2023 Fall Webinar Series: Equity and Assessment for Learning

A Webinar Series organized by the NCME Classroom Assessment Committee

Assessment for learning (Also known as ‘formative assessment’) can lead to profound changes in how students approach learning and substantial impacts on student achievement. Assessment for learning is a planned, instructionally embedded process whereby teachers and students communicate around goals and purposes for learning, monitor learning progress, generate feedback, then use this information to take steps to adjust future teaching and learning. Join us for a two-part webinar series to learn about how assessment for learning can be a powerful tool to enhance equity – conceptualized in diverse ways – within schools, classrooms, and with students.

  • Part 1: Presentation held on Monday, September 25, 2023 with Dr. Erin Furtak (University of Colorado, Boulder) and Dr. Hosun Kang (University of California, Irvine). Click here to view the recording.

  • Part 2: Panel discussion held on Tuesday, October 3, 2023 with Dr. Elena Diaz-Bilello (University of Colorado, Boulder), Dr. Megan Bang (Northwestern University), and Dra. Alyssa G. Cavazos (University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley). Click here to view the recording.


 

Invited Speakers

 


Erin Marie Furtak, Ph.D.

Professor of STEM Education

University of Colorado at Boulder

 


 

A former high school science teacher, Dr. Furtak transitioned into a career studying how science teachers learn and improve their daily classroom practices through formative assessment. In her projects, she has worked in long-term partnership with teachers and school districts; more recently, she has explored how families and students can guide the ways teachers adapt and design science classroom assessments that sustain students' languages, practices, and interests. 

 

Hosun Kang, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Science Education/Teacher Education

University of California, Irvine

 


 

Dr. Kang studies the processes of transforming science teaching and learning at schools toward a more equitable, just, and sustainable future. In her community-engagement partnership project, she works with teachers, teacher leaders, and students to co-design engaging and empowering learning environments, with a specific emphasis on justice-centered curriculum and assessment. 

 

Megan Bang, Ph.D.

Professor of Learning Sciences

Northwestern University

 


 

Dr. Megan Bang (Ojibwe and Italian descent) studies dynamics of culture, learning, and development broadly with a specific focus on the complexities of navigating multiple meaning systems in creating and implementing more effective and just learning environments in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics education.

 

Alyssa G. Cavazos, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Writing and Language Studies 

Directora, Center for Teaching Excellence 

University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

 

 


 

As a bilingual academic who learned English as a second language, Dra. Cavazos teaches undergraduate and graduate coursework in writing studies through pedagogical and scholarly interests that center language difference in the teaching of writing, translingual writing across communities, professional development in higher education, and border rhetorics. She was awarded the University of Texas System 2017 Regents’ Outstanding Teaching Award, the 2017 UTRGV Excellence Award in Teaching, and serves as a fellow in the UT System Academy of Distinguished Teachers. She is committed to designing linguistically inclusive pedagogies, which can lead to students’ academic success across academic disciplines in higher education. 

 

Elena Diaz-Bilello, Ph.D.

Associate Director, The Center for Assessment, Design, Research and Evaluation (CADRE)

University of Colorado Boulder

 


 

Dr. Diaz-Bilello collaborates with state agencies, school districts, and educational organizations to develop practical and sound approaches for addressing assessment and educational policy challenges.  She draws on her background in measurement, evaluation and policy to help design, implement and evaluate educational reforms and initiatives, and to develop comprehensive assessment strategies to foster deeper learning for all students.