By Daily Press staff
Santa Monica and Malibu parents and teachers came together Monday for a forum designed to help them understand and use test results to improve student learning.
The wide-ranging discussion, sponsored by ETS’s Educational Policy Leadership Institute and RAND Education, was hosted by Santa Monica College.
“We felt that it was important to engage this community in a conversation about testing, and how test results can provide parents and teachers with information to help their children learn better,” said EPLI President Sharon Robinson, who moderated the discussion. “If we know and understand how our kids are learning in a given area, we can better know how to help them.”
Santa Monica College President Piedad Robertson kicked off the program, which was attended by more than 75 participants. ETS STAR Testing Director George Powell described how the STAR testing program keeps California’s schools accountable and RAND Education’s Brian Stecher explored how to interpret California’s test results.
RAND is a non-profit institution that helps improve policy and decision-making through research and analysis. The mission of RAND Education is to bring accurate data and objective analysis to the national debate on education policy.
With estimated consolidated revenues of $700 million for 2002, Educational Testing Service is the world’s largest private educational testing and measurement organization. The company is dedicated to serving the needs of individuals, educational institutions, and government bodies in nearly 200 countries. ETS develops and administers more than 12 million tests worldwide.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 13, 2003. Read the original PDF.