Assessment

KnowledgeWorks, Center for Assessment Launch Site to Prep Ed Leaders for Accountability Pilots

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 07/27/16

KnowledgeWorks and the National Center for the Improvement of Assessment are launching a new website, innovativeassessments.org, to help education representatives understand the requirements of the applications for the Innovative Assessment and Accountability Demonstration Authority.

Through the Every Student Succeeds Act's (ESSA) Innovative Assessment and Accountability Demonstration Authority, seven states will be selected to pilot assessment systems in a group of districts with the aim of eventually implementing them across the state.

"We know many states are intrigued by this opportunity but don't necessarily know where to start," said Matt Williams, KnowledgeWorks vice president of policy and advocacy, in a prepared statement. "Our goal with this project is to give states the roadmap so this becomes a strong option for redefining their education system."

"The site will include seven briefs, diving deeper into the readiness conditions," according to a news release. "Specifically, the briefs will help states and districts identify the critical steps they will need to incorporate in their planning and design processes as they prepare for an application opportunity. The first three resources are already available."

The first brief offers an overview of the pilot program's intent and flexibility and aims to help state leaders develop a vision for a pilot system. The second offers challenges and opportunities of developing or selecting an assessment system. The third brief "helps states clarify the definition of comparability and provides in-depth examples of the design features and implementation processes that would support claims of comparability in an innovative assessment and accountability system," according to information released by the organizations.

"We have learned a lot about the challenges and opportunities with innovative assessment and accountability systems through our deep work with New Hampshire's Performance Assessment of Competency Education (PACE) pilot," said Scott Marion, executive director of the Center for Assessment. "These briefs provide an opportunity to share and generalize our experience for states considering pursuing this flexibility."