According to the National Center for Education, it was projected that around 50.7 million students would be enrolled in public schools for the 2018-2019 school year. For NATP, this translates to over 13,000 school districts across the nation who were responsible for district level test coordination who would benefit from a collaborative network and could contribute to decision-making efforts that affect the lives of over 50 million students nationwide.
However, the benefit does not stop there. These potential beneficiaries multiply as assessment efforts trickle down to the school level, as nearly 100,000 public schools/test coordinators would also have test coordination responsibilities (99,154 public schools reported in 2016-2017).
Summary: Recent statistics document a projected 50.7 million students would be enrolled in approximately 13,000 public school districts across the nation. This translates to 13K district level test coordinators who could use a little help, not to mention the near 100,000 public school test coordinators who would also have similar test coordination responsibilities at their level.
As such, NATP aims to positively impact the education and assessment industries in a massive way, which will yield a massive opportunity for everyone involved. The NATP concept and effort supports testing professionals and related assessment efforts at all levels: school, district, state, and national, which will positively impact the education and assessment industry in a massive way.
Assessment demands are high for everyone involved in the process, especially District Testing Coordinators. With all the pressure surrounding testing, it is incredibly challenging for testing coordinators to keep up with such a fast-moving program and its many changes. NATP can help! Establishing district, state, and national partnerships will result in more confident and capable testing professionals who are supported by a network of peers, sharing their knowledge and experience to help others plan and improve their processes for successful assessment programs at the state and national levels.
Assessment does not need to be as daunting of a task as it has become. By establishing and maintaining key partnerships with school district assessment professionals, state education agencies, and vendors, we can collectively work towards the common goal of meeting the assessment needs of all students, efficiently and effectively!
NATP has been officially launched in the spirit of supporting everyone working in the assessment space with a genuine interest in streamlining processes and discussions that benefit our students. Collaborative discussions and exchanges that can continue throughout the assessment year will support the alignment of assessment practices that improve overall state and national assessment program effectiveness. We look forward to visiting with you about how we can support your efforts by establishing and accessing a network that will:
- invite connection and collaboration among testing professionals.
- inform decision making toward fair and sensible assessment policies.
- improve assessment processes in education at the state and national levels.
- help improve educational systems across the nation.
Assessment is no small charge and we fully recognize that. Let’s discuss collaboration that can streamline it all and improve the assessment world for everyone in it!
If you want to help someone who is lost on the woods you have to find out where they are. Assessment is a vital part of education and dependable, reliable, understandable data is critical for this.
Keep up this important work for our greatest national asset – our children.