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Program

Technical Issues in Large Scale Assessment (TILSA)

The Technical Issues in Large Scale Assessment (TILSA) SCASS operates with the guiding principle that all states should strive for state assessments with the highest technical qualities. Member states collectively conduct and commission practical research on critical topics in large-scale state assessments, create guidelines for the design and implementation of assessment systems, and provide professional development opportunities for assessment staff from member states and staff representing associate members.

Recent topics that have resulted in publications include, growth models, equating, and test security. As we begin the 2013-2014 school year, state educators are implementing new college- and career-ready standards, transitioning to new assessments associated with these standards, and piloting consortia-developed assessments. Many states are also more fully embracing computer-based assessments. TILSA will explore issues relevant to these transitions including, but not limited to:

  • Test security in online systems
  •  Comparability of scores within and across states
  • Setting college- and career-ready performance standards
  • Equating and reporting results across transition years
  • Using evidence-centered design to develop tests in subjects other than English language arts and mathematics.

Dr. Marianne Perie is the co-director of the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation at the University of Kansas. In that role she oversees the Kansas state assessment programs, the Career Pathways Assessment, two grants, and provides technical support on the Dynamic Learning Maps consortium.

Previously, she was a Senior Associate with the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment, a small non-profit organization that specializes in state-level assessment and accountability issues. In that role, she has provided technical assistance to over 16 states and territories. Prior to joining the Center, she worked on state and district assessment contracts, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), and international assessments as an employee of the American Institutes for Research (1995-2003) and the Educational Testing Service (2003-2006).

Most recently, she has been working on state accountability issues under the 2001 ESEA, No Child Left Behind, the 2009 Race to the Top, and the 2011, ESEA Flexibility Requests. She has provided technical assistance to multiple states through contracts with USED, CCSSO, and directly between the state and the Center. She has advised two of the national consortia developing multi-state summative assessments, focusing particularly on defining the performance levels and designing a test that provides maximum information at those levels.

Her primary interests over the last 18 years have been in the areas of standard setting, reporting, accountability, technical documentation, and validity studies. She has conducted standard-setting studies in over 16 states, districts, and foreign countries, taught a course in standard-setting at the University of Maryland, and co-authored a book on setting cut scores. She has provided technical assistance to two separate groups of states on developing and evaluating a validity argument for either their AA-AAS or their English Language Proficiency Assessments (ELPA). She also has worked with several states on defining and developing both alternate and modified achievement standards and has written extensively on both topics. 

2013-14 State Members:

Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, West Virgina, Wisconsin, and Wyoming

2013-14 Associate Members:

Assessment Solutions Group, Caveon Consulting, CTB/McGraw-Hill, eMetric, ETS, Measurement Inc., Measured Progress, NEA, NWEA, Pacific Metrics, Pearson, and Renaissance Learning

2013-14 Affiliates Members:

WIDA

 

 

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