Brian Stecher is a Senior Social Scientist and Acting Director of the RAND Education program. His research focuses on measuring educational quality and evaluating education reforms, particularly assessment and accountability systems. During his 20 years at RAND, he has directed prominent national and state evaluations, including No Child Left Behind, the Empowering Effective Teachers program of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mathematics and Science Systemic Reforms, and Class Size Reduction. His measurement-related expertise includes test development (prototype performance assessments for teacher certification, hands-on science tasks for middle school students), test validation (the quality of portfolio assessments in Vermont and Kentucky and new assessments in Washington), and the use of assessments for school improvement (formative and interim assessments, quality of classroom assessments).  He has presented findings to policymakers at the state and national level, to practitioners and to the public. Dr. Stecher has served on expert panels relating to standards, assessments and accountability for the National Academies, and is currently a member of the NAS Board on Testing and Assessment (BOTA).  He has published widely in professional journals, and is currently a member of the Editorial Boards of Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis and Educational Assessment Journal.