A National Collaboration on Diagnostic Assessments
Industry, government and education leaders gathered at North Carolina State University for a national conference at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation earlier this week. The conference focused on diagnostic assessment and how emerging research on learning trajectories and modern technologies can assess students’ learning of mathematics. These assessments help teachers to diagnose student understanding of key mathematical concepts and target appropriate interventions.
Designing Technology-Enabled Diagnostic Assessments for K-12 Mathematics was a working conference organized into panels, working groups and synthesizers. The meeting was led by the Friday Institute’s Dr. Jere Confrey, Senior Research Fellow and Joseph D. Moore Distinguished Professor; Dr. Alan Maloney, Senior Research Fellow and Extension Associate Professor; and Dr. Glenn Kleiman, Executive Director. The conference brought together mathematicians, mathematics educators, science educators, psychometricians, assessment experts, and technology designers, from universities, state departments of education, and corporate and foundation partners.
“We are on the brink of dramatically new models to guide effective classroom instruction,” said Dr. Confrey. “These will be based on empirical based models of cognitive progress over time, the use of new measurement models, the deployment of innovative technologies, all of which serve to support teacher's instruction and student learning. The folks at the meeting are poised to collaboratively define these models.”
The conference provided the nation’s leading experts the opportunity to share their work, discuss challenges and lessons learned, explore opportunities to collaborate, give recommendations, and contribute to resources that will inform researchers, practitioners, and policymakers. Participants took information presented by the panels and engaged in cross-cutting discussion, as well as, developed recommendations for next steps in the development of technology-enabled diagnostic assessment system to support classroom learning in K-12 mathematics.
“This national conference is just one example of how NC State University is paving a new path in public education reform,” said Chancellor Randy Woodson, NC State University.
Click here for more information about the conference.
Click Here for pictures from the conference.