President’s Message – November 2026

News@NCME, President's Message

Dear NCME Colleagues,

I want to begin by extending my warmest congratulations and sincere thanks to the AIME-Con 2026 Program Co-Chairs—Joshua Wilson, Christopher Ormerod, and Maggie Beiting-Parrish—for a highly successful second Artificial Intelligence in Measurement and Education Conference, held October 5–7 in Pittsburgh.

Building on the momentum of last year’s inaugural conference, AIME-Con 2026 received nearly double the number of proposals and brought together an interdisciplinary community working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, educational measurement, assessment, and learning. This year’s theme, Measurement Science in AI-Integrated Assessment and Pedagogy, reminded us that as AI expands what is possible in scoring, item generation, feedback, and personalized support, these innovations must remain anchored in rigorous measurement science. My thanks as well to the reviewers, presenters, sponsors, volunteers, and NCME staff whose dedication made the conference such a success.

We are following AIME-Con with another important NCME conference this month: the sixth NCME Special Conference on Classroom Assessment, taking place November 12–14 at the Radisson Blu Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Organized by Michael Rodriguez and hosted by the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Education, and the Minnesota Assessment Group, with additional support from the University of Iowa, the conference centers on the theme “Creating Equity & Innovation through the Confluence of Research and Practice in Classroom Assessment.” It will bring together classroom teachers, school district and state education leaders, researchers, and higher education faculty who share a common goal: improving student learning through high-quality classroom assessment. I hope to see many of you there. Highlights of the program include:

  • Plenary sessions, including a keynote by Temple Lovelace.
  • More than 40 sessions across breakout blocks, including organized symposia, panels, and paper sessions that connect classroom assessment research with practice.
  • Assessment Participatory Learning Stations, a new feature in an assessment-fair format with more than 40 roundtables. On Saturday, November 14, this event will be open free of charge to up to 500 teachers from across the region to explore new and innovative assessment techniques.
  • A special focus on culturally and linguistically responsive and sustaining assessment, including engagement with Indigenous ways of knowing, along with feedback, grading, and the formative and summative uses of classroom assessment.
  • Receptions and breaks designed to give participants ample time to connect with colleagues.

I am especially pleased that the conference will open on Thursday, November 12, from 5:30–7 p.m. with a reception hosted by our Inclusive Measurement for Historically Marginalized Groups (IMHM) SIGIMIE, supported by funding from the Spencer Foundation. The reception will feature a guest speaker and opportunities for networking, and it is open to all conference attendees. It offers a welcoming space to connect, build community, and engage in dialogue about equity, inclusion, and fairness in educational measurement. I warmly invite you to join us and to help the IMHM SIGIMIE continue to build momentum.

The NCME Board of Directors will hold its Fall Board meeting in Minneapolis on November 12, right before the Classroom Assessment Conference. Our agenda will include NCME’s 2027 budget and continued financial stewardship; the implementation of our new strategic plan, including the activities assigned to committees, SIGIMIEs, and task forces and how we will track progress; updates from the Presidential Task Force on Responsible AI and the International Issues Committee; progress on the revision of the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing; and reflections on AIME-Con 2026 alongside planning for the 2027 Annual Meeting in Toronto and AIME-Con 2027.

I also want to share an update on the NCME Strategic Plan for January 2027 through December 2029, which the board has approved. Guided by our mission of advancing measurement to benefit society and our vision of NCME as the indispensable organization for educational measurement, the plan sets out six goals: advancing the science and influence of educational measurement; supporting and developing measurement professionals; growing and enriching a vibrant measurement community; deepening partnerships and public engagement; mobilizing philanthropy and investment in measurement excellence; and ensuring organizational stewardship and sustainability. It also includes concrete targets for 2030, such as growing membership by 5%, hosting at least 24 webinars each year, and raising $250,000 for the NCME Endowment for Measurement Excellence and Integrity. On November 3, Executive Director Susan Lyons and I met with SIGIMIE leaders and committee chairs to discuss the strategic plan, share how their groups’ work connects to its goals, and hear their questions and ideas about implementation.

No strategy can be successful without the support of our membership. The goals in this plan will become reality only through the energy, expertise, and generosity of NCME members. I encourage each of you to engage with and support the activities related to the strategic plan—by joining a committee or SIGIMIE, volunteering for an initiative, participating in webinars, meet-ups, and conferences, contributing to conference programs and public-facing resources, inviting colleagues and students to join NCME, and sharing your ideas about how NCME can best serve our field and the broader public. Your board liaisons and I welcome your input at any time.

Thank you for all you do to advance educational measurement and to support one another. I look forward to seeing many of you in Minnesota.

Warm regards,

Kadriye Ercikan
NCME President