If Student Voice Matters

Rehumanizing Assessment: Gathering Evidence of Student Learning Through Storytelling by Tom Schimmer and Natalie Vardabasso
Solution Tree Press, May 12, 2025

In Rehumanizing Assessment: Gathering Evidence of Student Learning Through Storytelling, Tom Schimmer and Natalie Vardabasso make the case that the written test, designed to be individual and silent, is one of the primary ways schools suppress the very voices they claim to value. This assessment format marginalizes students from cultures that center collectivism and oral expression, narrowing both what counts as evidence of learning and who gets to demonstrate it. Schimmer and Vardabasso ground their approach in research connecting storytelling to meaning-making, empathy, and culture, and translate it into actionable strategies for the classroom. Teachers need new forms of assessment to gather evidence of higher-order thinking, and storytelling is an authentic means of doing so. For educators in independent and international schools, the book offers a concrete alternative to conventional assessment formats. Many schools name critical competencies in their vision statements and student profiles, yet they still rely on assessments that were never designed to elicit evidence of them. Storytelling offers a way for students to move beyond recall and to demonstrate how they process, connect, and apply what they learn. The result is assessment that nurtures critical and creative thinking while being more equitable and culturally expansive.