Professional PUBLICATIONS

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 School superintendents need to fully understand the expected results and ongoing progress of every program in their district as it relates to the strategic plan. Parker and Wren explain how program evaluation can provide actionable data and recommendations to improve programs.  

Performance-based assessments (PBAs) can lead to improved student achievement and motivation in math classes, but PBAs lack psychometric evidence to support their use. In this article, Gyamfi and Wren describe a study that involved a large sample of Ghanaian high school students.

African American, Latin, Indigenous, and low SES students are grossly underrepresented in gifted programs across the US. In this comprehensive research-based article, Wren spells out how the methods used to identify students for gifted services continue to perpetuate the problem.

The school board of Virginia Beach City Public Schools charged district staff with "teaching and assessing those skills our students need to thrive as 21st century learners, workers, and citizens." This article provides an overview of the journey undertaken to accomplish the difficult task.  

Data-driven instructional planning is a valuable tool to optimize student learning. Abbott and Wren discuss the results of a study that examined how students' performance task responses are used to inform instruction in middle schools.

 This article tells the story of the first five years of  Virginia Beach City Public School's Integrated Performance Task, a  districtwide assessment designed to measure the critical-thinking, problem-solving, and written communication skills of fourth- and seventh-grade students.

Increased testing of students necessitated a reliable scale to measure children's test anxiety. The article describes Wren's Children’s Test Anxiety Scale, which is still used domestically and internationally by hundreds of counselors, educators, psychologists, and researchers.