Pearson is Nashville Bound!

Pearson is excited about our opportunity to share aspects of our research agenda with participants of the annual CCSSO Conference on Large Scale Assessment. Each year, CCSSO sponsors many important events supporting education, but the main opportunity for all of us to get together is the annual assessment conference. This year, the conference is venturing back across the Mississippi river to the "Volunteer State." I, for one, look forward to exploring Nashville and anticipate another wonderfully informative conference.

Based on just the presentations sponsored by or accepted from Pearson, the conference is likely to be another big success.

CCSSO Sessions for 2007
(Dates and Times are tentative. Please consult the conference program for final arrangements.)

Sunday, June 17, 3:45 - 5:15 pm
Assessments for English Language Learners: Validity Evidence from California and Texas
-Kimberly O'Malley

Leveraging Technology for State Assessments: Testing Directors Share Current Initiatives and Future Visions
-Denny Way

Monday, June 16, 8:00 - 10:00 am
Vertical Integration of Benchmarks and Standards: Including Alternate Assessments in Evaluating Growth
-Scott Davies

Gridded Response Items: Should They Be Used in High-Stakes Testing?
-Kimberly O'Malley, Rob Kirkpatrick, Ahmet Turhan

1:30 - 3:00 pm
Anticipated/Unanticipated Consequences of NCLB: An Applied Psychometric Perspective from Testing Industry Leaders
-Jon Twing

Can Statewide Assessments Identify Students Ready for College without ACT or SAT Scores?
-Jon Twing (Organizer)

3:30 - 5:00 pm
Comparability of Two Common Test Variations
-Steve Fitzpatrick

Comprehensive Integration of Paper/Pencil and Online Testing - Making It Happen: Program Management and Operational Perspective
-Kim Carson

Tuesday, June 19, 8:15 - 9:45 am
Innovative Science Assessment Supports for Students with Disabilities
-Michael Harms

Improving the Working Relationships Between States and Their Contractors - Steps Each can Take
-Michael Hussey

1:45 - 3:35 pm
Portfolio- and Events-Based Approaches to Alternate Assessments: Improvements on Assessing the 1% Student Population
-Scott Davies, Karen Squires, and Linda Zimmerman (Organizers)

Challenges and Opportunities in Designing Innovative Computer-based Test Items
-Ellen Strain-Seymore

Using New Automated Technologies to Scoring Writing Assessments
-Paul Nichols, Karen Lochbaum

4:15 - 5:50 pm
Field Testing to Support Assessment Programs: Options, Pitfalls, and Technical Considerations
-Rob Kirkpatrick

Wednesday, June 20, 9:00 - 10:30 am
Standard Setting Approaches for Alternate Assessments: Experiences and Research
-Scott Davies