National Forum on the Future of Assessment & Accountability

 

The application window closed October 4th

Learning Agenda:

We are seeking sessions to support attendees in advancing their understanding of the following questions:

How might we measure student academic learning more equitably and effectively?

  • How well are new academic assessment designs and innovations working to solve long-standing challenges with testing in K12 education?
  • What enables assessment innovations to effectively move from early stage R&D to implementation at scale?
  • What is the vision for a future of academic assessments that integrates artificial intelligence and advances student learning?

What is the current state and future vision for use of broader measures to evaluate student success and school quality?

  • Which measures effectively support school and system improvement? Which measures should be used locally (at the school or district levels) and which should be integrated into state or federal systems?
  • What could an effective model that integrates data across local, state and federal systems and supports understanding of student success and school quality look like in practice?
  • Broader measures may include those that evaluate school conditions or conditions of learning, 21st century skills,  social emotional learning and student well-being. 

What is the vision for future accountability systems that build trust and transparency and drive improvement?

  • What have we learned from past, current and emerging accountability designs and innovations?
  • What approaches work to engage key stakeholders (families, students, community members) to build buy-in for systems change?

Priority topics:

In addition to answering one or more of the above learning agenda questions, we are seeking sessions that could address the following priority topics:

  1. Breaking the silos: Research/practice, policy/implementation, academics/assessment/science of learning and development, data collection/utility
  2. Finding the balance: Federal guardrails, state agency and local control
  3. Defining student success and school quality: Academic achievement, measures for the future and conditions of learning

Session selection criteria:

Session proposals should address at least one of the learning agenda questions and at least one of the priority topics. We will select sessions that demonstrate:

    1. Alignment to the learning agenda and priority topics
    2. Collaboration across multiple organizations or perspectives
    3. Clarity of objectives and actionable insights
    4. Focus on equity to ensure that all students receive the support and resources they need to be successful

Session types

Roundtable Discussion – 60 minutes
Session leaders moderate a discussion that focuses on building understanding of multiple perspectives on a key issue or topic. Moderators should aim to support attendees in surfacing key tensions, areas of agreement or disagreement and needs for moving the education field forward.

Action Planning Workshop – 75 minutes
Session leaders facilitate a working session that focuses on seeking input, consultation on a problem of practice, collaboration or guidance from attendees to move an innovation, research idea or policy forward.

Demonstration and Dialogue – 90 minutes
Session leaders share a brief overview of a current innovation, policy or study being researched, piloted or implemented, surface key learnings and findings to date and engage participants in a dialogue to build buy-in and understanding.

The application window closed October 4th

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