N.C. A&T, Curriculum Associates Partner to Support Diversity in Education, Assessment Research

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Dec. 1, 2020) – North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has established an interdisciplinary partnership with Curriculum Associates to support diversity in the education and assessment fields.

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

“As a premier historically Black university 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 College of Education Dean Paula Groves Price, Ph.D. “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.”

The partnership also will include scholarships to help recruit and retain deserving students to the education field, as well as training and professional development opportunities. 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.

Kristen Huff, Ed.D., vice president of assessment and research at Curriculum Associates, will join the College of Education’s advisory board. Huff has co-chaired the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME) 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.”

“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.”