In educational assessment, and in classroom assessment particularly, the nature of the
proficiency and how it develops is of critical importance. Having a model of how students
represent knowledge and develop competence strongly benefits curriculum, instruction, and
evaluation (National Research Council 2001). In terms of curriculum, a model of cognition
supports the development of more effective sequences of content delivery and classroom
activities, consistent with how material is more naturally, more accessibly, or more
efficiently learned. In terms of instruction, a model of cognition permits the meaningful
interpretation of assessment results in terms of what students know, guiding choices about
what needs to be reviewed and what instruction should target next. In terms of evaluation, a
model of cognition ensures that the competencies we value go beyond behavioral
tendencies to include constructs such as higher-order cognitive processes, new literacies,
and twenty-first century skills (Jenkins 2009)