On February 14, 2022, ESU 9, 10 and 11 hosted a collaborative assessment conference entitled, For the Love of Data. We have worked with ESUs 9 and 11 in the past to host a similar event but were unable to have the conference in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID 19. Our planning team was excited to once again host this important conference with the support of the Nebraska Department of Education and NWEA.
Eighty participants from thirty central Nebraska school districts attended the conference. ESU 10 was well represented with participants from seventeen school districts. Dr. Jeremy Heneger, Director of Statewide Assessment was the keynote speaker. He addressed the latest information on our new Grades 3-8 assessment called NSCAS Growth. School districts piloted the assessment in the winter and it will be fully operational this spring. Other presenters from NDE and NWEA included: Dr. Trudy Clark, Assistant Director of Statewide Assessment, Dan Henderson, NWEA Senior Account Manager, and NWEA Professional Learning Consultant Leads Aly Martinez Wilkinson and Dr. Dennison Bhola. ESU 9 and 10s NWEA Regional Facilitators led sessions as well.
During each breakout session, participants had the opportunity to choose between four sessions. The sessions were all focused on assessment and data. We received positive feedback from our participants and therefore will continue to host this annual conference. Our ESU 10 team has already met with ESU 9 and 11 professional learning staff and have scheduled next year’s conference for February 13, 2023.