We build long-term relationships with our partners so we can help you address technical, policy, and practical issues before they become challenges and to help ensure our recommended solutions are tailored to each local context.
Most of our work involves supporting state assessment and accountability leaders to address technical and practical issues. We often work with various educational policymakers, including chief state school officers, state boards of education members, and state legislators to help shape policy to support key initiatives. Additionally, we leverage our influence and expertise through strategic partnerships with other mission-driven organizations and philanthropic foundations to help support our goal of improving student learning through high-quality assessment and accountability systems.
These deep relationships allow us to understand your organization’s specific contexts so we can best apply our technical and policy expertise while simultaneously helping elevate the capabilities and knowledge of your team.
We generally support between 30-40 states at any time and have worked directly with almost all states in our history as an organization. We also work closely with many school districts, ranging from some of the largest in the country to small rural districts. Our work at both state and district levels allows us to develop a more complete understanding of complex educational systems to better support partners across levels.
We work with policymakers at all levels, including state chiefs, board members, and legislators, but Center professionals are regularly called on to provide advice and testimony to the U.S. Department of Education, the U.S. Congress, and the White House. We occasionally contract directly with policymaking bodies, such as state boards and legislatures, but most often, we interact with such bodies through our relationships with state education agencies. No matter the situation, we strive to help policymakers understand the tradeoffs associated with any policy proposal.
The Center for Assessment is purposely small, but we look to extend our reach and expertise by partnering with organizations that complement our influence and capabilities. We regularly work with organizations like the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the National Center for Educational Outcomes (NCEO), Aspen Institute, and KnowledgeWorks, among others, to pool our resources and provide well-rounded guidance and support to schools and districts. We also often partner with these organizations to produce technical and policy products that we freely distribute for non-commercial use.