Professional Learning

The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development is committed to enhancing assessment literacy for Alaska stakeholders by strengthening systems and building educator capacity. DEED’s overarching goal is to broaden educators’ individual and collective understanding of the purpose and use of a range of assessment measures.

DEED aims to increase educators’ abilities to effectively use assessment tools and data; to improve educators’ facility with for effective data use; to apply strategies for data-informed decision making; and to implement formative instructional practices and utilize data to inform instruction.

Professional Learning Offerings

NWEA and DEED are happy to continue offering professional learning sessions to school districts on a first come, first serve basis during the 2023-2024 school year. Topics range from MAP Growth Basics to Building Your Formative Assessment Practice and can be tailored to a district’s specific needs. Contact Kari Quinto, AK STAR Assessment Coordinator for more information.

Balanced Assessment System

A balanced assessment system intentionally makes use of formative, interim, and summative assessment practices—with the most emphasis placed on formative assessment.

Balanced Assessment System Brief

Balanced Assessment System Attributes

Assessment Literacy

Assessment is the process of gathering evidence of student learning to inform education-related decisions. The quality of both the assessment and associated practices determines the quality of the evidence gathered, which in turn affects the impact of those decisions. 

Those who are assessment literate understand how to gather dependable evidence and how to use it productively to support or certify achievement.

Assessment Literacy involves education leaders, teachers, students, families, and other stakeholders as partners to gather dependable evidence and use it productively to inform education-related decisions.

Certified Facilitator Program

The Certified Facilitator Program supports statewide assessment literacy by enhancing systems and practices in a balanced approach to assessment. Certified Facilitators participate in a series of workshops, both in-person and virtual, designed to empower and engage school district leaders on assessment purpose and use. Some topics of exploration include assessment literacy focused on learning and triangulating data. Certified Facilitators build their toolkit of knowledge and strategies related to summative, interim, and formative assessment practices that result in improved teaching and learning.

As key assessment experts in their districts, Certified Facilitators then engage in leadership discussions and provide professional learning to various audiences at their districts. The goal is to ensure districts have effective systems of balanced assessment in place and that educators have a very clear sense of what assessment is, its value, and how to use assessment data to empower students, teachers, and communities to thrive.

The following mission statement was established by Alaska Certified Facilitators to help guide the work as they support statewide assessment literacy and formative assessment practices that result in improved teaching and learning.

The Certified Facilitator Program is delivered in partnership with NWEA. For more information about the Certified Facilitator Program, please contact Kari Quinto at kari.quinto@alaska.gov.