Sandra Durden, PhD

Experience

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  Kinetic Concepts, Amigo Mobility International, Inc.

  Aug 1986 - Oct 1991

  Legal Assistant

  • Organized and prepared corporate documents related to patents, trademarks, acquisitions, mergers, an initial public offering, warehouse and lease contracts, civil filings, and arbitration matters. • Engaged in research and information gathering.• Administered and tracked disbursements and return of security deposits for over 100 warehouse locations throughout the U.S.• Communicated and corresponded with attorneys, clients, shareholders, government agencies, corporate executives and lease holders Show less

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  Northside ISD, Edgewood ISD, Saginaw Public Schools

  Jan 1991 - Jan 2003

  Teacher, K-5 and Mathematics 6-8

  • Taught Mathematics to elementary and middle school students. • Administered K-12 statewide summative assessments and readiness assessments to Pre-K and Kindergarten students. • Campus leadership and district committee member.• Mathematics department chairperson. • Curriculum development.• Presenter at campus and district meetings and professional development workshops.

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  Pearson - Assessment & Instruction

  Jan 2003 - Jan 2013

  • Led assessment design, content development and test construction activities through all phases of product development for next generation assessment solutions from research and planning to national tryout and final publication. • Responsible for maintaining content integrity and necessary product updates for a $50M+ portfolio of educational assessments and products including nationally normed achievement tests, language proficiency tests, cognitive ability tests, diagnostic tests, prognosis tests, career interest inventories, and item banks. • Collaborated with other senior business leadership team members as a representative of the leadership team for the Learning Assessment division. • Established and executed the businesses strategic plan. • Established and managed $1M+ cost center budget. Established and managed R&D project budgets ranging from $100K to $5M per project.• Optimized team structure and established systems to direct and reflect team performance. • Completed project deliverables within budget and time constraints. • Managed external author, vendor and consultant relationships. • Led development of design documents such as assessment frameworks, test blueprints, test specifications, test designs, item specifications, style guides, asset development plans, and scoring designs.• Led development of ancillary products such as test administration manuals, online user guides, hand scoring guides, normative data books, technical manuals, etc.• Guided recruitment and facilitation of national experts for advisory panels, item review committees, data review committees and bias and sensitivity review committees. • Provided content development expertise for Request for Proposals (RFPs). Show less • Managed development of Mathematics content and test construction activities for both paper and online test products. • Managed content teams in the construction of thousands of K-12 operational, embedded field test and stand-alone field test forms to content specifications and psychometric targets.• Developed, reviewed and edited thousands of test items in mathematics to item specifications and project style guides.• Collaborated with clients on the development of assessment frameworks, item specifications, style guides, test blueprints, and test designs.• Trained and mentored new staff on content development and test construction best practices. Trained employees for company-wide rollout of new web-based authoring tool. Part of innovative item initiative introducing content group to new technology-enhanced item types.• Conducted item writer workshops and presentations. • Facilitated item, data and bias committee reviews and participated in standard setting, range finding and technical advisory committees. • Managed Item Banks for various State Assessment programs. • Prepared content development schedules and managed timely delivery of customized products and services.• Provided content development expertise for ancillary products, technical reports and RFPs. Show less

  • Director of Research & Design, Senior Assessment Development Manager

    Jan 2008 - Jan 2013

  • Senior Assessment Specialist, Content Lead

    Jan 2003 - Jan 2008
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  American Institutes for Research

  Aug 2013 - Dec 2014

  Senior Test Developer

  • Developed mathematics performance tasks for the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium (SBAC) and K-12 mathematics items for state assessment programs and formative assessments, including multiple-choice items and a wide range of machine-scored constructed response item types.• Project manager for test development of state-wide K-12 online assessment contract with student populations of 200K per grade. • Managed test development tasks and schedule. Completed project deliverables on time and within budget. • Managed development of test designs, test blueprints, test specifications, item specifications, style guides, and asset development plans.• Coordinated with various stakeholders and customers such as staff from Department of Education, external vendors, and different functional groups within the organization to support effective delivery of all test components. • Coordinated educator and community committee activities, including presenter and facilitator roles. Show less

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  McGraw-Hill Education CTB

  Dec 2014 - Dec 2015

  Senior Manager Digital Content Delivery

  • Provides leadership in decision-making, and direction to the development of assessment solutions for customers, both through customized state contracts and proprietary products. • Directs the digital delivery of all assessment components within a complex organization to support annual assessment revenues of $100-200M for 10-20 contracts and concurrent investment projects. • Engages with internal and external customers to deliver high quality and on time assessment products and services. • Manages direct reports and coordinates with cross functional groups. • Approves and tracks costs against projected product budgets. • Provides capacity forecasting, budget estimates and metrics for planning. • Drives development of processes, infrastructures and communications to ensure content integrity across systems. • Drives change and fosters innovation through development and implementation of professional development and training to address the needs of a dynamic assessment market. Show less

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  Questar Assessment Inc.

  Jan 2016 - Nov 2018

  Assessment Design Manager

  * Oversee the design of Questar’s assessment programs from conception to publication* Collaboratively participate in proposal development* Act as the Face to the Customer for the Assessment Services organization. o be the first point of contact* Manage delivery of and assist in the development, processes, and implementation of all program design specifications* Coordinate scope and schedule of research, program design and development with psychometric, authoring, content, editorial, and publishing resources* Manage relationship, deliveries, and expectations with vendors, sub-contractors, and partners.* Manage customer and Questar-owned intellectual property* Participate in budgeting process in collaboration with the PMO* Oversee, understand, and communicate the financial health of their assigned programs. Show less

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  RTI International

  Nov 2018 - Apr 2021

  Manager, Education Research

  Provided digital learning and assessment design, development, delivery,scoring, and reporting expertise for existing research studies, managed subcontractors and identified emerging work.• Assessment task lead for the High School and Beyond Longitudinal Study of 2022 sponsored by theNational Center for Education Statistics.• Collaborated on design of program evaluation tools for a grant from the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation.• Managed item and test development processes, schedule, and budget.• Effectively managed partners/vendors to implement designs and ensure that correct quality controlmeasures were in place and executed.• Managed vendor and client meeting events and activities and collaborated with external experts,psychometric partners and consultants to articulate and gather design requirements and specificationsfor end-to-end programs.• Managed and coordinated testing of instruments for internal and external stakeholders.• Participated in writing or editing proposals to guarantee the highest quality designs to meet theclient's goals, cost parameters, and schedule commitments. Show less

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  Edmentum

  Jul 2021 - now

  Director of Standards, Alignment, and Assessment Design & Development

  • Drive collaboration that establishes Edmentum’s assessment design strategy to improve student outcomes• Use assessment best practices to lead toward innovative assessment solutions, workflows, and tools, employing tools such as assessment guidelines, blueprints, rubrics, assessment implementation/ delivery guidelines, task models, and item analysis checklists.• Design assessments with classroom applications of learning measurement and data use in mind, applying a strong knowledge of classroom instructional practices. Show less