CAE and State Education Leaders Explore How Assessments Should be Reimagined to Better Prepare Students for Future Success at NCSA 2024
2024年6月19日 - 1:21AM
The Council for Aid to Education, Inc. (CAE), a nonprofit developer
of performance-based assessments that authentically measure
students’ essential academic and career skills, today announced
that it will participate in a panel discussion, “Assessment
Reimagined,” at this year’s Council of Chief State School Officers
(CCSSO) National Conference on Student Assessments (NCSA). Johnny
Key, former Arkansas Secretary of Education, will facilitate the
panel featuring Kirsten Baesler, North Dakota State Superintendent
of K12 Schools, Dr. T. Nakia Towns, Chief Operating Officer at the
Accelerate–The National Collaborative for Accelerated Learning and
CAE Board Member, Dr. Denise Airola, Director at the Office of
Innovation for Education at the University of Arkansas, and CAE’s
Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Doris Zahner. The conversation will
explore new assessment models that enable states and districts to
measure, evaluate, and ensure that their graduates possess
academic, technical, and future-ready skills including problem
solving, critical thinking, and communication.
Educators, policymakers, employers, and community leaders agree
that to prepare students for the job market of today and tomorrow,
institutions can no longer rely solely on traditional academic
achievement measures such as summative test scores and grades. In
fact, a growing consensus of education leaders and stakeholders are
advocating for more holistic approaches to measuring student
achievement.
At the end of 2023, 17 states and 126 school districts had
adopted a Portrait of a Graduate with many more finalizing theirs.
Every state in the U.S. has some form of competency-based education
(CBE) in place, which advocates say is more personalized, gives
students room to grow in their learning, and ensures that graduates
are prepared for the challenges and opportunities they’ll encounter
in the adult world. These frameworks guide schools in developing
curricula, assessment, and learning experiences that support the
development of future-ready skills and attributes in their
students.
“Portraits always include competencies such as critical
thinking, problem solving, collaboration, and communication,”
explains panelist Dr. Towns. “But the current assessment model of
only measuring numeracy and literacy skills doesn’t align with
these competencies nor with the mastery approach of
competency-based learning. We need a new approach that measures
what students can do, not just what they can remember.”
During the discussion, panelists will share their perspectives
on the aspects of high-quality, appropriate assessment models.
Additionally, examples of current approaches that have been
implemented and scaled in K12 will be presented. Dr. Zahner will
provide insight into why performance-based assessments are such a
powerful tool to ensure the success of educational models like
competency-based learning by measuring not only students’ content
knowledge, but their proficiency with critical thinking, problem
solving, and written communication skills, providing a roadmap for
student improvement.
“Assessments can’t just be about accountability,” shares Mr.
Key, who will moderate the panel discussion. “The assessment model
we envision, and is already in practice in some districts, embraces
experiences of and expectations for students, supports student
agency, facilitates family engagement, and informs instruction.
It’s a game changer for today’s students and absolutely necessary
in order to prepare young people for success whatever the future
holds for them.”
The session titled “Assessment Reimagined” will occur on June
24, 2024, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. PT at NCSA in Seattle, Washington.
Visit the NCSA website for details.
About CAEAs a nonprofit whose mission is to
help improve the academic and career outcomes of secondary and
higher education students, CAE is the leader in designing
innovative performance tasks for measurement and instruction of
higher-order skills and within subject areas.
Over the past 20 years, CAE has helped over 825,000 students
globally understand and improve their proficiency in critical
thinking, problem solving, and effective written communication.
Additionally, CAE’s subject area assessments have helped millions
of K12 students across the US. Supported by best practices in
assessment development, administration and psychometrics, CAE’s
performance-based assessments include the Collegiate Learning
Assessment (CLA+) and College and Career Readiness Assessment
(CCRA+). To learn more, please visit cae.org and connect with us on
LinkedIn and YouTube.
Media Contact:Emily Sumneremily.s@spyremarketing.com