1. Education Commission of the States July 2009 Nashville, TN Lessons Learned from the NECAP Partnership Mary Ann Snider, Director Office of Instruction, Assessment, and Accountability

2. Timeline and Milestones September 2001: Initial meeting to discuss NCLB includes Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont New England Compact Formed Facilitated by EDC Partner states included Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont July 2002: Awarded first EAG to develop standards, policies, protocols for assessment October 2003: Issued RFP

3. Timelines and Milestones New Enlgand Common Assessment Program Formed Facilitated by the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessments (The Center) July 2003: Decision made to develop shared standards and testing program in reading, writing, and mathematics March 2004: Awarded contract to Measured Progress March 2005: Awarded second EAG to study “Gap Kids” October 2005: First administration of NECAP March 2006: Awarded contract to Measured Progress for NECAP Science testing May 2008: First administration of NECAP Science December 2008: Maine joined NECAP

4. Clarity of Goals Few meetings were dedicated to open discussions Quickly identified bodies of work we wanted to accomplish (e.g. shared standards, shared tests, shared achievement standards) Quickly identified bodies of work that were state specific (e.g. accountability systems)

5. Yankee Pragmatism Testing contractors don’t pay much attention to small states We don’t have enough money to develop high quality assessments Each DOE doesn’t have enough staff to do all of the work well independently There is safety in numbers!

6. Shared Vision for the Work Tests that support teaching and learning Transparency Teacher Involvement Universal Design Constructed Response Items

7. Shared Investment in Making it Work All states agreed that: no problem is insurmountable (although some problem sure felt that that were) compromises have to be made (that means changing the way we’ve always done some things) consensus is preferable to voting (but we’ve had to vote) support is needed from all levels from the governor to classroom teachers and parents (that has been a blessing)

8. The Right External Partners Neutral Facilitation: The Center Technical Advisory Committee: both broad and deep expertise Testing Contractor: Measured Progress Special Projects: Nimble, EAG Grants

9. Surprises Along the Way Takes just as much staff work All staff need to share the commitment Takes time to build working relationships Face to face time is critical Political protection is very helpful Not sure how many partners make it too big, but we’re not there yet!