M.ED., DIRECTOR OF CONTENT & ASSESSMENT

Nancy McDonald, M.Ed., Director of Content & Assessment, is a former Texas public school teacher who specialized in Reading and Language Arts. She has been working in curriculum and assessment for more than 25 years and has participated in the development of reading and writing assessments for Texas, Connecticut, New York, Arizona, Tennessee, Virginia, and Missouri. Over the years, Nancy has worked on all aspects of the test-development process—from item and passage writing to standards alignment, field-test construction, and meeting facilitation. Her extensive experience led to her founding Lone Star Assessment & Publishing, where she now manages all elements of the Texas STAAR Writing development for Pearson. Nancy has a strong track record of building positive client relationships, leading successful teams, and delivering outstanding content for academic assessments.

B.S.ED., DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS

Dianne Shugart, B.S.Ed., Director of Operations, is also a former Texas public school teacher. She has spent 20 years working in the curriculum and assessment industry and has been with Lone Star for more than a decade. She has extensive knowledge of state standards and alignment requirements. Dianne’s expertise allows her to oversee and be involved in all stages of an assessment project, from an item’s first draft to its eventual placement on a form. In addition, her organizational abilities and attention to detail prove especially valuable to the team as she creates and maintains all the necessary process documents.

B.S.ED., PASSAGE & ITEM DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Kelsey Smith, B.S.Ed., Passage & Item Development Manager, graduated from Texas A&M University in 2015. After teaching in the Texas public school system for 4 years, Kelsey joined Lone Star as a part-time passage writer. Her natural writing ability and her eagerness to contribute to all aspects of every project allowed her to move quickly into item writing and eventually into team management. Kelsey now organizes and manages the development of all passages and items for Lone Star.

PH.D., CHIEF COPYEDITOR

Thomas Blackburn, Ph.D., Chief Copyeditor, taught full-time as a university professor of philosophy for 20 years. His subsequent career as a copyeditor of educational and assessment materials began in 2003 with stints at Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Dr. Blackburn is a stickler for consistency of style and content within and across documents, and his sharp eye has won him awards for his contributions to state testing programs. In 2020 he joined Lone Star, where he has worked on a number of major assessment projects, including STAAR Writing.