Surfacing Brilliance Through Meaningful Science Assessment

Science education is evolving–and our assessments should, too.

The Next Generation Science Standards and similar standards based on A Framework for K-12 Science Education ushered in a bold vision focused on figuring out phenomena and problems, sensemaking that mirrors how scientists work, and real-world relevance. Although instruction has started to shift, assessment has too often lagged behind—failing to capture or support the depth, complexity, and creativity of meaningful science learning.

Surfacing Brilliance Through Meaningful Science Assessment: Shifting Practice to Reflect Today’s Students and Today’s Standards is the essential guide for educators and leaders ready to rethink how we understand, evaluate, and support K-12 science learning. Written by Aneesha Badrinarayan, a leading voice in science education and assessment, this book offers a clear roadmap for designing assessments that surface the brilliance of young people in ways that are meaningful, equitable, and grounded in the lived realities of today’s classrooms.

Drawing on four core priorities—sensemaking, relevance, assets, and opportunity—this book empowers educators to move beyond traditional tests to create assessments that reveal what students truly understand and can do.

Bridging cutting-edge research and practical implementation, this book offers:

Concrete strategies for using phenomena, problematizing strategies, and purposeful prompts to drive authentic sensemaking
Frameworks and tools to develop relevant, asset-based assessments that reflect students’ strengths and experiences and are specific to a given classroom context
Approaches to using data for targeted feedback and deeper learning
A forward-looking chapter on how to meaningfully integrate AI into science assessment in an age of rapidly evolving technology

Whether you’re a K–12 teacher, instructional leader, or assessment designer, Surfacing Brilliance Through Meaningful Science Assessment will transform how you think about using assessment to understand, evaluate, and support student learning. This guide ensures that educators and leaders assess students in ways that center student brilliance, embrace innovation, and inspire learners to achieve ambitious learning goals in science.

Author Biography

Aneesha Badrinarayan is an education policy consultant at Education First, where she supports states and districts in developing meaningful teaching, learning, and assessment systems across content areas and strategies. Prior to joining Education First, Aneesha led assessment initiatives and strategy at the Learning Policy Institute and Achieve. She is a national expert on instructionally relevant assessment systems, high-quality assessments, and science teaching, learning, and assessment. Over the last 20 years, Aneesha has led work related to high-quality instructional materials, assessment system development from classroom assessments to state assessments to NAEP, and professional learning. Trained as a behavioral neuroscientist, Aneesha comes to education policy via informal science education and bench science. She received her B.A. in Biology from Cornell University and her M.S. in neuroscience from the University of Michigan.

  Aneesha lives in Maryland with her husband Dan and their fabulous toddler Rishi. When she isn’t playing the role of science assessment superhero, you can find her alter ego with her nose in a romance novel,  her hands whisking something in the kitchen, and the rest of her body otherwise occupied with slowly transforming her house into a toddler play place (who needs a dining room, really?)