The Study Group

A research organization focused on the methods question underneath H3 measurement: how do you actually develop measures that serve learning, rather than just sort and rank? The Study Group is a LearnerStudio grantee and partnered on the MMI project's landscape scan, helping scale an initial small set of indicators to over 2,000 vetted items through targeted harvesting, algorithm-driven discovery, and human expert review. Source: MMI brief.

Published framework

The Study Group's Handbook for Assessment in the Service of Learning Volume I: Foundations for Assessment in the Service of Learning is the source of the "why, what, how, and for whom we measure" framing that the MMI brief uses to structure its argument. The brief credits the framework explicitly in a footnote on page 1.

The framing is consequential because it reorganizes the measurement conversation around the purpose of measurement before getting to the technical question of how. Each axis carries a directional claim:

  • Why we measure — from post-hoc system accountability to learner mastery and empowerment.
  • What we measure — from narrow static content to holistic human skills, modernized domain knowledge, and well-being; plus scope, reach, and systems-change indicators.
  • How we measure — from episodic summative tests to unintrusive, authentic, embedded, real-time tools.
  • For whom we measure — from administrators to learners, educators, and families.

The framework predates the MMI project and is referenced as foundational rather than novel. The Handbook itself has not been ingested directly.

Role in the MMI project

The brief describes The Study Group's contribution as the methodological backbone of the field scan:

  • Partnered to scan existing frameworks and assessments against H3 criteria.
  • Helped grow the initial set of measures to over 2,000 through "rigorous combination of targeted harvesting from assessment databases, algorithm-driven discovery using Python scripts, and detailed human expert review."
  • Continues exploring "new methods for developing measures in service of learning."

Personnel named

  • Sheryl Gómez — Study Group participant in the MMI design sprints / interviews.
  • Eric Tucker — Study Group participant in the MMI design sprints / interviews.

Their specific roles within the org are not detailed in the brief.

Follow-ups

  • Ingest the Handbook for Assessment in the Service of Learning Volume I directly when accessible — it is the source document for one of the brief's most-quoted framings.
  • Track The Study Group's "new methods" work as it publishes — that's the next-generation extension of the Handbook framing.
  • Cross-check whether The Study Group is the same organization as other "Study Group" entities in the K-12 reform space (this one is specifically focused on assessment methods).