R&D Partners
Can you imagine what learning and assessment might look like in 2045?
At AFG, we focus our R&D on what we think might be commonplace in 20 years, and innovate now with that in mind.
We want to bring that reality to the present.
R&D Partners
We move at the pace of transformation and innovation with our in-house R&D approach in our program, which means we bring together people from across the nation to collaboratively build new assessment tools within our AFG team. With our R&D partners, we have engaged over 7,500 learners and 1,000 educators across 14 states in our work to develop and validate new assessment measures and to explore innovative assessment delivery platforms.
Learn more about our exciting, multi-disciplinary R&D with our current partners who are collaborating with us to answer the tough challenge that is assessment.
LiberatED
Team
Dena Simmons
Founder and Executive Director, LiberatED.
Meiko Lin
Director of Research, LiberatED
Sukhiminder Kaur
Research Associate, LiberatED
LiberatED’s overarching goal was to co-develop an inventory of liberatory practices (ILP) with the hope of cultivating the conditions for liberation in classrooms throughout the U.S. and beyond. In addition to the ILP, three accompanying resources – an associated educator reflection guide, a companion student feedback form, and an ILP protocol (i.e., an instruction manual for educators, who wish to implement the practices in the ILP) – were a part of LiberatED’s work.
The Center for Whole-Child Education (CWCE)
Team
Supraja Narayanaswamy
Principal Investigator, Director of Data and Research, CWCE
Elizabeth Dowling
Principal Investigator, Research Professor, CWCE
Claudia Hebert
Data and Research Coordinator, CWCE
The Center for Whole-Child Education (CWCE) Design Inventories (WCDIs) were a suite of measurement tools designed to support healthy, whole-child development in educational settings. Composed of school, classroom, and student level WCDI, the inventories included a comprehensive set of evidence-based indicators that represent the degree to which existing systems and practices support whole-child learning and thriving.
EmpowerK12
Team
Josh Boots
Principal Investigator, EmpowerK12
Dr. Olga Price
Co-Principal Investigator, George Washington University
The Wellbeing survey and BOLD portal utilized both comprehensive seasonal surveys and near real-time check-ins that provided an actionable, supports-aligned framework for educators and learners. EmpowerK12, along with the George Washington Center for Health and Health Care in Schools, School Talk, The New Teacher Project, and Mathematica, investigated how social and emotional wellbeing, including identity development, of students ages 8 -13 and their educators influenced each other.
The Adult Social-emotional Learning Assessment (ASELA) increased awareness of how educator strengths may be utilized in the learning environment to support the academic and social emotional well-being of youth. This team identified key domains of social-emotional learning across educators, from general and special education, to content area and related service educators.
Pennsylvania State University
Team
Dr. Mildred Boveda
Co-Principal Investigator, Pennsylvania State University
Norma González
Co-Principal Investigator, Tucson Unified School District
Dr. DeLeon Gray
Co-Principal Investigator, North Carolina State University
Dr. Francesca López
Principal Investigator, Pennsylvania State University
Lorenzo López
Co-Principal Investigator, Tucson Unified School District
Dynah Oviedo
Co-Principal Investigator, Tucson Unified School District
Dr. Nilam Ram
Co-Principal Investigator, Stanford University
This multi-organization team developed and validated asset-based assessment tools through the reformulation and expansion of existing measures, teachers’ own practices and provided additional evidence on the benefits of asset-based pedagogy on students’ identity development and outcomes. Penn State, along with Tucson Unified School District, North Carolina State University, and Stanford University, explored momentary assessment to deliver assessment information on the activation of intersecting identities across settings to learners and their educators.
Throughline Learning
Team
Malika Ali
Co-Principal Investigator, Throughline Learning
Karina Rodriguez
Principal Investigator, Throughline Learning
The Student Experience Survey (SES) provided teachers, school leaders, and community members more insight on how students experienced their learning environments and saw themselves as learners. This survey and rapid visualization tool provided critical information to educators to increase and expand their use of data metrics through utilizing information that was more representative of the goals that students and their communities defined as important to their success.
Vanderbilt University
Team
Dr. Elizabeth Anderson
Co-Principal Investigator, Embraced Wisdom Resource Group
Dr. Nicole M. Joseph
Principal Investigator, Vanderbilt University
The Measuring Inclusive Constructs of Mathematics Identity (MICMI) provided timely information to educators. Created with partner Embraced Wisdom Resource Group, the MICMI provided actionable insights to educators, caregivers, and the girls’ themselves as they navigated the concurrent developmental trajectories associated with race, girlhood, and mathematics identities.
Village of Wisdom
Team
Dr. Dawn X. Henderson
Co-Principal Investigator, Village of Wisdom
Dr. Amber Majors Lapido
Principal Investigator, Village of Wisdom
The Culturally Affirming Climate Survey (CACS) provided an ecological assessment of the learning environment, presenting accessible and actionable information about cultural affirmation for schools and communities. The CACS survey for grades 3-6 was developed by a collaborative team of Black parent researchers, Village of Wisdom, and Discriminology.