“Personalized Learning” Isn’t Just a Catchphrase: How K-12 Assessments Can Target Instruction
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As often as the phrase “personalized learning” comes up in K-12 education, the term remains misunderstood. Assessment and instruction must be connected. But right now, they’re not. Pearson’s new national survey reveals that 62% of K-12 leaders and educators believe it is important to personalize instruction based on assessment results. Yet only 37% strongly agree that they can do so.
Similarly, just 38% say their assessments let them pinpoint student needs; 44% say assessments measure students’ progress toward specific learning targets; and 46% say they have the flexibility to assess students at the right point in their learning journey.
Fortunately, there are multiple ways K-12 leaders can overcome these gaps and strengthen personalized learning.
Where AI can help
Recent research shows that artificial intelligence (AI) can help K-12 teachers personalize learning. “AI’s strength,” one study argues, “lies in real-time analysis of extensive student and academic data, enabling tailored interventions.”
Pearson’s survey reveals the emerging potential of AI for improving personalized learning.
Nearly 83% of respondents see value in using AI for personalized tutoring. Among those already using AI for personalized instruction, 94.5% consider it effective — including 60% who say it is “very effective.”
Respondents also highlighted specific applications, with two-thirds of those using AI tools saying that AI is “very effective” at scoring open-ended questions and suggesting interventions.
“Educators recognize that AI can make assessment more accessible and actionable,” says Trent Workman, Senior Vice President of Pearson’s School Assessment division. “By providing an easy way to analyze various data points, AI can help educators tailor their instruction to better meet student needs and support school goals.”
However, Workman cautions that teachers and students can only realize these benefits when AI analyzes valid and reliable assessment results. To enable personalized instruction, assessments must show the teacher how far the student has advanced toward the district’s learning targets or academic standards.
As Workman says, “We don’t want to make teachers sift through AI-generated insights that are inaccurate or misleading.”
4 ways to connect assessment to personalized learning
How can school leaders give teachers the assessment data they need to target instruction? These four recommendations can help.
1. Ensure a high-quality assessment system
Some assessments only offer valid results for state or national grade-level expectations. Others have too few items to provide reliable learning evidence. Meanwhile, teachers sometimes pull questions from large item banks that aren’t built on a sound measurement model.
2. Provide a comprehensive and cohesive assessment system
Consider the results in light of the other information you have about what your students know and can do. Do the results provide a clear view of student instructional needs? Is more information needed to develop a plan? Instruction should not be based on a single score or testing event but on the triangulation of data.
3. Involve students in goal setting
When using assessment information to design a personalized plan for students, spend time together reviewing the results and setting goals. This improves student agency in their learning and builds intrinsic motivation. Student Goal Setting: An Evidence-Based Practice
4. Give teachers the proper training
Each assessment tool should be designed with a specific purpose in mind. For example, the function of an interim assessment differs from that of a formative assessment. Unfortunately, teachers don’t always use assessment results according to the tool's design. Make sure educators understand each assessment tool’s purpose and limitations and how the results connect to the intervention, supplemental, and core curriculum resources available.
By implementing these strategies, school leaders can bridge the gap between assessment and personalized learning.
The Pearson Assessment for Learning Suite is a collection of measures and learning resources that makes it easy to assess your students’ academic, behavioral, and social-emotional needs while making data-informed decisions to support them.