Hot Topics in Classroom Assessment: A Discussion of Selected Topics from the 2026 AERA and NCME Annual Meetings

We invite colleagues to engage in a series of field development and knowledge mobilization meetups. These meetups are purposed to (a) build our community of educators and leaders, (b) provide support to one another and our work, and (c) illuminate challenges our field faces in the modern era. These events will be an opportunity for early, mid-, and established career scholars to discuss core issues in doing important research in the modern era and to consider the next steps. These events are co-sponsored by the:

• American Education Research Association’s Classroom Assessment SIG
• National Council on Measurement in Education’s Classroom Assessment Committee
• National Council on Measurement in Education’s Assessment and Measurement to Support Classroom Learning SIGIMIE

Session Details

Classroom assessment researchers communicate with one another through publications, conferences, and email, but have few open opportunities to meet, Together, we will share and problematize perspectives and research in classroom assessment around highly relevant topics. After a brief orientation to the session (~5 minutes), participants will have their choice of topic breakout groups, facilitated by members of the AERA Classroom Assessment SIG Leadership Team (~45 minutes). In each breakout conversation, we will consider the contexts, conditions, uses, responsibilities, and consequences in education, research, and classroom assessment. We’ll return as a full group to share a summary (~10 minutes):

1. Learner and teacher well-being and classroom assessment facilitated by Sumaiya Chowdhury and Mi Jin Park.
2. Effective and equitable classroom assessment practice facilitated by Erin Riley-Lepo, Caitlin Fine, and Oluyemisi Oloniyo.
3. Fairness, grading, accountability, and classroom assessment facilitated by Amir Rasooli and Lance Piantaggini.
4. AI and classroom assessment facilitated by Dustin Van Orman and Si Chen.
5. Learner emotions, motivation, self-regulation, and classroom assessment facilitated by Divya Varier and Yuhan Xiong.

All—across student and career stages—are welcome to join the conversation!