Following recognition from the federal government regarding their work with assessments, three Brockport Central School District staff members attended an exclusive convention in Washington, D.C. on December 7.
Director of Teacher and Student Success Suzanne Goff and Instructional Coaches Lisa Montanaro and Kirstin Penders were three of only 100 education leaders invited from around the country to the event titled, “The White House Convening on Better, Fewer and Fairer Assessments.”
The convention, which was a collaboration between the White House and Department of Education, aimed to facilitate discussions surrounding ways to improve testing while aligning with the President’s Testing Action Plan, which was released last year.
Brockport Central School District’s Strategic Plan has focused on its curriculum design process, including assessment design, for the past three years. The district’s current curriculum and assessment design framework parallels the principles of the President’s Testing Action Plan: worth taking, high quality, time-limited, fair and equitable, transparent to students and families, one of multiple measures, and tied to improved learning.
Brockport attendees say the experience was exceptionally gratifying. “This forum and the assessment experts we dialogued with confirmed for us that our strategic efforts in strengthening our assessment framework is what’s best for the students we serve,” said Director of Teacher and Student Success Suzanne Goff. “This experience has inspired us to continue to make reliable, rigorous and relevant assessment design a priority in our district.”
The event featured a wealth of education experts, including Dr. John King, secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, and Gene Wilhoit, director of the National Center for Innovation in Education.
Following opening remarks and a panel discussion, attendees split into breakout sessions and discussions. The event concluded with closing remarks from Cecilia Muñoz, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council.
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