Keynote Presentations

Kay Burke

Designing Performance Assessments for the Common Core State Standards
Learn how to work in vertically-aligned teacher teams to “repack” the Common Core State Standards to plan effective instruction. Practice adding student-friendly synonyms, definitions, examples, and graphics to explain the language of the standards so students understand the key concepts. Reflect on the rationale for creating student checklists and analytical rubrics to provide ongoing formative feedback to students. Create meaningful and relevant performance tasks to engage students in authentic learning.

Anne Davies

Knowing What Counts: Engaging Learners in Assessment
What counts when it comes to supporting increased learning and achievement? Dr. Davies will report current research findings and share practical ideas using examples from early childhood to high school.

Richard DuFour

Quality Assessment: Necessary, But Not Sufficient, for Improving Student Achievement
While high-quality assessments are necessary for improving schools, they are not sufficient. Assessments will only be a catalyst for higher levels of student learning if they are part of a continuous process to (1) inform and improve professional practice and (2) address the specific needs of students who need intervention or enrichment. Dr. DuFour offers specific strategies for using assessment to improve the learning of both students and adults.

Tammy Heflebower

The Process for Leading the Design of High-Quality Classroom Assessments
Teachers make important evaluations about student achievement regularly. How do you know if such decisions are based on sound assessment results? Dr. Heflebower shares a process for assuring that assessments meet quality criteria. Meeting the criteria would assure the technical quality of the assessments and validate the use for student performance reporting. Gain ideas about how to review and revise existing assessments for quality, and learn formats for engaging other staff in this essential work.

Robert J. Marzano

Standards-Based Grading and Reporting: Recommendations From the Field
Learn how to implement an integrated system of assessment and grading that will enhance both teaching and learning. Dr. Marzano provides specific information on the benefits of formative assessment and explains how to design and interpret three different types. He also illustrates the necessary changes in instruction that must accompany a rigorous formatively based approach to assessment. Finally, he explains and exemplifies new approaches to grading that better support formative assessment.

Ken O’Connor

The Last Frontier: Tackling the Grading Dilemma
While many schools and districts have made significant advances in curriculum, instruction, and assessment, grading practices have not changed. This frequently leads to a lack of alignment that is particularly common in middle and high schools. Ken focuses on ways to solve the grading dilemma by following eight guidelines that make grades consistent, accurate, meaningful, and supportive of learning.

Dylan Wiliam

Content, Then Process: Teacher Learning Communities in the Service of Formative Assessment
Effective implementation of formative assessment requires the formation of building-based teacher learning communities (TLCs) in which teachers hold one another accountable and support one another. Gain practical techniques to embed formative assessment in regular classroom practice, and learn how TLCs can be established and sustained within schools and districts to support teachers.

Kenneth Williams

A Willingness to Be Disturbed
As educators work together to ensure high levels of learning for all in the 21st century, they need to develop what Margaret Wheatley refers to as a “willingness to be disturbed,” to have their beliefs challenged by best practice, sound research, and peer insight. Ken takes participants on a journey that explores the small shifts in language that translate into seismic paradigm shifts in thinking and, more importantly, in practice.