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Description: CLASProject1

 

 

 

Events

Upcoming:

June 11, 2013

CCSS Workshop

 

 

Previous

 

 

 

 

CLAS-network

 

 

 

Major funding provided by:

 

 

Roche

 

 

Supplemental support  provided by:

 

HSBC Bank USA

 

 

 

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation

 

 

The Hyde and Watson Foundation

 

Overview

 

The Curriculum, Learning, and Assessment Studies (CLAS) Project is an integrated framework for K-16 research and professional development in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Through an on-line network, annual regional conference and workshop, and peer-reviewed journal, sponsors for the project seek to bring together educators in order to create a community of evidence-based best practices. 

 

As a forum for ideas offered by students, teachers, researchers, administrators, and policy makers, the project is informed by seven thematic areas:

 

·         Accreditation and accountability: Theme 1 addresses those aspects of curriculum learning, and assessment connected to the process of accreditation and its relationship to the measurement of the educational attainment;

·         Assessment systems and evaluation: Theme 2 emphasizes assessment frameworks as they are integrated in the service of student learning and its measurement; 

·         Assessment in urban education settings: Theme 3 focuses on the urban environment and the unique opportunities it yields for evidence-centered curricular design;

·         STEM curricular design: Theme 4 centers on activities related to curricular design in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics;

·         Student learning assessment. Theme 5 attends to the design, implementation, reporting, and consequential validity of educational measurement;

·         Technology and assessment. Theme 6 treats the design, implementation, reporting, and consequential validity of technology-enabled assessments.

·         Writing, cognition, and STEM. Theme 7 integrates writing as a vehicle for those cognitive processes associated with the content areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

 

As the program grows in capacity, associates will provide a forum for in-depth discussion on the integration of instruction and assessment.  The concept of a learning assessment system –an integrated vision education that obviates value dualisms that divide students, teachers, researchers, administrators, and policy makers—is at the center of a project that aims to place the student at the center of the urban educational experience.

 

The CLAS project is unique in three ways:

 

·         The integrated vision ensures that the on-line network, annual regional conference, and peer-reviewed journal will be distinct due to its seven thematic areas. While many efforts at evidence-based curricular design and reform are often drawn from university researchers, the CLAS Project is centered on students as the object of attention. Embracing the concept of a teacher-researcher, those associated with the project will become committed to strengthening the distinct voice of urban educators so that useful findings can be adopted at specific institutional sites.

 

·         Within the CLAS integrative framework, a wide variety of partners will be invited to participate in the project. While Rutgers-Newark and UMDNJ are presently involved in collaborative educational initiatives with NJIT, the Steering Committee will also explore future partnerships with Montclair State University, especially with its College of Education and Human Services. In a similar fashion, current research relationships with the Educational Testing Service will be expanded to include additional opportunities for students. This network of collaboration will ensure that sponsorships remain unique.

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·         Perhaps most important, the project will use on-line, open source platforms for collaboration among shareholders so that busy working professionals can participate in asynchronous forums for their ideas. This on-line network will be enhanced by the regional conference that will yield, over time, a significant peer-reviewed journal—the Journal of Curriculum, Learning, and Assessment Studies—hosting both print and new media research reporting frameworks.

 

The unique combination of vision, shareholders, and technology will provide a promising model for conceptualizing 21st century learning assessment systems for urban K-16 students.

 

Steering Committee and Daily Operations

 

To launch this model, we seek colleague with a known dedication to research-based instruction that is student centered. The planned steering committee of the project is listed below:

 

·         Jeffrey R. Backstrand (Director of Research, Newark Schools Research Collaborative)

·         Robert Barat (Professor of Chemical Engineering, NJIT)

·         Joel Bloom (President, ex officio, NJIT)

·         Bruce Bukiet (Associate Professor of Mathematical Sciences; PI, C2PRISM Project, NJIT)

·         Levelle Burr-Alexander (Associate Director, K-20 Partnership, Center for Pre College Programs, NJIT)

·         John Carpinelli (Professor Electrical and Computer Engineering; Director of the Center for Pre College Programs, NJIT)

·         Fadi P. Deek (Acting Provost, NJIT; Dean of the College of Science and Liberal Arts; Professor of Information Systems, Information Technology, and Mathematical Sciences, NJIT)

·         Perry Deess (Director, Institutional Research and Planning, NJIT)

·         Norbert Elliot (Chair, NJIT Self Study for Middle States Commission on Higher Education; Professor of English)

·         Mary Fowles (Principal Assessment Designer in the Assessment Division of Educational Service, Educational Testing Service).

·         Blake Haggerty (Assistant Director, Instructional Resource Center, NJIT)

·         Emily Isaacs (Associate Professor of English, Director of First-Year Writing, Montclair State University)

·         Carol Johnson (Associate Professor of English; Chair, Department of Humanities, NJIT)

·         Jiyeon Lee (Instructional Resource Center, NJIT)

·         James Lipuma (Teacher Education Program Coordinator, NJIT)

·         Arthur Powell (Associate Professor of Mathematics Education; Chair, Department of Urban Education, Rutgers-Newark)

·         Alan Sadovnik, (Professor of Education, Distinguished Service Professor, Co-Director, Newark Schools Research Collaborative, Rutgers-Newark)

·         Davida Scharf (Director of Reference, Van Houten Library, NJIT)

·         Joelle J. Tutela, (Director of the Urban Teacher Education Program, Department of Urban Education, Rutgers-Newark)

·         Keith Williams (Instructional Designer, NJIT)