Bill Herrera, M.S.

Bill Herrera, M.S., is a Senior Associate and Assessment Specialist with edCount, LLC. Mr. Herrera has 25 years of experience in education as a state assessment director, researcher, and teacher. Mr. Herrera plays a key role in assessment and curriculum development projects within edCount, serving as a Senior Advisor and Assessment Specialist for statewide programs. He has provided content and accessibility expertise for numerous statewide and multi-state assessment development and evaluation projects, leading the development of item specifications, item development, alignment study documentation, and innovative alternate assessment models. He is experienced in defining prioritized assessment content, constructing assessment claims, creating coherent ALDs, and generating instructional materials.

Mr. Herrera has provided science content and assessment development expertise to numerous general education and alternate education projects as well as the federally funded Strengthening Claims-based Interpretations and Uses of Local and Large-scale Science Assessment Scores (SCILLSS) and Stackable, Instructionally-embedded, Portable Science (SIPS) Assessments projects. He played a key role in the articulation of the SCILLSS principled-design assessment framework, and the development of state and local principled-design assessment tools and resources aligned to the NGSS as intended by A Framework for K-12 Science Education.

 Mr. Herrera has extensive experience in development and implementation of professional learning sessions for educators helping them to develop classroom science assessment tasks using a principled approach. Mr. Herrera is also deeply familiar with the assessment alignment study process, serving as both facilitator and participant on alignment evaluation panels.

 Mr. Herrera played a role as a senior advisor and assessment lead for the National Center and State Collaborative (NCSC) project, served as Project Director for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Item Development Project and served as senior advisor for the development of K–12 science and mathematics curriculum and alternate assessment training modules for the Puerto Rico Department of Education. He has also served as a senior mathematics curriculum advisor for Common Core-aligned K–12 curriculum for the Clerc Center at Gallaudet University.

Prior to joining edCount, Mr. Herrera served as Director of Assessment and Director of Test Development and Research for the Wyoming Department of Education. Throughout his career, Mr. Herrera has contributed his knowledge and expertise to several federally funded studies, including those specifically related to students with disabilities. These studies include early work on the development of modified assessments in science and mathematics and the applicability of an innovative alignment protocol, the Links for Academic Learning (LAL), which examine the degree of alignment of alternate assessments based on alternate achievement standards (AA-AAS) to grade-level content standards and instruction. During this research, Mr. Herrera worked with state assessment specialists, universities, and middle- and high-school teachers from a number of states.

Mr. Herrera received his M.S. in Zoology, and a B.S. in Wildlife Conservation Management, and B.S. Secondary Education—Science from the University of Wyoming.