This episode features guest Dr. Anthony Benners, Innovation Advisor & Senior Psychometrician for the NYC Department of Education. Listen to hear how new digital technologies are transforming language assessment in NYC schools, along with Dr. Benner's perspective on principles for promoting assessment innovation across domains.

SPONSOR:

This episode is sponsored by TAO, by Open Assessment Technologies. 

TAO is the leading open-source digital assessment platform for education and career advancement,  delivering well over 100 million tests, in more than 30 languages worldwide. Unlike proprietary, one-size-fits-all software, TAO gives you the freedom, flexibility, and control to evolve with today’s learners  and provide the testing experience that students deserve. To learn more about building better assessments with TAO visit www.taotesting.com.

Learn more about Beyond Multiple Choice and our events exploring the future of assessment at www.beyond-multiple-choice.com. 

Learning Stories are an assessment tool widely used in New Zealand early childhood education programs. Teachers create Learning Stories to authentically assess students by documenting observed areas of growth that occur through various social and educational activities. 

This episode features Rachel Silva, Director of Business Development for Educa, a Learning Story platform. Listen to gain insight into how Learning Stories can be used to make learning more meaningful by engaging families and deepening student-teacher relationships. 

Learn more about Educa.

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Want to learn more from Rachel and dozens of other learning and assessment professionals? 

Register for our upcoming free, virtual Beyond Multiple Choice conference November 1 - 3!

The theme is "Contexts for Innovation in Assessment."

We'll engage with diverse learning and assessment stakeholders from around the globe, including educators, admin,  researchers, policymakers, practitioners, and technology developers.

Presentations will explore cutting-edge assessment approaches in workforce training, K-12, and Higher Education.

Learn more and register at BeyondMultipleChoice.com.

FEATURED GUEST:

Alli Privitt, High School Instructor, Learning Designer, and Educational Consultant

She developed a framework that any facilitator, advisor, coach, leader, and student-facing organization can use to help learners achieve academic success, become more resilient, & fall in love with the learning process.

Connect with Alli on LinkedIn

Timestamps: 

[2:22] Alli shares her personal story that led her to a career in teaching

[7:11] Discussing how Alli's positive early experiences around assessment contributed to her joy for learning

[11:22] How Alli cultivates learning environments where students enjoy the assessment process

[16:42] A cognitive principle that Alli thinks is underemphasized in teacher training

[23:10] Discussing principles of teaching and learning that transcend across various ages and learning environments

[32:01] Alli's vision of learning and assessment in an ideal School of the Future

Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational Assessment is the title of a forthcoming book by Dr. Mary Richardson, Professor of Educational Assessment at UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society.

As a researcher and academic, Dr. Richardon draws on her early experience as a struggling student to inform a deeply empathetic and relational approach to assessment reform. 

Listen to hear her thoughts on what is missing in the current public discourse around assessment and why that should matter to learning professionals everywhere.

Further Resources:

Order Rebuilding Public Confidence in Educational Assessment by Mary Richardson

Follow Mary Richardson on Twitter (@miriched)

Learn more about Beyond Multiple Choice (and register for our upcoming events exploring the future of assessment)

This episode contains a keynote presentation from Beyond Multiple Choice's 2021 April seminar. It is titled “The Future of Assessment Depends on Elevating Culturally-Diverse Leadership” and delivered by Susan Lyons, executive director of the non-profit organization Women in Measurement.

You can find a transcript of the presentation here. 

Further Resources: 

Beyond Multiple Choice

Women in Measurement

Twitter: @susanclyons

Date recorded: November 12, 2021

Show Description:

Today we welcome John Allspaw. John is an engineering leader and researcher with over 20 years of experience in building and leading teams engaged in software and systems engineering. 

He is a co-founder of Adaptive Capacity Labs, LLC. Previously, he was Chief Technology Officer at Etsy. He has also worked at Flickr, Friendster, InfoWorld, Salon, Genentech, Volpe National Transportation Center, and a bunch of other places as a consultant from time to time. 

John has spent the last decade bridging insights from Human Factors, Cognitive Systems Engineering, and Resilience Engineering to the domain of software engineering and operations. 

His publications include the books The Art of Capacity Planning (2009) and Web Operations (2010) as well as the forward to “The DevOps Handbook.” His 2009 Velocity talk with Paul Hammond, “10+ Deploys Per Day: Dev and Ops Cooperation” helped start the DevOps movement. 

He holds a Master’s degree in Human Factors and Systems Safety from Lund University.

Where to find John:

LinkedIn

Twitter

Learn more about NDM:

NaturalisticDecisionMaking.org

Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making

Where to find hosts Brian Moon and Laura Militello:

Brian’s website

Brian’s LinkedIn

Brian’s Twitter

Laura’s website

Laura’s LinkedIn

Laura’s Twitter

Date recorded: October 14th, 2021

In this episode, you'll hear from three educators - at the primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels - about the challenges, changes, and lessons that they've observed in transitioning back to in-person learning. 

Guests: 

Mary Richardson | Professor of Educational Assessment at UCL Institute of Education 

Grahame Smart | Math, Science, and E-Learning Consultant

Alexa Markarian | Assistant Principal at McClure Elementary School in Tulsa, Oklahoma

Date Recorded: May 25, 2021

In this episode, you'll hear from three college-readiness experts. Hear their thoughts about the role of assessment in measuring and cultivating skills that prepare students to thrive in Higher Education--from the admissions process, through their college careers, and beyond.

Host: Brian Moon

Guests: 

● Jeremy Burrus, PhD - Senior Director of Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning Research at ACT

● Doris Zahner, PhD - Chief Academic Officer at the Council for Aid to Education

● Glenn Whitehouse, PhD - Associate Dean for Student Affairs in the College of Arts & Sciences at Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU)

Learn more about Beyond Multiple Choice and our free events exploring the future of assessment at http://beyond-multiple-choice.com/

Timestamps: 

[0:53] Introduction

[2:13] Defining “College Readiness”

[7:12] Implications of the changing nature of college admissions

[12:07] Describing CAE performance-based assessments

[14:52] How FGCU makes use of CAE performance-based assessments

[18:26] ACT’s approach to assessing social-emotional skills

[22:20] Areas of opportunity for innovation in college readiness assessment

[25:59] Barriers for introducing innovations in assessment

[35:07} Closing thoughts

In today's episode, you'll hear from three experts who will also be speaking at our upcoming seminar. Hear their thoughts on how the pandemic has reshaped teaching, learning, and assessment, and how we can harness these changes to promote greater fairness, inclusivity, and overall effectiveness.

Hosted by Jeff Ross.

Guests: 

Batsheva Frankel, Educational Consultant at New Lens Ed.

Okan Bulut, Associate Professor in the Measurement, Evaluation, and Data Science program at the University of Alberta

Sheryl Burgstahler, Director of the DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking, and Technology) Center at the University of Washington

Sign up for free Beyond Multiple Choice events at www.Beyond-Multiple-Choice.com

Date: October 14, 2020

Description: In this episode, you’ll hear from three experts who will also be speaking at our upcoming free virtual conference: Kristen DiCerbo, Chief Learning Officer at Khan Academy; Scott Marion, Executive Director of the Center for Assessment; and John Winkley, Director of AlphaPlus Consultancy.

Hear their thoughts about the current state of assessment in light of the global pandemic, along with opportunities and challenges for assessment reform, but at a policy level and in the classroom.

Where to find Kristen DiCerbo

Website

LinkedIn

Twitter

Where to find Scott Marion

Website

LinkedIn

Twitter

Where to find John Winkley

Website

LinkedIn

Learn more about Beyond Multiple Choice:

Website

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Timestamps:

How can we ensure that students’ academic achievements will be recognized during the pandemic? [1:05]

What alternatives to standardized exams exist currently in the UK and Europe? [4:40]

With all the other urgent pandemic-related factors going on, is now the time to be pushing for change in assessment? [8:20]

Opportunities, approaches, and likelihood for systemic change in the current climate [15:25]

Challenges and opportunities for transforming assessment in the classroom [25:45]

To what extent should technology – AI, VR, gaming, etc. -- factor into discussions of assessment reform? [33:25]

What should delegates seek to take away from the upcoming Beyond Multiple Choice conference? [42:08]