VARC: VARC to Co-Host Value-Added Network Conference in Madison

VARC to Co-Host Value-Added Network Conference in Madison

JUNE 2014

VARC will co-host a daylong gathering in Madison on Monday, June 23 designed to give Wisconsin's educators a better idea of how value-added modeling can be used to improve teaching and learning in Wisconsin.

For the fifth consecutive year, VARC is partnering with the Cooperative Education Service Agency (CESA) #2 to put on the Value-Added Network Conference, which will provide teachers, principals, and K-12 district administrators with information on value-added growth models and the role they will play in Wisconsin’s Educator Effectiveness system.

The conference’s keynote speaker will be Wisconsin Deputy State Superintendent Mike Thompson, who will discuss Agenda 2017, a movement focused on improving standards, instruction, assessment, and data systems in the state with the goal of making every child college- and career-ready.

Katie Rainey, the Director of Educator Effectiveness at Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction, will also speak at the conference. She plans to update attendees on the state of the Educator Effectiveness System, which will go into effect in the new school year, beginning in the fall.

In addition, VARC’s Ernie Morgan will address updates made to value-added reports issued by VARC to participating schools in Wisconsin. Conference participants will also have the opportunity to choose between several breakout sessions on using value-added reports to improve mathematics and reading instruction at the elementary- and middle-school levels, learning more about SMART Student Learning Objectives (SLOs) and the Balanced Assessment System, and understanding how value added can improve interpretation of MAP and Smarter Balanced assessment results.

Last year’s event took place at Waukesha County Technical College in Pewaukee and attracted educators from across the Badger State. It explored themes related to value-added modeling, especially as it related to Wisconsin’s implementation of Common Core standards and other next-generation assessments.

This year’s event will take place from 8:30 to 3:30 p.m. at Madison Area Technical College’s West Campus, at 302 South Gammon Road. For more information on the conference, contact Leslie Steinhaus at leslie.steinhaus@cesa2.org. Registration is $95, and may be completed at www.myquickreg.com or by using this direct link: http://login.myquickreg.com/event/event.cfm?eventid=9813.