Assessment refers to a broad array of approaches for measuring or evaluating a person's (or group of persons') skills, behaviors, dispositions, or other attributes. Assessments range from standardized tests used in admissions, employee selection, licensure examinations, and domestic and international large-scale assessments of cognitive and behavioral skills to formative K–12 classroom curricular assessments. The various types of assessments are used for a wide variety of purposes, but they also have many common elements, such as standards for their reliability, validity, and fairness—even classroom assessments have standards. We believe the future of assessment will involve a shift in emphasis on what skills will be measured, innovations in how we go about measuring them, the use of advanced technologies for test operations, and an expansion in the value and kinds of information that test takers will receive from taking the assessment. In this paper, we argue and provide evidence for our belief that the future of assessment contains challenges but is promising. The challenges include risks associated with security and exposure of personal data, test score bias, and inappropriate test uses, all of which may be exacerbated by the growing infiltration of artificial intelligence (AI) into our lives. The promise is increasing opportunities for testing to help individuals achieve their education and career goals and contribute to well-being and overall quality of life. To help achieve this promise we focus on the evidence-based science of measurement in education and workplace learning, a theme throughout this paper.

We investigated the predictive value of four noncognitive skills (academic skills [e.g. meeting class expectations], commitment [e.g. to the institution], self-management [e.g. academic self-efficacy] and social support [e.g. social connectedness]), and critical thinking for predicting undergraduate academic performance in multiple institutions using multi-level modeling. Results show that in addition to traditional predictors such as high school grade point average (GPA) and SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test)/ACT (American College Test) scores, noncognitive skills and critical thinking skills predict college GPA. Higher education institutions may consider incorporating measures of noncognitive skills and critical thinking skills into their battery of admissions tools.

The career gains of obtaining a graduate degree are well established, but those from lower socioeconomic status (SES) and underrepresented demographic backgrounds have persistently been disadvantaged in earning those degrees. We aim to contribute to research on enhancing access, diversity, and equity to graduate education by providing insights into what motivates individuals to pursue a graduate education across demographic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Using survey data collected from GRE ® test takers at two time points and exploratory structural equation modeling, we explore the factors that individuals consider to be important for pursuing graduate education and selecting graduate programs, along with subsequent application and acceptance outcomes. We identified three factors considered in deciding to pursue graduate school and six factors considered in selecting graduate school programs. Those who aimed to apply to graduate school for professional development considered an extensive set of factors in selecting programs. The factors considered varied by gender, ethnicity/race, and SES. These factors further varied in the extent to which they predicted graduate school application and acceptance outcomes.

Men’s significant underrepresentation in U.S. colleges has attracted widespread attention. As of 2021, men make up only 40.5% of the college enrollments. Given the proven economic and social benefits of a college degree, men’s lack of a college degree is projected to generate detrimental effects to the U.S. economy and society, as well as bring missed opportunities for individuals. We review the gender composition at various degree levels, discuss possible impacts of men’s underrepresentation, and analyze underlying reasons of men’s low college enrollment. We also review strategies that institutions use to attract more male applicants. Despite women’s overrepresentation in college enrollment, efforts to promote gender equality should continue, as females are still underrepresented in high-paying and high-ranking positions, in both academic and corporate settings.

Critical thinking has become an essential skill required by both higher education and the workforce. Research to date has reported moderate cross-sectional learning differences in critical thinking as students progress through a 4-year college. However, retention, differential participation, and students' low test-taking motivation possibly confounded conclusions from prior studies. Controlling for such factors, we found a cross-sectional difference of .24 SDs after 4 years in college (n = 2,381 students, 46 institutions), considerably smaller than what's reported in prior studies. Natural science majors performed the highest and business majors performed the lowest. Minority students achieved only half of the cross-sectional difference (.18 SDs) of white students (.39 SDs), and only 6% of them scored at the Advanced level, compared to 24% of white students.

男性在美国大学占比不足（underrepresentation）的现象引起了广泛关注。截至2021年，男性学生仅占大学入学人数的40.5%。鉴于大学学位的经济和社会效益已经得到证明，男性中大学学位的缺少预计会对美国的经济与社会产生不利影响，同时也会导致个人错失各种机会。我们回顾了不同学位等级的性别构成，讨论男性占比不足带来的可能影响，并分析男性低入学率的潜在原因。我们还回顾了各院校用以吸引更多男性申请者的策略。尽管女性在大学入学人数中占比过高，但是促进性别平等的努力仍应继续；因为在学术和企业环境中，女性在高薪和高级职位的比例仍然不足。

Career and technical education (CTE) has recently gained national attention as a means of promoting college and career readiness. However, little is known about the joint trajectories of school and work during and following CTE participation in high school. Using the Educational Longitudinal Study of 2002, we conducted latent class analyses to examine latent pathways connecting high school CTE participation with employment during high school, as well as the subsequent educational and work transitions. Four latent pathways were identified, defined as: (a) CTE-to-work pathway, (b) BA-focused pathway, (c) Workfocused pathway, and (d) low-career motivation pathway. Analysis of the precursors revealed that male students tend to follow work-related paths and females tend to take more education-focused paths. Further, higher math and reading test scores, and higher parental socioeconomic background were associated with a higher likelihood of taking the BA-focused pathway as opposed to the CTE-to-work pathway, and of taking the CTE-to-work pathway compared to the work-focused and low-career motivation pathways. Both the BA-focused and CTE-to-work groups had relatively higher earnings and job satisfaction compared to the other two latent path groups.

Currently college promise programs are proliferating in number at the local and state levels. Most promise programs provide financial resources beyond conventional state and federal student aid to students who live in designated places and meet local- or state-defined eligibility criteria. There is an immense variety of models and funding designs for these programs. In this study, we conducted a rigorous content analysis of the public web sites for a diverse subsample of 35 promise programs to explore how college promise programs promote student academic and financial readiness. Although our analysis made it clear that there is more to learn about promise programs, including understanding general administrative processes and program operations, we highlight several design and implementation considerations that may increase the capacity of these programs to promote equity in higher education access and success.