Events
National Conference on Next Generation K – 12 Assessment Systems:
March 8 – 9, 2010
This two-day conference in Washington, D.C., was hosted by the Education Commission of the States and the Council of the Great City Schools, and is sponsored by the Center. More than 250 state and large urban district leaders and national policy leaders engaged in exploration of the opportunities, options and challenges ahead in the development of new comprehensive assessment systems.
- NEW! Download the report on the conference and assessment system models presented.
- NEW! Watch videos of the assessment models being presented at the conference.
- Watch a highlights video of the conference.
- Read brief summaries of the assessment system models presented by leading educational and measurement experts, as well as the full papers and PowerPoint presentations.
- Watch a video of the panel discussion involving Governor Roy Romer, Checker Finn and Jon Schnur, about the uniqueness and urgency of this moment in American history.
- View results of the pre-conference survey of the policy objectives that should drive the design of these future systems.
"We need tools to make every classroom - virtual or concrete - a learning lab where, at the end, none of our children are at a disadvantage because of differences in where they live and learn, or variations in the challenges they face, or misalignment in standards and assessments that guide our decisions. This conference was an important step in taking us further down the right path."
Katherine Blasik, Broward County Public Schools, Florida
Exploratory Seminar on Next Generation K – 12 Assessment Systems:
December 6 – 8, 2009
This two-day preparatory activity explored and synthesized the current state of the field, upcoming challenges and the most powerful potential uses of the Race to the Top assessment funds. This seminar brought together leading researchers in the areas of student growth and formative/interim assessments. Policy briefs and full Research Papers from the seminar are now available.
The Center for K – 12 Assessment & Performance Management will continue to convene leading measurements experts and practitioners to help advance the state of knowledge and practice to create the "next generation" of comprehensive K – 12 assessment systems.
In order to address the unprecedented national opportunity created by the development of the Common Core Standards and Race to the Top (RTTT) with the most far-reaching impact, the work is grounded in two assumptions:
- The Common Core Standards will be adopted by a majority of states and will drive unprecedented focus and innovation in the tools, approaches and supports that help students achieve those rigorous standards.
- The upcoming competition and subsequent award of $350 million in RTTT assessment funding will create unparalleled opportunity to develop next-generation assessment systems that yield significantly richer data to inform both instruction and management.
Created by Educational Testing Service (ETS) to forward a larger social mission, the Center for K – 12 Assessment & Performance Management has been given the directive to serve as an independent catalyst and resource for the improvement of measurement and data systems to enhance student achievement.