At EdFirst’s National Forum on the Future of Assessment & Accountability conference, FocalPoint had the opportunity to discuss harnessing AI technology in educational assessment and broadening measures of student success. We sat down with Dr. Stephen Murphy, FocalPoint’s Chief Operating Officer, and Maria D’Brot, Vice President of Design and Innovation, to reflect on the insights from their sessions and the key takeaways for the future of assessment.
Harnessing AI Technology in Educational Assessment: A Conversation with Stephen Murphy
We asked Stephen Murphy, who moderated the panel on Harnessing AI Technology in Educational Assessment, about the session’s key themes and what they mean for the future.
Stephen shared:
"AI is transforming how we think about assessment—from content development to test delivery to scoring, reporting, and analytics. One of the biggest conversations we had was around ensuring AI enhances validity and reliability across different measures, including academic achievement and non-academic skills."
The session, featuring experts Will Lorie (Center for Assessment), Jill Abbott (Abbott Advisors Group), Christyan Mitchell (Smarter Balanced), and Andy Middlestead (Michigan Department of Education), explored pressing questions:
How can AI ensure more efficient, unbiased, and equitable scoring of assessments?
What challenges and opportunities do state leaders face in integrating AI-driven assessments?
How can AI provide real-time feedback to educators and policymakers?
Stephen emphasized a systems approach and to underscored the importance of planning, communication, transparency, and fairness in AI models:
"The session reinforced that while AI can improve efficiency, we must embrace systems thinking approaches, and prioritize thoughtful planning and implementation, fairness, explainability, and alignment with educational goals. We need to balance innovation with ethical considerations and strong policies."
Defining and Measuring Student Success: A Conversation with Maria D’Brot
Maria D’Brot moderated the Defining and Measuring Success in the 21st Century panel, alongside Lesa Rohrer (Mustang Public Schools), Michelle Seybolt (Epic Charter Schools), Brook Meiller (Building Capacity EDU), and Juan D’Brot (Center for Assessment). We asked Maria about the most compelling takeaways from this session.
Maria shared:
"One of the biggest themes we discussed was how student success extends beyond academics. Schools and districts are increasingly looking at social-emotional learning, student well-being, and school conditions to get a fuller picture of what students need to thrive."
Panelists discussed how integrating non-academic measures into local, state, and federal data systems can help drive more meaningful improvements in education. Some key topics included:
How do we define student success beyond test scores?
What strategies work for tracking student well-being and engagement?
How can data be used to inform—not just report—on school and district progress?
Maria highlighted the importance of actionable data:
"Collecting data is not enough. We need to ensure educators have insights that drive real improvements. Schools like Mustang and Epic shared how they are integrating student engagement, career readiness, and early warning indicators into their accountability models to better serve students."
An interactive discussion followed, where attendees shared how they are working to track and improve student well-being. Maria noted that while data collection has improved, the real challenge is turning it into strategies that work in the classroom.
Looking Ahead: The Future of Assessment & Accountability
Reflecting on these sessions, both Stephen and Maria emphasized that the field of assessment is evolving rapidly.
Stephen concluded:
"AI is here to stay, but we need to ensure it is planned for and implemented thoughtfully, equitably, and with clear systems and policies to guide its use in assessment."
Maria added:
"We are moving toward a more holistic approach to accountability—one that considers academic, social, and emotional factors to truly support students."
FocalPoint’s Work in These Areas
On AI in Assessment:
"At FocalPoint, we are leveraging AI to enhance assessment design, scoring accuracy, real-time feedback for educators and powering our analytics and dashboards. Our AI-powered solutions, like Teacher Grading and Feedback Aide, streamline grading while maintaining fairness and transparency—ensuring that AI works as a support tool, not a replacement for educator expertise.”
On Measuring Student Success Beyond Academics:
FocalPoint is committed to developing data solutions that go beyond test scores, integrating social-emotional learning, student engagement, and school conditions into reporting and accountability frameworks. Through customizable dashboards and early warning systems, we help states and districts transform data into meaningful action that supports the whole student.
