Maryland Assessment Research Center (MARC)

2013 MARC Conference

The Thirteenth Annual Maryland Assessment Conference:

The Next Generation of Testing: Common Core Standards, Smarter-Balanced, PARCC, and the Nationwide Testing Movement

  • Jointly supported by the Maryland State Department of Education and the Maryland Assessment Research Center. 
  • Each topic will be given a two-hour block of time, except the last one on validity which will have 3 hours allocated, including a 50-minute presentation by each speaker followed by 10 minutes of Q and A.

Presentation Schedule

Thursday, November 7

7:00-8:15Registration and Breakfast
8:15-8:30Robert W. LissitzWelcome and Comments
I. Introduction, overview, intention of this effort, history, and where we are now
8:30-9:30Lauress Wise
(HumRRO)
9:30-10:30Marty McCall
(Smarter Balanced)
10:30-10:45Break
II. Test Design, effects of the common core standards, item creation, and state transition to new tests
10:45-11:45Bonnie Hain (Baltimore County) & Carrie Piper (NWEA)
11:45-12:45Steve Ferrara, Paul Nichols, & Emily Lai
(Pearson)
12:45-1:30Lunch
III. Scoring, reporting, informing instruction, making a difference to students and teachers, VAM
1:30-2:30Mark Shermis
(University of Akron)
2:30-3:30Edward W. Wolfe & Tian Song
(Pearson)
3:30-3:45Break
IV. Standard Setting in CAT environment, involving performance items, issues across states with differing standards, equating issues
3:45-4:45Luz Bay
(College Board)
4:45-5:45Gary Skaggs
(Virginia Tech)

Friday, November 8

7:30-8:30Registration and Breakfast
V. Connecting to the world of work and to higher education
8:30-9:30Wayne Camara
(ACT)
9:30-10:30David Conley
(University of Oregon)
10:30-10:45Break
VI. Validity and how we know whether this succeeded
10:45-11:45Steve Sireci
(University of Massachusetts)
11:45-12:30Lunch
12:30-1:30Joe Willhoft
(Smarter-Balanced Consortium)
1:30-2:30Enis Dogan,
(Achieve) Jeff Hauger
(NJ Department of Education), & Casey Maliszewski

2:30-3:00Closing Remarks