Scott Marion partners with Associate Director Chris Domaleski to manage the operations of the Center, and he works closely with the Center Board of Directors to establish the long- and short-term strategic direction of the organization. He is also actively engaged with Center clients; his projects include designing and supporting states in implementing assessment and accountability reforms, developing and implementing educator evaluation systems, and designing and implementing high quality, locally-designed performance-based assessments. He is a national leader in designing innovative and comprehensive assessment systems to support instructional and accountability uses, including helping states and districts design systems of assessments for evaluating student learning of identified competencies.
School Improvement Educational Assessment Accountability Systems Assessment Accountability
Building a Better Theory of Action to Enhance the Utility of Assessment and Accountability Systems
Scott Marion Carla Evans March 3, 2020
How do schools improve? More importantly, how can school improvement be sustained over time and at scale?
Educational Assessment Accountability ESEA Innovation Assessment Innovative Assessment
Starting a Discussion on How Federal Policy Can Better Support Innovation to Increase Student Learning Opportunities
Scott Marion Chris Domaleski Chris Brandt February 6, 2020
Here at the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, we think a lot about the multiple factors involved in promoting student learning through more meaningful state assessment and accountability systems. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), the current authorization of the 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), is the most significant influence on contemporary state assessment and accountability. We believe a number of changes to ESEA could help promote innovation, restore balance, and improve outcomes.
Scott Marion January 7, 2020
The end of the decade signified the end of an era here at the Center for Assessment; Charlie DePascale officially retired on December 31, 2019, after more than 17 years as a Senior Associate.
Educational Assessment teaching quality assessment use Assessment Systems
What Would it Take to Design an Assessment System Around a Goal of Improving Teachers’ Knowledge and Skills?
Scott Marion December 12, 2019
How would I design an assessment or assessment system if my goal was to improve teaching? My colleagues, Chris Domaleski and Leslie Keng, and I met recently with state assessment leaders who are thinking about reforming their assessment system.
Assessment Innovative Assessment
Thoughts About Scaling Educational Reform Initiatives to Increase Educators’ Assessment Literacy
Scott Marion November 20, 2019
I am encouraged that so many educational leaders are wrestling with systematically bringing educational reforms to scale. Unfortunately, as these leaders have come to realize, achieving widespread implementation of meaningful reforms is really hard – especially when pursuing a goal of increasing assessment literacy.
Assessment Use of Assessment Results NAEP Education Policy
Simple Explanations and Solutions are Appealing, but Insufficient to Affect the Changes Needed to Move NAEP Results
Scott Marion November 5, 2019
The 2019 NAEP results (National Assessment of Educational Progress) were released last week to much consternation, except perhaps in Mississippi and Washington, D.C., where improved results were celebrated.
Nationally, results were up slightly in fourth-grade math, flat in eighth-grade math, and down in both fourth and eighth-grade reading. These results continue a disturbing lack of progress over the last decade.
Assessment Balanced Assessment Systems Assessment Systems
Evaluating Interim Assessments Against the Criteria for Balanced Assessment Systems
Scott Marion October 30, 2019
Interim assessments may have a role in balanced assessment systems, but that role is not conferred by title. It is conferred by logic and evidence tied to particular purposes and uses.
An Innovator's Hope
Scott Marion August 5, 2019
In my previous glass-half-empty post, I outlined my considerable reservations with the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) component of the Every Students Succeeds Act (ESSA).
ESSA Educational Assessment Assessment Systems
The Challenge in Trying to Be Innovative Under ESSA’s Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority
Scott Marion July 19, 2019
I was an early supporter and promoter of the Innovative Assessment Demonstration Authority (IADA) under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), but I now have serious doubts about the viability of the IADA and its ability to support deep and meaningful educational reform.
Assessment State Assessment Education Policy Accountability stability
Frequent Changes to State Assessment Systems Place Educational Improvement on Shaky Ground.
Scott Marion May 7, 2019
“We just administered our third assessment in the past five years.”
“That’s nothing; we’re on our fifth assessment in the past four years.”
I wish these were fictional statements, but as one of the coordinators of a working group of state assessment leaders, I regularly hear stories like these from many of our 40+ state participants.
