Contact: Douglas Levin, (703) 684-4000 x1109

The National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) is pleased to announce that Laura Slover, a member of the District of Columbia State Board of Education, has been chosen to serve on a year-long NASBE study group to make policy recommendations on comprehensive student assessment systems for the 21st century learner.

“The NASBE membership has identified student assessment as one of the most challenging responsibilities they face,” said Brenda Welburn, NASBE Executive Director. “The changing environment and demands of school reform in the 21st century require reexamination of the roles for state student assessment systems in promoting student achievement. State Boards are reevaluating their decision points with a focus on equity and access and on the opportunities offered by the expansion of data systems under development at the state level.”

As part of the 20-member national study group, Slover will meet with other state policymakers, student assessment experts, and education reform leaders over the course of the year to examine assessment issues with direct policy implications for State Boards of Education and other national, state, and local education policymakers.

Specifically, the NASBE study group will examine how assessment can promote standards for 21st century learning and measure students’ progress in meeting those standards; the multiple purposes for testing and the implications for standards-based reform; how assessment systems can leverage ongoing improvements in teaching and learning; technology applications in assessments; professional preparation and training needed to use assessments to support high-quality teaching; and, school-wide data tracking and decision making to ensure quality teaching and student learning.

The study group will issue a comprehensive report in October 2009 at the NASBE Annual Conference in Cincinnati. Policy recommendations also will be distributed to all governors, state superintendents, other state and local education policymakers, national education groups, Congress and federal officials.

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NASBE, nasbe.org, represents America’s state and territorial boards of education. Our principal objectives are to strengthen state leadership in education policymaking; advocate equality of access to educational opportunity; promote excellence in the education of all students; and assure responsible lay governance of education.