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Gwinnett presents assessment plan and launches system audit; Gwinnett Writes expanded
Summary
Accountability director Miranda McLaren outlined the district assessment cycle, use of assessment leadership teams, phased Gwinnett Writes writing assessments, reduced testing windows and a planned assessment system audit with the National Center for Assessment to inform changes for 2026–27.
Miranda McLaren, Executive Director of Accountability and Assessment, gave the board a detailed briefing on district assessments and an upcoming assessment audit meant to streamline testing and strengthen instructional use of results.
McLaren described the assessment development cycle: teachers nominated to an Assessment Leadership Team (ALT) create and review blueprint‑aligned assessment items, separate review panels vet items, and item statistics guide post‑test revisions. She said the district runs two ALT cohorts per year and is in an active development season for 2026–27.
District adjustments since the pandemic were outlined: in 2020–21 GCPS used shorter common unit assessments for remote learning; later years phased returns to district assessments while deploying I‑Ready universal screeners for younger grades and removing some district ELA assessments to avoid redundancy. For writing, McLaren described Gwinnett Writes, a district writing assessment that fills gaps in years the state does not assess writing; Gwinnett Writes provides student feedback and contributes about 5% to course grades where used.
McLaren said the district shortened interim testing windows this year (from multi‑week windows toward four‑day windows) and scrambles forms to deter cheating; the team is discussing versioning/AI with a technical advisory committee to ensure psychometric equity across forms.
Audit and next steps: GCPS is partnering with the National Center for Assessment to conduct an assessment system audit that will include virtual interviews, family and student feedback, and school leader input. The audit will inform decisions for 2026–27; McLaren said no substantive system changes beyond planned alignment to new state standards are expected for the next year.
Quotes and context: McLaren emphasized teacher development in assessment work and said the district seeks to reduce redundancy while preserving data that drive instruction. She explained Gwinnett Writes is designed to return actionable feedback to students and teachers and to give schools dashboards showing trends and misconceptions.
Ending: The board will receive further audit findings and data reports in the coming months; staff said audit interviews and stakeholder feedback will occur immediately to feed recommendations for the 2026–27 assessment calendar.
