Building a Better Assessment Future 2026

Time to Lead: Innovation to Implementation

Register

Date

August 6 - 7, 2026

Time

8:30 am - 4:00 pm

Location

Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center
219 S. Harrison Rd.
East Lansing, Michigan
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It’s time to place students at the center of our classroom practice and assessment systems. This requires leadership that not only values innovation but is prepared to implement it. BBAF 2026 will focus on how educational leaders can translate innovative ideas into sustainable, student-centered assessment practices across classrooms, schools, and systems.

The Building a Better Assessment Future Conference is in its sixth year of bringing together educators from all over the country to connect around assessment. This two-day conference features three expert keynote speakers and 13 breakout sessions in small group settings that will delve into topics across three conference strands: systems, leadership, and classroom. Together, these strands will explore the assessment knowledge, practices, and policies educational leaders need to lead innovation. 

Keynotes

Lillian Pace opens the conference with her keynote, “Empowering Creativity in an Era of Federal Change.” Pace will examine the evolving education landscape and its impact on assessment systems, including exploring the shifting role of the federal government and examples of promising assessment innovation, to provide insights on how to better meet the needs of educators, students, and communities.

Steven Snead’s keynote, “Is the Future of Assessment A.I. or D.E.I.?,” will explore artificial intelligence (A.I.) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (D.E.I.) and how they can collide, conflict, and ultimately co-create a more just, accurate, and actionable assessment future.

Jill Willis closes the conference with her keynote, “Accessible Assessment for Learning and Agency: How small classroom choices can create powerful possibilities for the future.” Willis will examine the balance between measuring content standards and cultivating transferable skills that lay outside them. She will invite us to consider how opening multiple pathways for students to demonstrate their learning can ignite engagement, strengthen self-efficacy, and deepen metacognition. 

Conference participants will:

  • Explore practices and policies that support the design and implementation of innovative, student-centered assessment systems 
  • Examine how research can sustain assessment innovation over time 
  • Consider implications for assessment practices and policies as systems shift toward learner-centered approaches
  • Envision the future of assessment when all levels of the system are aligned and all stakeholders are assessment literate 
  • Learn from practitioner stories that illustrate transformation in classroom practice and complex systems change 

Participants will also be invited to reflect on their own roles in advancing the assessment future we collectively imagine. 

Overview

BBAF’s design as a smaller, more intimate conference provides opportunities to network and connect with fellow educators, breakout session leaders, and keynote speakers. Over the two days, three blocks of concurrent breakout sessions in a small group setting will feature expert practitioners who will highlight practice, structures, and policies necessary to achieve and sustain student-centered assessment systems by providing examples, tools, and processes to implement for student success.

Student perspectives will be intentionally highlighted throughout the conference, alongside Field Notes from educators currently implementing assessment innovations in their contexts, with opportunities to reflect and journal. There will be a curated, upbeat music playlist throughout the conference, catered lunches, a photo station, and a Mix & Mingle reception at the end of the first day for drinks and visiting with new and old friends! On the second day, early risers can join us for a hot breakfast and coffee at 7:30 a.m. while engaging in dialogue around forward-thinking topics related to assessment.

Who should attend?

Teachers, administrators, assessment policymakers, and district teams.

Attend as an individual or as a team!

We are here to connect, get inspired, learn from one another, and gain applications for next steps. While individuals are welcome, we encourage schools/districts to register and work in teams of 3 or more, as it can help strengthen professional relationships and collaboration, while enhancing the capacity for systems change with a shared vision and goals. The MAC supports participants post-conference by providing recorded conference archives and opportunities to join 2026–27 networks and events.

The conference is co-hosted by The Michigan Assessment Consortium (MAC), in partnership with Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and MDE’s Formative Assessment for Michigan Educator’s (FAME) Program.

An early registration discount applies automatically through May 31, 2026.

9.5 SCECH credits available

Watch a brief preview of what you can expect at BBAF!

KEYNOTE: Lillian Pace

Lillian Pace is the Vice President of Policy and Strategic Advancement at KnowledgeWorks. During her time at KnowledgeWorks, Lillian has served as a national thought leader on education innovation with an emphasis on the development of student-centered assessment and accountability systems. Lillian directs the organization’s policy and advocacy strategy, engaging leaders at all levels of the education system to design and implement policy conditions that enable student-centered learning. She also shapes the organization’s partnerships strategy, facilitating strategic collaborations that help KnowledgeWorks and its network of national and state change-makers accelerate systems transformation. She spent nearly a decade on Capitol Hill advising policymakers on K-12 and higher education policy. Lillian received her Master of Public Policy degree from George Washington University and her Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington and Lee University.

KEYNOTE: Steven Snead

Steven Snead serves as the Supervisor of Curriculum & Assessment at Oakland Schools. His team is responsible for providing educators across dozens of districts and charter schools with professional learning, resource development, and consultation to support deep learning for all students. He is also a member of the Board of Directors for the Michigan Assessment Consortium, helping to promote assessment literacy across the state of Michigan. He’s given numerous local, statewide, and national presentations on assessment focused practices, including district assessment design, formative assessment, MTSS, and equitable assessment practices. Steven is a proud graduate of Cass Technical High School in Detroit. He holds a B.A. in Secondary Education from the University of Michigan and a M.Ed. from Wayne State University. He completed his doctorate in educational leadership and policy analysis at the University of Missouri. The focus of his research explored how teachers use interim benchmark data in instructional decision-making.

KEYNOTE: Jill Willis

Jill Willis is a Professor of Education at Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane Australia. She researches the social structures of classroom assessment and learning spaces to make recommendations for improving teacher and student agency. Her research investigates how learners navigate performance expectations in assessment systems, so learners of all ages can be supported to experience greater success and agency. This interest has led her to teach about assessment for learning, leadership of change, learning spaces and middle leadership. Jill particularly enjoys working with teachers and school leaders who undertake higher degree learning and research. Jill is proud to have led research on accessibility in assessment, and student evaluations of vertical schools. She is a founding member of the Centre for Inclusive Education.

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