Message from the President
Education is all about change
Education is all about change. Each innovation, each promising new practice,
each discovery concerning the human capacity to assimilate information requires change. The art of teaching itself requires that one change or transform the thinking of another in some form or fashion. The very nature of education embedded as it is in this constant state of change challenges educators to evaluate their progress at ever increasing levels of rigor and responsibility demanded by our society in terms of strict systems of accountability. As educators, we cannot afford to try something and merely hope it works or invest decreasing resources in programs that lack sound measures of success. We must be able to provide sound feedback to those implementing our programs while assessing the learning of those most affected by it – our students.
In education, there are three interconnected areas most affected by this constant swirl of
change: the programs we implement; the expectations for the personnel we supervise; and the assessment practices for the students we teach. Understanding sound evaluations practices in these three areas enables educators at all levels to make wiser decisions in both choice and implementation. These three areas – program, personnel, and student assessment – form the heart of educational activities and, as such, deserve our most careful attention and discussion.
CREATE is a national organization, which offers specific attention to these three
significant areas of educational evaluation and research. For over three decades, CREATE has served to bring together those in education who are doing the work in the areas of program, personnel and student evaluation and research. Our membership boasts active involvement by practitioners from pre-k through graduate schools and researchers who inform their practice.
Through our annual National Evaluation Institute, these worlds come together to explore new challenges while offering innovative solutions. Interactions among the various stakeholders benefit all. Each year, we offer through our concurrent sessions the latest thinking in research-based practices and their application in the “real world.” Through our nationally acclaimed keynote speakers, we offer the opportunity for our participants to not only hear the foremost leaders in their field but to engage them in conversation through more informal settings such as receptions and smaller sessions. Networking, which often continues beyond the conference setting, is one of the many valuable bonuses of participation in a CREATE National Evaluation Institute.
This year promises to be one of extraordinary offerings in terms of ideas and evaluation
practices for programs, personnel, and student assessment. Our Board of Directors is working diligently on developing the 2010 National Evaluation Institute, which will focus on student assessment, at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. Other avenues for discussion and assimilation of ideas will come through a new online peer-reviewed journal
publishing articles of interest in these three critical areas by our members and others.
We plan to expand our presence in print publication as well as we revise our former publication, The Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education. Our articles are now linked to ERIC, which will offer even wider dissemination. Rather than limiting these three areas to special interest groups within larger organizations, CREATE continues to offer a special home to those actively engaged in pursuing or consuming evaluations and research that impact education in the areas of programs, personnel and student assessment. Our connection to the Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation remains strong, while our move to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington opens a new chapter in our continued growth as an organization. It is an excellent year to be a member of CREATE, and I look forward to serving as its President with the support of an outstanding Board of Directors and Officers.
Barbara B, Howard, Ed.D.
Appalachian State University