Spellings appoints panel to "strengthen" No Child Left Behind

US Education Secretary Margaret Spellings announced Monday the appointements of 16 members -- including one from the University of Wisconsin - Madison -- to National Technical Advisory Council (NTAC), which is being established as part of an effort to strengthen the much-maligned No Child Left Behind law.

The council will advise the Department on issues related to the design and implementation of state standards, assessments and accountability systems, Spellings said in a press release.

All members of the council are experts in assessment and accountability, and represent a range of backgrounds, according to the press release. The member from UW is Margo Gottlieb, lead developer, World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment Consortium, Wisconsin Center for Educational Research. WCER is a key MPS partner in many evaluation and assessment efforts.

Other members include:

• Tom Fisher, CEO, Fisher Education Consulting LLC, McMinnville, TN. Fisher, former Florida state director of testing, will chair the council.
• David Abrams, assistant commissioner for standards, assessment and reporting, New York State Department of Education, Albany, NY
• Anthony Alpert, director of assessment, Oregon Department of Education, Salem, Oregon
• Diane Browder, Snyder distinguished professor of special education and coordinator of the doctoral program, College of Education, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC
• Wesley Bruce, assistant superintendent for the Center for Accreditation, Assessment and Licensing, Indiana Department of Education, Indianapolis, IN
• Wayne Camara, Vice President for Research and Development, The College Board, New York, NY
• Kevin Carey, research and policy manager, Education Sector, Washington, DC
• Gregory Cizek, professor of educational measurement and evaluation, School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
• Carl Cohn, former superintendent of San Diego Unified School District and distinguished leader in residence, College of Education, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
• Denise Collier, deputy superintendent of curriculum and instruction/chief academic officer, Dallas Independent School District, Dallas, TX
• Robert Costrell, professor of education reform and economics and holds the Endowed Chair in Education Accountability, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR
• Harold Doran, principal research analyst, American Institutes for Research, Washington, DC
• Suzanne Lane, professor, research methodology program, Department of Psychology in Education, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
• Scott Marion, vice president of the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment Inc., Dover, NH
• John Poggio, professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Research, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS