Curriculum Associates and North Carolina A&T State University Form Interdisciplinary Partnership to Support Diversity in Education and Assessment Research

NORTH BILLERICA, Mass., Dec. 2, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Curriculum Associates and North Carolina A&T State University have formed an interdisciplinary partnership to support diversity in the education and assessment research fields. Through a number of initiatives, the two organizations will engage in collaborative research aimed in part at eliminating testing biases in the classroom for Black and Brown students, expose university students to a spectrum of opportunities in education and research, train teachers and practitioners to become a part of the test writing and assessment process, provide scholarship support to lessen the debt burden of aspiring and existing scholars, and more.

"We are committed to supporting positive change in classrooms across the country and reducing the effects of systemic racism for students, educators, and the broader educational community," said Rob Waldron, CEO of Curriculum Associates. "North Carolina A&T State University is an organizational leader in social justice reform, and we are proud to partner with them and work alongside their faculty and students to push ahead this very important—and necessary—work."

Curriculum Associates will specifically support the university's Innovation in Education initiative focused on providing transformative learning opportunities and delivering and sustaining academic breakthroughs. This will include faculty and student research grants that will provide resources to safeguard and enhance the quality of education for students while simultaneously assisting the university's efforts to perform research surrounding education's most pressing needs, including eliminating testing biases for historically marginalized groups in the classroom.

The support will include scholarships to help recruit and retain deserving students to the education field and provide training and professional development opportunities to grow scholars' skill sets. The training will be designed to eliminate testing biases in the classroom by helping students and early-career teachers become assessment evaluators and standardized test preparers while exposing students to career possibilities beyond the classroom.

"As a premier HBCU and College of Education, it is important for us to help lead the research and development to eliminate testing and assessment biases in classrooms," said Paula Groves Price, Ph.D., dean of North Carolina A&T State University's College of Education. "We are looking forward to our partnership with Curriculum Associates and the opportunity it will provide for our faculty, students, and school partners to be actively involved in developing anti-racist and culturally sustaining assessments."

To bring deep expertise into K–12 assessment, Kristen Huff, Ed.D., vice president of assessment and research at Curriculum Associates, will join the College of Education's advisory board. In addition to her role at Curriculum Associates, Huff has co-chaired the National Council on Measurement in Education Task Force on Classroom Assessment since 2016 and was formerly the Senior Fellow for the New York State Department of Education.

"I'm humbled to work with leaders from the university on this groundbreaking partnership," said Huff. "Together, we will focus on creating culturally relevant assessments that reflect the diversity of today's classrooms while helping to revolutionize the educational measurement field as a whole by breaking down barriers and supporting the professional aspirations of diverse scholars."

Since 1891, North Carolina A&T State University has been at the epicenter for economic and social justice transformation for Black Americans. Today, the university has experienced five consecutive years of record enrollment and is currently serving more than 12,700 students—79 percent of whom are Black, 87 percent of whom have racial identities underrepresented in business, and many of whom are from low-income backgrounds. The Wall Street Journal ranked North Carolina A&T as the number two university in America for combining research and classroom teaching. It is also the number one producer of African-American undergraduates in engineering and agriculture, as well as the number one producer of Black master's degree graduates in mathematics and statistics.

About Curriculum Associates
Founded in 1969, Curriculum Associates, LLC designs research-based print and online instructional materials, screens and assessments, and data management tools. The company's products and outstanding customer service provide teachers and administrators with the resources necessary for teaching diverse student populations and fostering learning for all students.

SOURCE Curriculum Associates