Title: Connecting Cognition and Assessment

This presentation will focus on critical connections between cognition and assessment based on the research findings summarized in several NRC reports. Special focus will be given to the conception of assessment offered in the Knowing What Students Know report and its connection to major ideas about the nature of cognition and learning described in the How People Learn report. Issues regarding the design and use of assessment at the classroom, school, district and state level will be highlighted. A special attempt will be made to provide examples of quality assessment design and practice in math and science and discuss how they exemplify the concepts and principles about assessment laid out in Knowing What Students Know. Topics covered in this presentation should complement and help set the stage for the plenary and breakout sessions that follow.