is it the thickness of the wire? The number of coils? She has to choose a hypothesis and explain what leads her to think it could be correct. She designs an experiment to test her hypothesis, inquiring into how the thickness of the wire and the number of coils affect the spring's ability to propel the racecar..." A look at what online testing may look like with a number of examples...with the caveat that "the potential of technology-enhanced tests, however, was tempered throughout the discussions with a sense of how far there is to go before such tests are refined and available, and the challenges they pose when they are ready."
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'How do we assess learning in real life?' So what would happen if instead of standardized tests we looked at school work, engaged students in games that will allow them to show mastery by progress...these ideas plus six other are waiting to be read in this post.
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With the NCLB Act schools have been required to increase their testing. In this post Gerstein states "I believe that tests provide an illusion that something has been learned, one that all stakeholders; teachers, administrators, parents, and students, themselves, have bought into." She also states that she believes there "are qualitatve differences between assessment, measure, and tests." Gerstein brings in information from Cathy Davidson's post 'How Do We Measure What Really Counts in the Classroom" as well as information about the recent cheating scandal Harvard.
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"By now most people understand that standardized tests are not only harmful, but often they are also poorly constructed. But is there such thing as a good test? I was having a conversation with Cathy Earle about the subject and wondered if there is such thing as a good test. During that conversation she explained the reality is that in many cases the problem is how tests are used i.e. to assess students rather than help them learn. I asked her to say more and provide and example. Here it is and I have to admit...I rather like this kind of test." Read on to learn about a test that is not quite the norm, but definitely engages the student as well as others!
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Back in January 2012 this article was posted suggesting that "if our 'standards' in education are to have any meaning at all, they must be standards for policy makers as well." Rick Roach, who is on the Orange County (Florida) School Board took the state FCAT (10th grade exam) and states: "I won’t beat around the bush. The math section had 60 questions. I knew the answers to none of them, but managed to guess ten out of the 60 correctly. On the reading test, I got 62%. In our system, that’s a ‘D,’ and would get me a mandatory assignment to a double block of reading instruction… It seems to me something is seriously wrong. I have a Bachelor of Science degree, two masters degrees, and 15 credit hours toward a doctorate...” Many other resources are available in this post. For additional information and comments from Scott McLeod, who took on the challenge, taking the ACT. Check out his post "Taking the ACT a Quarter Century After High School" at http://bigthink.com/ideas/taking-the-act-a-quarter-century-after-high-school ;
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If the goal in education is to graduate students whom are 21st century ready (a century we are already 14 years into) the question of appropriate testing comes up. This post explores this issue and shares what may be taking place in a classroom and how it is not necessarily testable with paper and pencil. Therefore as educators we need to "promote self-initiated transfer."
The post is split into three sections. The first section looks at testing today. The second section provides "a picture of 21st century learning." The third section explores the challenge, the fact that in theory we are teaching one way and assessing a different way (and as they refer to it in the post, we may be teaching 21st century but we are using an assessment tool that is 20th century). The final section explores one possible solution.
There is much to ponder on in this post which may lead you to think of ways to help students take ownership of learning how to effectively transfer knowlege.