Mursky named Director of Professional Learning for Smarter Balanced
Beginning Feb. 4, Chrystyna V. Mursky will fill the role of director of professional learning for the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium.
Mursky will oversee the development of formative assessment strategies and professional learning opportunities for teachers.
Duties of the position include collaboration with Smarter Balanced work groups, content leads, and partners to implement the Formative Assessment Master Work Plan, which describes the process for developing a digital library of formative assessment strategies and practices that enhance day-to-day classroom instruction, as well as online resources to help educators interpret interim and summative score reports.
The plan was approved by 20 governing states in June 2012 and is expected to be fully implemented for the 2014-15 school year, with pilot testing of summative and interim assessment items and performance tasks beginning this spring.
Mursky has taught or served as an administrator at every level, from K-12 to higher education, and has been involved in education for more than 30 years. Most recently, she served as a statewide program director for the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, where she oversaw reforms designed to improve equity and student performance. Mursky also designed and implemented professional development activities on educator effectiveness, curriculum development, effective instructional strategies, balanced assessment systems, response to intervention, and the Common Core State Standards. She received her Ph.D. in educational policy and leadership from Marquette University.
The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium brings together states to create a common assessment system for mathematics and English language arts that is aligned with the Common Core State Standards. The Consortium's projects are funded through a four-year, $175 million grant from the United States Department of Education, making up 99 percent of activity resources, with the remaining support provided through contributions of charitable foundations.
For more information visit smarterbalanced.org.
About the Author
Kevin Hudson is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Oregon. He can be reached at [email protected].