Kathy Cox, CEO of the U.S. Education Delivery Institute (EDI), discussed implementation challenges facing state education agencies during a plenary session entitled “Getting to 2014: The Choices and Challenges Ahead” at the 2012 National Conference on Student Assessment (click here to watch a video of the session). She was joined by moderator Elena Silva, Senior Policy Analyst at Education Sector, and panelists Robin M. Steans, Executive Director of Advance Illinois, Allan Odden, Co-Director of Strategic Management of Human Capital at the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, and Chris Walsh, Director of Innovation & Design for the New Tech Network. The conference, held by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) from June 26th through 29th in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was entitled “Fulfilling the Future of Educational Systems: Teaching, Learning, and Assessment through the Next Decade.” It brought together assessment practitioners and other stakeholders from across the country to focus on the current state of educational assessment. Kathy Cox and Nick Rodriguez, Program Director at EDI, also led a session on “Making the Most of a Messy Time,” which served as an introduction to the framework of delivery in the context of the transition to new assessments.