Andy Middlestead, Michigan Department of Education, Vince Verges, Florida Department of Education, and Joyce Zurkowski, Colorado Department of Education
As NCME President Dr. Steve Sireci shared in his message this summer, NCME is committed to providing instructional resources and other assistance to support high quality educational assessments in US public schools and elsewhere. Toward his vision to put the “E” back in NCME, the organization is renewing its commitment to get closer to our colleagues who are actually doing the testing at the state, district, and classroom levels; and in higher education and credentialing.
One significant way that this work has already begun is via the establishment of the first Special Interest Group in Measurement in Education, which is the Special Interest Group for State and Local Assessment Directors. The ‘SALAD SIGIMIE’ is chaired by Andy Middlestead (MI), with assistance from two officers, Vince Verges (FL), and Joyce Zurkowski (CO). All three are the assessment directors for their respective states. The SALAD SIGMIE is sponsoring both a special session and a workshop for state and local assessment directors at the April NCME annual meeting in San Francisco. The abstracts for the session and workshop are included below.
In a related initiative, all state assessment directors were notified over the summer that NCME would be offering free annual memberships for each, or their designee. To date, 32 states have taken advantage of the offer and now have NCME memberships. We look forward to collaborating with them to advance the field of educational measurement as a whole.
Workshop: Making Measurement Matter: A Practical Guide for Assessment Directors and Test Users
Abstract:
The body of knowledge needed to successfully manage an assessment program is vast, whether the program consists of only one assessment or many. Those charged with managing these programs may come from very diverse backgrounds, and many may not have any formal training in educational measurement. Without adequate support and access to relevant resources and expertise, assessment directors and test users may find themselves in difficult positions in the event of missteps at any of the phases of the program – from item and test development, to test administration, scoring, and reporting of assessment results. The purpose of this workshop is to explore some of the topics that are key for those both new and experienced in these program management roles. Workshop facilitators will address some of the fundamental ideas regarding educational measurement; challenges and possible solutions to administering tests with fidelity; and how to communicate the interpretations of test scales, scores, and sub-scores to the layperson. The workshop will provide planned opportunities for small-group and whole-group discussions of these topics. Workshop takeaways will be new or refreshed knowledge of the basics of educational measurement, and ideas for addressing some of the key challenges for practitioners.
Session: Testing Time: The Push and Pull in High-Stakes State Accountability Assessments
Abstract:
Due to the increased rigor of statewide curriculum standards, and to the public outcry against “over-testing” students in public schools, “testing time” has become a regular conversation in state education agencies and amongst the measurement community. New content standards call for students to demonstrate mastery of the deep, rich skills intended to be taught in schools. This development has caused state education agencies, assessment consortia, and the measurement community to build tests aligned to these expectations. Unfortunately, though not entirely unexpectedly, these tests greatly increased the amount of time students spent on their annual state accountability exams, which has put many state agencies in the difficult position of being required to reduce testing time, maintain the initial construct the assessments were intended to measure, support reporting structures that educators find useful, allow for comparability to support the continuation of accountability systems, and become entrenched in state politics like never before. In this session, we will address the issue of testing time head on by having three presentations from professionals directly impacted by these issues—a state assessment director, a teacher, and an education policy maker—followed by a blue-ribbon panel to discuss these issues. Audience discussion will also be facilitated.