See the examples "A Middle-Grades Statistics Unit" on page 30 and "Providing Written Feedback on Students’ Work" on page 34 for illustrations of openness with assessment criteria.

Assessment should be an open process.

Openness in the process of assessment can be assured in several ways. First, information about the process is made available to those affected by it. Before their learning is assessed in a formal way, all students are informed about what they need to know, how they will be expected to demonstrate that knowledge, and what the consequences of assessment will be. They may not know the exact questions they will be asked, but they do know the nature of those questions. They get prompt and useful information about the quality of their work. When students understand the criteria used in judging their work and are shown examples of adequate and inadequate responses, their performance improves. Openness contributes to equitable assessments.

When externally generated assessments are open, students and teachers receive timely information about how the information will be gathered and how the results will be used. The assessments are consistent with the learning goals students are pursuing in class. The results are reported promptly so they can be used in instruction. Sample items, clear statements of performance criteria, and illustrative student work help in the interpretation of the results.

Openness in assessment includes informing the public (parents, policymakers, business and industry leaders, members of the mathematics community, and interested citizens) about the process. The public is given information about the classroom assessments that teachers are using as well as the assessments that are mandated by the district or the state or province. The public has access to samples of scored student work discussed against the background of an assessment framework and, consequently, understands how students are expected to show the mathematics they have learned.

Second, an open assessment process honors professional involvement. In an assessment program–whether for a school, a district, a state or province, or the nation–teachers are active participants in all phases. They participate directly in deciding what is to be assessed and how, developing criteria for performance, selecting students’ work to illustrate the criteria, developing procedures for reporting results, and describing intended uses and consequences. An assessment process that is open to participation by teachers helps them form common definitions of the mathematics to be assessed and reach consensus on the appropriate evidence of students’ learning. In departments and schools with an open assessment process, teachers meet to discuss learning goals, expectations, students’ work, and criteria for evaluating achievement.

A third facet of openness is that the assessment process is open to scrutiny and modification. Mathematics assessment that supports NCTM’s visions of the mathematics curriculum and of mathematics teaching will change as those visions evolve. Assessments are continually examined for flaws and continually revised to be in harmony with other reforms.

Everyone is best served by an assessment process that is public, participatory, and dynamic.

Open assessment involves shared responsibilities by students, teachers, and the public. It contributes to a collective understanding of high performance criteria for mathematics and strives to narrow the gap between students’ current performance and their attainment of those criteria. Everyone is best served by an assessment process that is public, participatory, and dynamic.

To determine how open an assessment is, ask questions such as these:

• How do students become familiar with the assessment process and with the purposes, performance criteria, and consequences of the assessment?
  
  
• How are teachers and students involved in choosing tasks, setting criteria, and interpreting results?
  
  
• How is the public involved in the assessment process?
  
  
• What access do those affected by the assessment have to tasks, scoring goals, performance criteria, and samples of students’ work that have been scored and discussed?
  
  
• How is the assessment process itself open to evaluation and modification