Great Schools Partnership, in collaboration with the Learning Policy Institute, is facilitating the New England Reimagining College Access Collaborative Community of Practice. This exciting regional initiative is designed to explore how the use of K-12 performance assessments can provide better information about students’ preparedness for higher education. Through this initiative, we seek to engage with professionals from college admissions and secondary schools across New England who are interested in employing strategies to attract, select, and support a more diverse student body. Community of Practice sessions will provide participants with opportunities to connect and gain insights from professionals in college admissions and secondary schools. Our November 17th Community of Practice meeting will be followed by an Investigation Teams meeting on November 18th.
Register for both events here
Community of Practice Meetings
Interested colleagues from college admissions, secondary schools, and other interested organizations will convene five times (October 20, November 17, January 12, March 9, and May 4) focused on developing a shared understanding of student acquisition and demonstration of transferable skills and related evidence that could be used to strengthen college access and success by convening. The year long outcomes from this group are:
- Learn how performance assessments, especially those that demonstrate transferable skills, can reveal key information about student strengths that can better predict student success in college and inform college admissions practices
- Create guidelines that define qualities of performance assessments that demonstrate collegiate readiness
- Build a collaborative community of college admissions staff and secondary educators, including administrators and school counselors, through reimagining college access.
- Recommend changes in the use of performance assessments both in K-12 education as well in admissions criteria in order to address the current inequities.
Community of Practice Meetings take place on Zoom on the following dates:
Tuesday, October 20, 2020 from 1:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Tuesday, November 17, 2020 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Tuesday, January 12, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Tuesday, March 9, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Tuesday May 4, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Investigation Teams Meetings
Drawing from the Community of Practice group, those interested in digging deeper into a specific problem or dilemma will meet four times (November 18, January 13, March 10, and May 5) throughout the year. Each investigation team will work on one topic with a GSP facilitator using a design-thinking process. The goal of each Investigation Team will be to develop a process, protocol, set of guidelines, or examples aligned to their topic that could help facilitate the use of performance assessment in the K-12 and college admissions process that will be shared with the Community of Practice group in June 2020. Some potential topics investigation teams may explore include:
- Including performance assessments in the college admissions process efficiently
- Key features of high school transcripts and school profiles
- Processes for using performance assessments in admissions that promote equity
- Promoting the use of high quality performance assessments in high schools
Investigation Teams Meetings take place on Zoom on the following dates:
Wednesday, November 18, 2020 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, January 13, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, March 10, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Wednesday, May 5, 2021 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET
Technical Webinars
Three times during the school year (December 3, February 11, and April 1), one-hour sessions will be made available to anyone interested in the New England RCA Collaborative. The topics for these webinars will be generated through the investigation teams as they identify areas of interest for a broader audience. The December 3 webinar will focus on how secondary schools can improve their school profile and transcripts to better highlight the deeper learning of their students.
Technical webinars will take place on Zoom on the following dates:
Thursday, December 3, 2020 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, February 11, 2021 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. ET
Thursday, April 1, 2021 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. ET
Facilitators
Duke Albanese, Senior Policy Advisor
Ted Hall, Senior Associate
Michelle Milstein, Co-director of Coaching
Katie Thompson, Co-director of Coaching
David Ruff, Executive Director
Have Questions?
Contact Sarah Burkhardt at sburkhardt@greatschoolspartnership.org or 207-773-0505.
