BIO:

Jaison Morgan is the Managing Principal of The Common Pool and Co-Founder of RAMPIT Software. He’s been recognized by the BBC as “the world’s leading expert” in designing trials to compare innovative technologies. He was the head of prize development for the X PRIZE Foundation, where designed a series of cash rewards intended to demonstrate the current capabilities of competing product providers. He has served as an Advisor to the White House, Office of Science and Technology Policy, the First Minister of Scotland and the government of Abu Dhabi, in their efforts to utilize competitive trials to drive innovation. He helped establish a lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study the use of incentives in product development. Mr. Morgan completed his graduate studies at the University of Chicago and is a frequent lecturer on the subject of Incentive Engineering (http://youtu.be/NyOaoIcCeMY).

In 2011, Mr. Morgan worked with the Hewlett Foundation to establish the Automated Student Assessment Prize (ASAP). The competition tested whether computers can grade student written content as well as trained human experts. The first trial focused on essays; by offering state-derived data (i.e., graded responses) to a pool of 30,000 predictive modeling experts, over four months a series of breakthrough developments occurred. Measurable demonstrations of machine scoring proved concordant to hand grading. Today, ASAP continues to work with partners to understand how the technology can lower costs to measure deeper learning.

BIO:

Norbert Elliot is professor of English at New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). Dr. Elliot received both his BA and MA from the University of New Orleans and his Ph.D. from the University of Tennessee. He has taught at Mercer County Community College, Rider University, the College of New Jersey, and Texas A & M University at Commerce. He was the recipient of the NJIT 2006 Master Teacher Award. In 2007, On a Scale: A Social History of Writing Assessment in America won the Outstanding Book Award from the Conference on College Composition and Communication. In the classroom, Dr. Elliot engages students in active problem-solving. He delivers lectures through podcasts and incorporates technology into assignments as students write blogs and develop collaborative wikis that are, in turn, collected in EPortfolios. Dr. Elliot is recognized nationally as an expert in writing assessments. With David M. Williamson, he is most recently co-editor of a special issue of Assessing Writing on automated assessment of writing (volume 18, no. 1, 2013).

Dr. Elliot is a non-judging member of the Working Group.

BIO:

Linda D. Friedrich, Ph.D., serves as the Director of Research and Evaluation at the National Writing Project, where she has worked since 2002. She leads NWP's research and evaluation efforts; oversees the use and ongoing development of its writing assessment system; and, as a member of NWP's management team, supports the organization in strategically using research results and tools. Her research interests include teacher leadership and professional development, writing assessment, teacher research, and the diffusion of knowledge and practice. With Ann Lieberman, Senior Scholar, Stanford University, she wrote How Teachers Become Leaders: Learning from Practice and Research (Teachers College Press, August 2010). Prior to joining the National Writing Project, she served as Director of Research at the Coalition of Essential Schools. She earned her Ph.D. in Administration and Policy Analysis at Stanford University's School of Education and her A.B. at Bryn Mawr College, where she majored in history. Before becoming a researcher, Linda facilitated professional development and middle school reform programs at the Philadelphia Education Fund.

BIO:

BIO:

Dr. Michael Kaspar is a Senior Policy Analyst at the National Education Association in Washington, DC. His desk covers STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and Digital Learning. He has taught at all levels - university, community college, elementary and secondary school and he has also led professional development programs for teachers and other staff. Dr. Kaspar is a skilled grant writer, fund-raiser, and events organizer who has led numerous successful efforts to promote education and community involvement in student learning. His experience includes both large and small urban school systems, for-profit agencies and not-for-profit agency management.

Recent positions include Director of Science for District of Columbia Public Schools, Fisheries and Wildlife Biologist with the DC Department, and Training Coordinator for the North American Association for Environmental Education, in Washington, DC. He is the founding President of the DC Science Teachers Association and serves on the board of directors of environmental and educational non-profits.

He has written numerous abstracts, journal and newsletter articles, curricula and resource guides, and belongs to several professional associations, (e.g., National Science Teachers Association, the Council for State Science Supervisors, American Association for the Advancement of Science, ASCD and the North American Association for Environmental Education).

He holds a PhD in Science Education from the University of Texas at Austin, a MS from Texas A&M University at College Station in Horticulture and a BA in Botany/Biology, also from UT, Austin. He has lived in Washington, DC for 17 years.

BIO:

Dr. Mark D. Shermis is the principal investigator and academic advisor for the Automated Student Assessment Prize (ASAP). Dr. Shermis is a frequently cited expert on machine scoring and co-author of Classroom Assessment in Action. He is presently a professor in the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership and the Department of Psychology at The University of Akron, where he previously served as Dean of the College of Education. Dr. Shermis has also held faculty positions at the University of Florida, Florida International, IUPUI and the University of Texas. Shermis earned a B.A. in developmental psychology at the University of Kansas and Doctorate and Master's degrees in educational psychology at the University of Michigan. His latest book (Jill Burstein, co-editor), Handbook of Automated Essay Evaluation: Current Applications and New Directions, will be published by Routledge in April, 2013.

BIO:

Lynn Van Deventer is the Director of Project Management for The Common Pool. Previously, Lynn led education reform and community engagement projects for Seattle Public Schools. Prior to her work in education, Lynn spent twenty years as a program manager and senior manager in the software and data management industry. She's delivered multi-million dollar projects on time and within budget within both the private and public sectors. Most recently she has led project management services for multiple prizes which have required coordination services for a standing Board of Advisors, representing such interests as The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, the U.S. Department of Education, the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and twelve other organizations. Lynn has worked as a professional writer and editor and has spent hundreds of hours in the classroom tutoring struggling writers. She also writes fiction for young adults. Lynn earned a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Iowa and a Certificate in Technical Writing and Editing and a Certificate in Children's Writing from the University of Washington.

BIO:

BIO:

Carl Whithaus is a Professor of Writing and Rhetoric and Director of the University Writing Program (UWP) at the University of California, Davis. His research areas include writing in the disciplines and professions (particularly in the sciences and engineering), writing assessment, and the impact of information technologies on literacy practices. His books include Multimodal Literacies and Emerging Genres (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2013), Writing Across Distances and Disciplines: Research and Pedagogy in Distributed Learning (Erlbaum/Routledge, 2008) and Teaching and Evaluating Writing in the Age of Computers and High-Stakes Testing (Erlbaum, 2005). Mr. Whithaus has served on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Planning Committee for 2011-2019 Writing Standards Framework, the editorial board for Kairos, and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Best Practices for Online Writing Instruction (OWI) Committee (2007-10). He has taught courses ranging from first-year writing to graduate-level classes in traditional, hybrid, and distance learning environments. His articles have appeared in Technical Communication Quarterly, Kairos, Assessing Writing, and The Journal of Basic Writing.