Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Assessment Webinar by Forum on Educational Accountability

About FEA:


FEA PUBLIC EVENTS
Transforming ESEA: Helping Public Schools ImproveTransforming ESEA is a series of public discussions sponsored by the Forum on Educational Accountability. Forthcoming forums includeTransforming ESEA to Meet the Needs of all Learners, addressing needs of English language learners and students with disabilities; and on how the federal government can help schools, districts and states build their capacity to serve all students well.
_________________________________________________ 
CURRENT EVENT:
High Quality Assessment for Instruction and Accountability
An FEA Webinar

High-quality assessment is an essential part of teaching and learning and provides valuable information about school quality and progress. This webinar will present two methods for gathering detailed information – the Learning Record, and performance assessments developed by the New York Performance Standards Consortium. These provide rich feedback to students and teachers, summarize student progress, and in aggregate provide valid and reliable information for public reporting and accountability. We will also discuss how these proven approaches to assessment can inform state and federal policy. The more comprehensive information they provide is more useful than relying heavily on standardized tests. The webinar will begin with three short presentations, followed by questions and discussion.
Who:   Ann Cook, Executive Director, New York Performance Standards Consortium     
            Sally Thomas, former director, Center for Language in Learning/Learning Record
            Monty Neill, Executive Director, Fairtest; Chair, Forum on Educational Accountability
            Moderator: Tom Zembar, Senior Policy Analyst, NEA
When: September 27, 2012, 3:30 – 4:30 Eastern time
To participate: Before 3:30 Eastern time, go tohttps://www.livemeeting.com/cc/nea1/join?id=P7GMW8&role=attend&pw=feaEPP310%24. The slides will come up automatically on your screen. For audio, follow the phone instructions. If you have any problems, see more detailed instructions on the following page or at [fea site page with more detailed instructions]; first time users should read this information.
Presenters:
            Ann Cook directs the Consortium, a coalition of New York State public high schools that have designed a highly successful performance-based assessment system that is practitioner-designed, student focused and externally assessed. She is founding co-director of Urban Academy Laboratory High School in NYC. Seehttp://www.performanceassessment.org.
            Sally Thomas  is a long time teacher, teacher educator, and researcher; user of the Learning Record in grades 2-3, 5-6, HS English, and in teacher education programs; LR coach and Co-Director of the Center for Language in Learning which supported the LR nationally. See http://www.fairtest.org/learning-record.
            Monty Neill, Ed.D., has led FairTest’s work on testing in the public schools for more than 25 years. FairTest advances quality education and equal opportunity by promoting fair, open, valid and educationally beneficial evaluations of students, teachers and schools. Seehttp://www.fairtest.org.
The Forum on Educational Accountability bases its work on the Joint Organizational Statement on NCLB, signed by more than 150 national education, civil rights, religious, disability, parent and civic organizations. FEA has offered proposals for overhauling NCLB/ESEA. Its work on assessment includes the report, Assessment and Accountability for Improving Schools and Learning. Seehttp://www.edaccountability.org.

FEA Assessment Webinar - ATTENDEE LOGIN INFORMATION

FEA and Karen Johnson (NEA) have invited you to attend an online meeting using Live Meeting. Click this link toJoin the meeting<https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/nea1/join?id=P7GMW8&role=attend&pw=feaEPP310%24>.
The slide show will come up automatically. For audio, follow the instructions below (which also will appear on the Live Meeting screen). Please check in before the webinar starts at 3:30 Eastern time, Sept. 27, allowing enough time to link to audio.  
Audio Information 
Telephone conferencing
Choose one of the following:
  • Start Live Meeting client, and then in Voice & Video pane under Join Audio options, click Call Me. The conferencing service will call you at the number you specify. (Recommended)
  • Use the information below to connect:
    Toll-free: +1 (866) 642-1665
    Toll: +1 (719) 387-8317
    Participant code: 494957
First Time Users: 
To save time before the meeting, check your system <http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=90703> to make sure it is ready to use Microsoft Office Live Meeting.

Troubleshooting
Unable to join the meeting? Follow these steps:
If you still cannot enter the meeting, contact support 
Notice 
Microsoft Office Live Meeting can be used to record meetings. By participating in this meeting, you agree that your communications may be monitored or recorded at any time during the meeting.