about us / our mission

Our Mission and DEIJ

At ERB, all we see is potential. It’s a bold, aspirational statement that defines our vision for how we operate internally, how we interact with and serve our member schools, and how we ensure that every student has the opportunity to benefit from learning paths that best meet their needs. We are dedicated to and passionate about advancing every student's educational potential.

Our Mission

At ERB, we believe in the power of unlocking every student’s full potential with access to quality education for all learners, regardless of their background or circumstances.

ERB is committed to equity in testing and is accountable for providing resources and insights to families and schools worldwide to accurately track student achievement and help each student reach their learning goals. We provide equitable access to our services in the form of fee waivers and free test preparation resources for families.

ERB also supports the ongoing professional development of staff in member schools, helping them use assessment data in context to understand and unlock student potential.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice

Our Beliefs

Our core belief is that assessment data should be used equitably, not as a gatekeeper, but as a gateway to learning and growth. It should not be used as a single measure for admission or to define learning accomplishment.

We celebrate the value and dignity of all–from students and their families to our employees and member schools. We work diligently to create tools for learning that are research-based in content and the meaning of scores while recognizing the uniqueness of each student.

We believe that information about student learning facilitates progress over time and is a valuable tool for unlocking student potential because it helps identify strengths and areas for growth. With reliable data and valid interpretations, we can best support students’ learning needs and aspirations.

Our Commitments

We are committed to understanding the whole student.

Our assessments go beyond the traditional measures of academic performance to include an understanding of the student’s sense of well-being and belonging, as well as the social-emotional tools they use to navigate their environment.

We are committed to working on eliminating systemic bias.

We deliver programs that help schools view student potential, achievement, and well-being through a broader lens that includes cultural, socioeconomic, and environmental influences and differences. Assessment results should be used to cultivate a student’s skill rather than to judge it.

We are committed to fairness in testing.

Our programs should be used to help open doors, not close them. As part of this effort, we are committed to including culturally sensitive, relevant, and inclusive language in all assessments. We regularly evaluate and monitor our performance in this area in order to ensure we are living up to our commitment to inclusivity and fairness.

Our assessments are developed in accordance with the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing. These Standards, which describe best practices on test development and the proper use of test scores, are created by the American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), and National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME).

We are committed to providing greater access to preparation and testing for admission programs.

We strive to level the playing field by providing fee waivers and free test preparation resources for admission-related assessments, helping ensure that financial resources are not a barrier to families seeking access to the best educational opportunities for their children.

We are committed to researching and reporting data to help inform and understand how we can better serve underrepresented populations.

The more objective nature of standardized tests protects against implicit bias and allows schools to cultivate a student’s potential, identifying strengths and areas for further development. We employ a trusted approach that honors ERB’s obligation to find patterns and identify trends for disparate groups. We provide schools with feedback on competencies that matter for learning and that help rectify inequities.

Our Aspirations

In the constant pursuit of our vision, we are dedicated to providing accessible and actionable information that enables schools, teachers, and families to enrich opportunities for all students. We aspire to:

Provide schools and families with a suite of integrated assessments and data that propel students with hope and purpose along their journey of academic success – from pre-admission and placement to graduation

Actively support member schools and access organizations by helping them utilize ERB resources and networking opportunities

Share best practice information with member schools on how to use and apply assessments and scores, so that schools can effectively broaden their student population, support the journey of every student, and thereby fulfill their goals with respect to equity

Deliver personalized, self-paced, formative programs with continuous feedback that addresses questions of equity and inclusion

Provide schools with measures of academic achievement, emotional well-being, and social-emotional learning that can help form the basis for a holistic understanding of each student – ultimately helping learners understand themselves

1.

Provide schools and families with a suite of integrated assessments and data that propel students with hope and purpose along their journey of academic success – from pre-admission and placement to graduation

2.

Actively support member schools and access organizations by helping them utilize ERB resources and networking opportunities

3.

Share best practice information with member schools on how to use and apply assessments and scores, so that schools can effectively broaden their student population, support the journey of every student, and thereby fulfill their goals with respect to equity

4.

Deliver personalized, self-paced, formative programs with continuous feedback that addresses questions of equity and inclusion

5.

Provide schools with measures of academic achievement, emotional well-being, and social-emotional learning that can help form the basis for a holistic understanding of each student – ultimately helping learners understand themselves

Become a Member School

An ERB membership is more than the use of our best-in-class academic assessments. Membership is joining a global community of educators and access to ERB experts who can help you understand and—more importantly—activate your students’ assessment data to help every student achieve their learning goals.

Want more information about our mission?

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(866) 683‐2335 or (646) 503‐2699

Monday - Friday 9:00 am - 5:00 pm EST

erbsupport@erblearn.org

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