Overview
WestEd brings together deep content expertise and knowledge of best practices in assessment, grounded in today’s most innovative research, to support you in achieving your assessment goals.
Drawing on decades of expertise, we serve as a trusted partner to teachers, schools, districts, states, and curriculum and embedded-assessment providers to co-create research-informed assessments.
Throughout our work, we develop and support high-quality assessments that align to standards, curricula, and federal requirements and serve a broad range of student, learner, and educator needs and outcomes.
Assessment Design
and Support
- Diagnostic
- Formative
- Interim
- Summative
- Kindergarten Readiness
- Early Childhood and Primary
- English Language Proficiency
Professional Learning
and Services
- Assessment Literacy
- Item writing
- Formative assessment
Assessment
Research
- Alignment Studies
- Assessment Frameworks
- Performance Level Descriptors
- Standard Setting
We make an impact by providing solutions that help educators assess progress and advance teaching, learning, and equity—using effective strategies and insights that support positive outcomes for all students.
Featured Experts
WestEd Bulletin
Stay up to date with the latest WestEd news, events, research, and leading voices to support your commitment to improving learning, healthy development, and equity in schools and communities.
Featured Project
The Center for Standards, Assessment, and Accountability (CSAA) at WestEd encourages balanced, coherent, and efficient systems of assessment-supported teaching and learning. CSAA at WestEd provides a comprehensive portfolio of research-informed resources, high-quality technical assistance, and services designed to support meaningful improvement of student learning.
Our Work in Action
Addressing Student Needs
Louisiana sought to provide districts and schools with a comprehensive assessment system to monitor student learning and address student needs. Working collaboratively, WestEd developed content for the State’s diagnostic assessments for English/language arts and mathematics.
The diagnostic assessments—key components of Louisiana’s LEAP 360 assessment system—were designed to give educators a general sense of student readiness for grade-level content and indicate the level of support students might need as they proceed through the curriculum.
In addition to the assessment content, WestEd developed scoring materials to guide teacher grading of student responses.
Tailored Workshops
In Florida, we assisted the Florida Joint Center for Citizenship (FJCC) at the Lou Frey Institute to develop the capacity to train Florida educators in item-writing practices through workshops designed for social studies teachers, curriculum coordinators, and FJCC staff. As a result, the FJCC expanded their existing item banks on their assessment preparation website and teacher resource websites.
We worked with our friends at WestEd to support practice assessment development for civics educators across the state of Florida. WestEd was instrumental in supporting this collaboration with teachers and their work with us remains impactful to this day.
Stephen S. Masyada, Ph.D., Director, Florida Joint Center for Citizenship and The Lou Frey Institute