Chapter 4: Where Streams Converge: Using Evidence-Centered Design to Assess Quest to Learn

According to the recent National Educational Technology Plan (March, 2010), our education system needs a revolutionary transformation rather than evolutionary tinkering. In general, the plan urges our education system at all levels to: (a) be clear about the outcomes we seek; (b) collaborate to redesign structures and processes for effectiveness, efficiency, and flexibility; (c) continually monitor and measure our performance; and (d) hold ourselves accountable for progress and results every step of the way. With an eye toward those goals, this chapter describes an ongoing assessment of a transformative new school called Quest to Learn (Q2L). Q2L is an innovative, student-centered, games-based public school that opened in New York City in September 2009 for grades six through 12 (beginning with a sixth-grade cohort). It includes a dynamic and interdisciplinary curriculum, using design principles of games to create highly immersive learning experiences for students. The curriculum, like games, is immersive, participatory, allows for social engagement, and provides a challenge-based context for students to work within.