Prelude: Assessment for the 21st Century

We recently hosted an assessment symposium at Florida State University which served as the basis for this book and focused on how to integrate assessment and instruction to improve student learning and education. The chapters in this book address the general issue of integrating assessment and instruction, and additionally provide innovative solutions to hard questions such as: What would an assessment, suitable for the needs of the twenty-first century, look like? How could it be standardized? Should it be standardized? How could it satisfy the current obsession with "metrics"? What is the role of the professional teacher in making twenty-first century assessments possible? What constraints would be faced by those who would implement such innovations in assessment practice?