Measuring What Matters to Help Students Succeed
Education isn’t just about what students know—it’s about how they think, engage, and persist in a rapidly evolving world.
As today’s students navigate complex challenges, skills like curiosity, critical thinking, civic engagement, collaboration, and persistence are more important than ever. ETS, a long-standing leader in advancing the science of measurement to power human progress, is partnering with the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching on Skills for the Future. Together, they’re developing a new suite of tools that measures and provides actionable insights on the set of durable skills that predict success in education, career, and civic life.
Indiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Wisconsin are now piloting Skills for the Future tools in their regions. By working with these states and organizations like In Tandem, the initiative ensures that students play an active role in shaping these tools. Learners provide real-world feedback, test assessment prototypes, and contribute to future product development to ensure it meets their needs.
Organization Spotlight
ETS is a global education and talent solutions organization enabling lifelong learners to be future-ready. They advance the science of measurement to build the benchmarks for fair and valid skill assessment. They are committed to powering human progress by promoting skill proficiency, empowering upward mobility and unlocking more opportunities for everyone, everywhere. Their assessment products—including the TOEFL®, TOEIC®, GRE®, and Praxis® assessments—as well as their innovative solutions and subsidiaries, help 50 million people each year clarify their strengths and find opportunities for growth in education, work and beyond.
The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching is dedicated to catalyzing transformational change in education so that every student has the opportunity to live a healthy, dignified, and fulfilling life. Enacted by an act of Congress in 1906, the Foundation has a rich history of driving advancements in the education sector, including the establishment of TIAA-CREF and the creation of the Education Testing Service, the GRE, Pell Grants, and the Carnegie Classifications for Higher Education.
Bringing Student Voices into Skills Assessment
This partnership is about ensuring that students are not just test-takers but active participants in shaping how their skills are measured. Through Skills for the Future, ETS and the Carnegie Foundation are working with In Tandem to integrate real-time student feedback in product development, making sure it reflects how young people think, engage, and apply their knowledge in real-world contexts.
As part of this effort, In Tandem will:
✅ Engage youth in user testing to ensure assessments are meaningful, relevant, and engaging.
✅ Facilitate student participation to refine assessment features and functionality.
✅ Ensure diverse perspectives are included so assessments reflect the experiences of students from all backgrounds.
✅ Create ongoing feedback loops that help SFF iterate and improve assessments in real time.
By collaborating on Skills for the Future with ETS and the Carnegie Foundation, we’re ensuring these assessments do more than just measure skills—they support, engage, and empower students.
Why In Tandem?
Too often, assessments are designed for students rather than with them. At In Tandem, we believe that young people should have a voice in shaping the tools that define their learning experience.
By partnering with SFF and others, we’re ensuring that skills assessment feels relevant and valuable to students themselves—helping them see their strengths, refine their abilities, and prepare for the future with confidence.
Learn More
🎥WATCH CEO Amit Sevak and Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching president Tim Knowles discuss designing, piloting, and distributing new skills assessment tools.
📖READ the 2025 ETS Human Progress Report, published annually to support decision-making, inspire innovation, and realize future potential.
DOWNLOAD the report New Vision for Measuring the Skills that Matter, to learn more about the need for measuring students' skills for the future.