The Future of Education: New Considerations Around Educational Assessment

April 13, 4:00 pm ET

The Spencer Foundation has teamed up with Phi Delta Kappan to publish a series of thought pieces about the kinds of schools and learning opportunities it may be possible to create in the coming decades. Grantmakers for Education is organizing a series of conversations for our members around the themes being explored and implications for grantmaking. Join funders, researchers, educators, students and advocates in exploring what may be possible and how it could shape your work.

Session 4: New Considerations Around Educational Assessment

For too long, we have accepted many aspects of educational assessment as givens: Letter grades. Tests scored on a scale from 0 to 100. Using a single test on a day each spring to judge whether schools are serving our children. So many of these practices serve as gatekeepers — sorting and selecting students for supposedly scarce opportunities. It’s hard to imagine any other way of thinking about assessments. Looking forward, how can we ensure that our assessment practices are more valid, useful and just? And what has the pandemic taught us that we should keep in mind as we build new assessment systems?

The Phi Delta Kappan article related to this session is Reimagining American education: Possible futures for equitable educational assessment.

This event is intended for members and other education grantmakers. There is no cost to attend this program. Sessions will run for one hour.

There is no cost to attend this Grantmakers for Education program. Registration closes 15 minutes prior to the program time. Thank you for your patience; we review each registration in advance.

About the Presenters

Gabriela López
Director Research to Practice Measures
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

Gabriela López serves as Director of Research to Practice Measures at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, which is focused on the development of measures and evidence gathering grounded in racial equity and justice as well as the science of learning and human development. Prior to joining the Education team at CZI, Gabriela served as Director of Early Childhood Program Quality Assessment and Equity Implementation in the Center for Child and Family Studies at WestEd. Prior to that she was a Senior Research Associate at the Office of Education and Community Initiatives, an off campus research office at the University of California, Riverside.

Dr. William Penuel
Professor
Institute of Cognitive Science and School of Education, University of Colorado

William R. Penuel is a professor of learning sciences and human development in the School of Education at the University of Colorado Boulder. His current research examines conditions needed to implement rigorous, responsive, and equitable teaching practices in STEM education. With colleagues from across the country, he is developing and testing new models for supporting implementation through long-term partnerships between educators and researchers. Currently, Penuel has partnerships with large school districts and a national association of state science coordinators focused on implementing the vision of science education outlined in a Framework for K-12 Science Education. As a co-Principal Investigator of the Research+Practice Collaboratory, he is developing resources to help people build and sustain research-practice partnerships. Penuel is currently Principal Investigator for the National Center for Research in Policy and Practice, which is focused on how school and district leaders use research. He is one of the developers of an approach to improvement research called Design-Based Implementation Research.

Dr. Joshua Starr
Chief Executive Officer
Phi Delta Kappa International

Dr. Joshua P. Starr has been the Chief Executive Officer of PDK International since July 2015. Since then, PDK has relocated its headquarters to Arlington, VA and celebrated 50 years of the PDK Poll and 100 years of Kappan magazine. Under Dr. Starr, PDK has expanded Educators Rising across the nation, including launching Educators Rising Collegiate, increased foundation support for its programs, and renewed support for PDK members and other educator scholars. He is the author of numerous essays, book chapters and op-eds and writes a monthly column, “On Leadership,” for Kappan.

Prior to joining PDK, Dr. Starr was superintendent of schools in Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland for nearly four years and previously superintendent of schools for Stamford, Conn., for six years. Dr. Starr began his career teaching special education in Brooklyn, N.Y. He became a central office leader in school districts in the NY metropolitan area and served in the New York City Department of Education.

Dr. Starr has a bachelor’s degree in English and History from the University of Wisconsin, a master’s degree in special education from Brooklyn College, and a doctorate in education from the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Dr. Starr and his wife have three children who have gone through public schools.

Dr. Ivory A. Toldson
Professor, Editor-In-Chief, and Director of Education Innovation and Research
Howard University, The Journal of Negro Education and NAACP

Dr. Ivory A. Toldson is the national director of Education Innovation and Research for the NAACP, professor of counseling psychology at Howard University and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Negro Education. Previously, Dr. Toldson was appointed by President Barack Obama to devise national strategies to sustain and expand federal support to HBCUs as the executive director of the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (WHIHBCUs). He also served as president and CEO of the QEM Network and contributing education editor for The Root, where he debunked some of the most pervasive myths about African-Americans in his Show Me the Numbers column. Dr. Toldson is the executive editor of the Journal of Policy Analysis and Research, published by the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. He is also the author of Brill Bestseller, No BS (Bad Stats): Black People Need People Who Believe in Black People Enough Not to Believe Every Bad Thing They Hear about Black People. Dr. Toldson is ranked among the nation’s top education professors as a member of Education Week’s Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, an annual list recognizes university-based scholars across the nation who are champions in shaping educational practice and policy.