In early February, CaMLA CEO Casey Marks, Chief Operating Officer Cris Betts, and Assessment Director Natalie Nordby Chen traveled from wintry Ann Arbor, Michigan, to sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, to attend the Association of Test Publishers Innovations in Testing conference, an annual gathering showcasing the latest technologies in assessment.

Chen, Beth Fine of the American Board of Pediatrics, Karen Petrini of Hewlett Packard, and Nat Foster of Caveon participated in "Make, Buy, or Borrow: How Do You Acquire SMEs for Test Development," a panel on which they discussed the differences and similarities in models for engaging freelance subject matter experts (SMEs) in the development of assessments across a wide range of industries.

"I enjoyed learning more about how differing assessment organizations use freelancers in the test development process," said Chen. "Those of us who participated in the panel—and indeed, most of the industry experts I met at ATP—offer vastly different types of assessments. Yet we can all benefit from each other's insights."

CaMLA staff returned to Ann Arbor emboldened by their time at ATP. "Attending this and other assessment-related conferences is one more way CaMLA continues to improve the quality of its products and advance English language assessment," said Marks.