Responding to a Changing Landscape

About CFA
We are committed to addressing the changes currently underway, and preparing for future challenges that will emerge.

Real-world education experience combined with deep academic expertise.

We are the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, known to most as The Center for Assessment. Our mission is to increase student learning through more meaningful educational assessment and accountability practices.

The need to support all students with a high-quality education that promotes future success has never been greater. Persistent inequities in opportunity, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in far too few students having an opportunity for a high-quality education and meaningful chances for post-secondary success. Innovative, balanced, and meaningful assessment and accountability systems can play a central role in solutions that promote positive student outcomes. We have always engaged in deep partnerships with state and district education leaders to help design, implement, and evaluate assessment and accountability policies and programs, and to design technically-sound policy solutions that support educational goals.

About CFA

The Center for Assessment Team: A Unique Perspective

Our organization occupies a unique niche in the world of educational consulting. Center professionals have the deep knowledge typically found in academia, but almost all have worked in real-world settings such as state departments of education, district offices, and testing companies. We have well-deserved reputations as thought leaders in assessment and accountability, and we have actually built, implemented, and evaluated a range of assessment and accountability solutions working with a broad range of clients across the country.

Meet the Center Team Meet the Center Board

Working Within Context

We support our state and district partners in adapting their assessment and accountability systems to new and existing laws and regulations, while also helping our partners engage in innovative design processes to move to next-generation systems. We support multiple states and school districts with accountability design solutions and direct technical support that attends to the culture and values in each locale.

Learn More

Supporting Innovation

Many states are pursuing innovative learning approaches, such as personalized and competency-based models, which call for substantial changes to assessment and accountability practices. We help states navigate the assessment landscape as they search for more flexible and effective ways to measure and support student learning.

Learn More

An Ongoing Effort

For more than two decades, we have focused on improving educational assessment and accountability to support school quality and student learning. While we’ve accomplished a lot, we recognize there is much work to be done, and we are approaching the future with optimism and drive.

Help Make a Difference

Join our dynamic team of dedicated experts in addressing timely challenges in educational assessment and accountability.

Career Opportunities Internship Opportunities