1. 1 Tools for Public Understanding of Assessment Ronald Dietel National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at UCLA CRESST Conference Los Angeles, CA September 9, 2004

2. 2 Barriers to Public Understanding of Assessment  Lack of current public understanding  Frequent policy changes  Frequent assessment changes  Expanded information

3. 3 Barriers to Public Understanding of Assessment  Transfer agents  Misunderstandings  Frequent turnover  Editor push  “Not my job” attitude  Limited Resources

4. 4 The Need for Better Understanding of Assessment Frequent Policy Changes Public Misunderstanding Not my job attitude Frequent Assessment Changes Limited Resources Lack of current understanding Transfer Agent Expanded Information

5. 5 Focus on What We Can Control  Newspapers/Reporters  Internet Sources  Leveraging other organizations through accurate, timely information  Publications (Magazines, books)

6. 6 Some Efforts to Date  Education Writers Association  Hechinger Institute  Regional Seminars  AERA/NCME Conferences  Internet  Various Publications

7. 7 Get Smart Learning Model Home Learning Schools & Teachers Ability Evaluation Communications Classroom Learning Effort Attitudes/ Beliefs

8. 8 The CAESL Project  Specific goal to increase public understanding of assessment  Reviewed and referenced existing useful articles  Developed 10 knowledge briefs  Standard presentations aligned to briefs  Educators Assessment Toolkit

9. 9 Products are Based on CAESL Principles Quality Assessment Is ……  Supportive of student learning  Research-based  Aligned to important content  Fair  Accurate and efficient

10. 10 Knowledge Brief Topics  Why test students?  What parents should know about tests  Making sense of test Scores  Helping your child perform well on tests  Test accuracy and use  Testing students with learning disabilities  Achievement gaps  Using tests to measure teacher quality  Testing very young Children  Effects of state testing

11. 11 Contact Information  Ron Dietel: ron@ucla.eduron@ucla.edu  www.CRESST.org www.CRESST.org  Jacquey Barber: jbarber@berkeley.edu jbarber@berkeley.edu  www.caesl.org www.caesl.org