Assessment
At a Glance | Services | Significant Work | Products
Examples of Significant Work
Southeast Comprehensive Center (SECC): Response to Intervention (RtI): The SECC, which SEDL manages, is working with the state departments of education of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi to implement Response to Intervention (RtI) as a framework for school improvement. This work involves providing professional development and technical assistance in the use of RtI.
Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC): Data-Driven Dialogue Model: The TXCC, which SEDL houses, works with the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the state’s 20 education service centers (ESCs) to build their capacity to turn around underachieving schools. As part of this work, TXCC staff are providing the ESCs with professional development based on the book Data-Driven Dialogue: A Facilitator’s Guide to Collaborative Inquiry, by Bruce Wellman and Laura Lipton. The data-driven dialogue model helps deepen teachers’ understanding about how to use data, including assessment data, to improve their instructional practices.
Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC): English Language Learner (ELL) Project: The TXCC, which SEDL houses, is working to help the Texas Education Agency (TEA) improve schools’ implementation of ELL accommodations on state assessments. TXCC staff have conducted focus groups and held a research summit, the results of which are being used to inform the development of an online ELL accommodations guide.
Texas Comprehensive Center (TXCC): Professional Teaching and Learning Cycle (PTLC) Training: The TXCC, which SEDL houses, is providing state educators with professional development on the PTLC. This research-based process engages teachers in a continuous improvement cycle in which they collaboratively align curriculum, instruction, and assessments to state standards. The PTLC is an important component of SEDL’s Working Systemically approach to school improvement, which was developed during a 5-year research study with the Charles A. Dana Center, one of SEDL’s partners.
Past Work
SouthCentral Regional Technology in Education Consortium (SCRTEC) (2000–2005): SCRTEC was 1 of 10 consortia funded by the U.S. Department of Education and charged with helping public education systems use technology to improve teaching and learning in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. As part of this project, SEDL staff developed three online self-assessment tools (one for students, one for teachers, and one for administrators) and two performance-based assessment tools (one for students and one for teachers) aligned to the Louisiana Center for Educational Technology standards.
Assessment Laboratory Network Project (LNP) (1990–1995): SEDL participated in long-term projects at the Assessment LNP, which resulted in the development of a toolkit for trainers and the publication of Making Assessment Work for Everyone, which drew on SEDL’s expertise in language, culture, and diversity issues as they affect assessment.
