Tracked out on Monday and had a phone conference with my mentor Dr. Tammy Howard from the NC Department of Public Instruction on Tuesday, guess you can say we are hitting the ground running. Since my fellowship is about testing and ways to develop good test questions, we spent quite a bit of time discussing things I need to learn and ways I can help teachers understand the tests and what to expect from them. With my year round schedule my fellowship will look a little different, so we decided I will start with 2 weeks at DPI starting June 10th meeting with some test measurement specialists and attending a few workshops on item writing for science tests. We are not sure what my final product will look like yet but we kicked around ideas ranging from writing science items, to developing a training document or podcast for teachers, and ways to inform the public on test development and use. Since I have spent my entire professional life in the classroom this journey to the other side of the testing process should be quite a change!
Sounds like a very interesting focus. I have always wondered about testing and assessment design. One of the complaints that I hear from my students is that some questions are worded in a difficult or complicated manner. I think a podcast on test development is an excellent idea. Good luck!