assessment

Forum on Educational Accountability (FEA)
http://www.edaccountability.org

for further information:
Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773
cell (239) 699-0468

for release at 1pm, Wed., March 17, 2010 panel – 1333 H St., NW, Suite 300, East Tower, DC

for more information, contact
Dr. Monty Neill  (617) 522-0801
Bob Schaeffer  (239) 395-6773

for immediate release, Wednesday evening, January 27, 2010

The following principles are drawn from the report of the Expert Panel on Assessment of the Forum on Educational Accountability and represent a launching point from which conference discussions on what is necessary to construct high-quality assessment and accountability systems may begin.

1. Ensure all students have equitable and adequate access to the resources needed to succeed.

2. Construct comprehensive and coherent systems of state and local assessments of student learning that:

These remarks were delivered by Monty Neill, Ed.D., Interim Executive Director of FairTest, as part of a panel discussion following a keynote presentation by Dr. James Pellegrino.

Thank you. I am very happy to be with you today, and I am looking forward to a very interesting, challenging and productive conference.

I'd like to make two main points:

    First, the need to shift from an accountability model to a shared responsibility approach. 

Materials from FairTest-National Education Association State Assessment Reform Conference

Transforming State Assessment Systems: Conference Materials

In May 2009, FairTest and the National Education Association held a conference on transforming state assessment systems. Materials from this conference include:

- Potential Principles for Building High-Quality State Assessment Systems (a starting point for conference discussions)

During the presidential campaign, FairTest paid close attention to the candidates whenever they addressed No Child Left Behind. It will be some time before President-Elect Barack Obama takes action that will flesh out the mostly vague statements he made while campaigning, and even longer before anything specific happens with the federal education law. In the meantime, here is a compilation of his comments on NCLB from his web site and the campaign trail.

Contact: Gary Ratner
Executive Director, Citizens for Effective Schools
301 469-8000                               

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Forum on Educational Accountability Successful in its Efforts to Improve the Higher Education Act, P.L. 110-315

See the short video FairTest: You can't judge learning with a standardized test available on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkJlst6vDyY.

For Immediate Release, June 23, 2008

Contact:

Lisa Guisbond 617-730-5445, 617-959-2371 (cell)
Jim Nehring 978-772-9749
David Krane 617-276-6241 (cell)
Ruth Rodriguez-Fay (508) 353-7888 (cell)
Trudy Knowles (413) 562-5337 (home) (413) 572-5724 (work)

Readiness Project Members Criticize Final Report on MCAS and Assessments; Say MCAS Overhaul is Urgently Needed to address Negative Consequences

The Readiness Project subcommittee charged with reviewing MCAS and assessment expressed an urgent need for substantive change to the current system. To underscore this sense of urgency, the subcommittee’s consensus report echoes Brown v. Board of Education, saying, “In order to move toward important new educational goals, MCAS – as the ‘system’ it was originally intended to be – must evolve significantly and that evolution must begin with deliberate speed.”

Findings