NCTA is pleased that Michael T. Nettles, Senior Vice President of the Policy Evaluation and Research Center at ETS, will serve as the 2013 conference keynote speaker on Thursday, August 1.

In his presentation entitled "Closing Education Achievement Gaps: Elevating Expectations of Assessments," Dr. Nettles will use evidence from a variety of sources to illustrate trends and the current status of education achievement and attainment gaps as well as review emerging policies aimed at closing them. He will also examine the changing role of assessment and changes needed toward closing observed gaps.

Michael T. Nettles has earned a national reputation as an education policy researcher. His research spans a broad spectrum covering such topics as educational assessment, student achievement, access and equity, faculty compensation and rewards, and higher education finances. His publications reflect his broad interest in public policy, students and faculty, educational opportunity, achievement, and assessment in elementary, secondary and postsecondary education.

Nettles is a member of the Bank Street College of Education Board of Trustees, and the National Center for the Improvement of Educational Assessment (NCIEA). He also serves on the Board of the National Science Foundation-sponsored Center on Research on Teaching and Learning (CRTL); and the Board of the Center for Enrollment Research, Policy and Practice (CERPP) at the University of Southern California. Nettles also served for a decade on the National Assessment Governing Board, which oversees and develops policies for the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), for eight years on the College Board of Trustees which owns the SAT, Advanced Placement course and exams and other educational products and services, and for four years on the GRE Board.

A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Nettles earned his bachelor's degree in political science at the University of Tennessee; two master's degrees, one in political science and one in higher education, at Iowa State University; and a Ph.D in education at Iowa State University.