Currently, an Assessment Coordinator with Prince Edward Island’s (PEI) Department of Education and Early Years, Linda O’Connor, is a dedicated and experienced expert in curriculum development as well as classroom and large-scale assessment. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English, a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) in Elementary Education, and a Master of Education (M.A.) in Leadership and Learning from the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI).

Linda’s career began as an elementary school teacher working with students in Grades 2 to 6 in Charlottetown, PEI. Her classroom experience, combined with her growing interest in assessment, led her to pursue a Master’s degree in leadership and learning. After 10 years in the classroom and the completion of her postgraduate studies, she assumed the role of Assessment Coordinator with the Department, a role she has held for the past 20 years.

Given the limited size of the Department’s assessment staff, Linda’s responsibilities have been wide-ranging and multifaceted. These include overseeing and coordinating the design, development, administration, scoring, data analysis, and reporting of provincial assessments. Her work involves implementing rigorous quality assurance measures to ensure the accuracy and reliability of assessments and full compliance with best-practice standards for processes in educational assessment.

Linda also liaises with national and international assessment organizations to coordinate test administration in PEI. The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada’s (CMEC) Pan-Canadian Assessment Program (PCAP) is administered in the province using Vretta’s digital platform. Linda shares positive experiences with the online platform, highlighting its interactive features and adaptability for students with diverse educational needs.

In addition to the advantages of online scoring, she notes that while digital assessment offers valuable features such as hover-over definitions and a variety of engaging question formats, it can also be susceptible to click-heavy behaviour from students. When discussing the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in assessment scoring, Linda emphasizes that AI may have value as a support tool rather than a replacement for human scoring. She acknowledges the current skepticism toward AI in scoring, but notes its potential to improve reliability and reduce subjectivity, especially in reading assessments.

For more than a decade, Linda has also served as a Sessional Instructor at UPEI. She takes pride in sharing best practices in instruction and assessment with students and staff, and highlights her involvement in developing a highly successful provincial assessment program. Linda’s personal interests include reading, hiking, and building a second home in the mountains of New Brunswick.