Questar Assessment Experts to Present at Upcoming CCSSO 43rd Annual National Conference on Student Assessment

APPLE VALLEY, Minn., May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Questar Assessment, Inc., (www.QuestarAI.com) a leading educational assessment provider for states, school districts, and higher education institutions, has announced that seven of its industry experts will be presenting in five sessions at the upcoming Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) 43^rd Annual National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA). The conference will take place the week of June 19–22, 2013, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, located just outside Washington, D.C. in National Harbor, Maryland.

"The National Conference on Student Assessment provides an opportunity for new and continued discussion on issues important to student assessment," said Theodore Naegeli, president and chief executive officer of Questar Assessment. "We are pleased to be a conference sponsor and to help lead discussion as state departments of education look toward the future of their assessment programs."

Questar presentations include:

• Getting More From Our Measures by Taking Advantage of Technology Enhanced Items
  
  Co-presenter: Timothy R. Vansickle, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Psychometrics and Research, Questar Assessment
  Lead Presenter: Phoebe C. Winter, Vice President for Educational Policy, Pacific Metrics
  Discussant: Nadine McBride, Psychometrician, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
  Co-Presenter: Michael J. Muenks, Coordinator of Curriculum and Assessment, Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
  
  As states transition to new assessment systems that use online delivery systems, the expectation is that technology-enhanced items (TEIs) will allow the measurement of important aspects of content standards that paper and pencil technology cannot address. State representatives from Missouri and North Carolina will discuss plans to implement TEIs in their state assessments, in part to assist the transition to the consortia assessments and to better measure the Common Core State Standards.

• Standard Setting For The Brave New World
  
  Lead Presenter: Canda Mueller, Ph.D., Vice President, Psychometrics, Questar Assessment
  Co-presenter: Timothy Vansickle, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Psychometrics and Research, Questar Assessment
  Co-Presenter: Leon Dreyfus, Vice President, Assessment Development, Questar Assessment
  Co-Presenter: Nikki Shepard Eatchel, Vice President, Program Management, Questar Assessment
  
  This session will introduce participants to the tools necessary for understanding the intricacies of the standard setting process. Participants will (1) learn about a relatively new approach to establishing cut scores using the Reasoned Integrated Judgment (RIJ) method of standard setting, and (2) have the experience of serving as a panelist in a mock standard setting workshop.

• Sharing Test Items, Licensed Materials and Ancillary Materials across States: Two Case Studies and Lessons Learned
  
  Discussant: Leon Dreyfus, Ph.D., Vice President, Assessment Development, Questar Assessment
  Moderator: Ken Kalcevich, Vice President, State Assessment Solutions, Questar Assessment
  Lead Presenter: Kurt Farnsworth, Assessment Development Coordinator, Utah State Office of Education
  Co-Presenter: John Jesse, Director of Assessment and Accountability, Utah State Office of Education
  Co-Presenter: Carissa Moffat Miller, Deputy Executive Director, CCSSO, (Former Deputy Superintendent, Idaho State Department of Education)
  Co-Presenter: Vincent Dean, Ph. D., Director, Michigan Department of Education
  Co-Presenter: Jennifer Paul, ELL Educational Research Consultant, Michigan Department of Education
  
  In the spirit of the current cooperative environment, assessment and accountability Departments in Utah, Idaho, and Michigan formed a partnership to explore assessment issues related to English Learners and to look for ways to collaborate that would serve the interests of all participants. This session will discuss the process of collaboration, with an emphasis on providing a model for states to follow.  We will draw from the English Learner experience as well as from a similar interstate science item sharing activity between Utah and Idaho.

• We Teach How We Test: How Technology Enhanced Items Are Changing the Face of Instruction
  
  Lead Presenter: Jane Miller, Executive Director, Assessment Program Design, Questar Assessment
  Discussant: Timothy Vansickle, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Psychometrics and Research, Questar Assessment
  Co-Presenter: Les Sewall, Senior Content Specialist, Questar Assessment
  Co-Presenter: Melody Morgan, Director of Student Assessment, Arkansas Department of Education
  Co-Presenter: Jennifer Dugan, Director of Statewide Testing, Minnesota Department of Education
  
   "Form follows function" is not just for architecture, it also applies to instruction and assessment: (1) in the way that classroom technology will be transitioning to reflect the assessment technology from SBAC and PARCC, and (2) in the way that states' online assessments will contain not just technology enhanced items, but tools like calculators, graphing utilities, and the accommodations that will soon be available to the general student population. This session will focus on the challenges administrators and educators will face on keeping up with assessment technology, and what assessment companies can do to help.

• Embracing the New, Transforming the Old
  
  Discussant:  Alan Sheinker, Ed.D., Senior Director, Product Development, Questar Assessment
  Lead Presenter: Melissa Gholson, Assessment Coordinator, West Virginia Department of Education
  Moderator: Susan Weigert, Ph.D, Education Program Specialist, U.S.Dept. of Education.
  Co-presenters: Erin Faasuamalie, Education Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and Patti Whetstone, Ed.D, Senior Program Manager, CTB/McGraw-Hill
  
  New standards, next generation assessments, higher expectations, adaptive testing, and innovative item types— it is a lot of change for a school system to take on in a short time. Ensuring that staff are ready will only occur if states provide the necessary transition from the old to the new assessment system through quality professional development. State representatives from West Virginia and Wisconsin share their plans and experience in training teachers on the standards needed for the next generation alternate assessment.

Questar is a gold sponsor at the conference and will sponsor the conference program guide. In addition to sponsorship, Questar will also be exhibiting in Booth 111.

About Questar Assessment, Inc.
Questar Assessment, Inc., is a leading educational assessment provider for states, schools, and school districts. With headquarters in Minnesota and New York, Questar offers comprehensive custom assessment services—from large-scale statewide assessment programs to alternate, modified, and English language proficiency assessments. Questar provides complete, end-to-end services designed to address all aspects of assessment from test design, development, calibration, and psychometric services to print production, distribution, scanning, scoring, reporting, and data analysis. Questar also offers customized online testing services to schools and educational entities in the K–12 market. For further information, visit www.QuestarAI.com or call 800-800-2598.

About the Council of Chief State School Officers
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the United States, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and five United States extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues. The Council seeks member consensus on major educational issues and expresses their views to civic and professional organizations, federal agencies, Congress, and the public. For further information, visit www.ccsso.org or call 202-336-7000.

SOURCE Questar Assessment, Inc.