The theme of the 2018 NCME conference is “Here and There and Back Again: Making Assessment a Stronger Force for Positive Impact on Teaching and Learning.” This theme seeks to cultivate the interplay between testing (in all its forms) and the processes of instruction and learning. Assessments vary in their appearance and structure, and they fulfill a range of purposes. Such purposes are innately evaluative in nature, but assessment data can and should be viewed as meaningful by relevant stakeholders. To this end, thoughtful reflection on the information gathered through assessment activities (and how it is collected) presents considerable opportunities for the strengthening of connections between what examinees know and how such knowledge develops, as well as with our methods for assessment. Through this theme, the 2018 conference will focus on research, development, and policy that - across contexts and settings – explores and encourages strong, positive connections between assessment, teaching, and learning.

In recognition of this theme, the program committee seeks a broad range of proposals for inclusion on the 2018 conference program, in particular those concerned with:
? Innovative approaches to evaluate and improve the relevance, utility, and consequences of assessment for all stakeholders;
? Integrating practices and data from summative assessment with classroom assessment;
? Defining the role of summative assessment within a balanced assessment system, including how summative assessment can be designed to have stronger positive impact on learning and teaching;
? Evaluating issues with the development, management, and validation of inferences from complex assessments and assessment systems, including those that integrate emerging technology and/or measure new or nontraditional constructs;
? Combining results from multiple sources or across time for a range of testing purposes;
? Establishing, applying, and validating performance standards across assessments, settings, and time;
? Evaluating issues of fairness and equity in the development, implementation, and use of assessment;
? Evaluating the role of occupational and professional assessments, including their potential for shaping the learning behavior of individuals and the teaching provided by institutions;
? Evaluating how technology is evolving and shaping education and training and how it is affecting the role of technology in assessments; and
? International (including non-U.S) and alternative perspectives on any of the above.