Open Access Formative Assessments on Historical Thinking

With the support of a Library of Congress Teaching with Primary Sources - Western Region grant, Thinking Nation developed 60 formative assessments* on historical thinking. These assessments follow an upside-down weighted-multiple choice format, followed by a short answer response. This format enables educators to assess student work along a continuum of understanding, as well as see the student thinking behind their choices. This, as Bruce Vanderslight states in Assessing Historical Thinking and Understanding (2013), does "improved justice to the [history] domain’s complexity."

The six subject areas below each contain 10 formative assessments. The assessments each assess one of the following historical thinking skills: contextualization, causation, continuity and change over time, evaluating evidence, and evaluating perspective.

History is a discipline, not a content.

These assessments enable educators to assess student learning accordingly.

*Assessments will be uploaded as they are completed during the Spring of 2026.