About Us
Dr. Brent Duckor

Dr. Brent Duckor is President of Validity Partners, LLC. He specializes in innovative solutions to assessment, testing, and evaluation of learning outcomes. With over 20 years of experience in K-12 school reform, secondary school teaching experience, and educational measurement training with internationally recognized scholars, Dr. Duckor brings both vision and analytic clarity focusing on what works—for stakeholders at various levels of an organization.
A leading scholar in the field of formative assessment with training in applied psychometrics, Dr. Duckor received his Ph.D. in Quantitative Methods and Evaluation at the University of California, Berkeley. He was a doctoral fellow with the Center for Assessment and Evaluation of Student Learning (CAESL), a National Science Foundation sponsored project that included preparation for next generation researchers in STEM curriculum and assessment topics in collaboration with UC Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA and WestEd. His post-doctoral work was at the Berkeley Evaluation Assessment and Research (BEAR) Center where he continues to consult as a Research Scientist. He also holds a Master of International Affairs degree with a Business concentration from Columbia University and a B.A. degree in Politics with Honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Dr. Duckor is currently a Professor at the Lurie College of Education at San José State University, where he teaches in the Department of Teacher Education and the Ed.D. Leadership Program. He has served on state and national boards providing educational assessment and measurement expertise to the California’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the California Department of Education, the College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium for the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships in Washington, D.C.
His scholarship informs researchers and practitioners in state, national and international arenas. His scholarship has appeared in Teachers College Record, Journal of Teacher Education, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Educational Leadership, Phi Delta Kappan, Journal of Educational Measurement and most recently, the 4th International Encyclopedia of Education.
He lives with his wife, Barbara Nakakihara, spending time between California and Washington State.
Dr. Carrie Holmberg

Dr. Carrie Holmberg is an Associate with Validity Partners, LLC. She specializes in creative, caring, and innovative solutions to teacher training and staff professional development.
Dr. Holmberg taught at a Title I comprehensive high school in Silicon Valley for nearly a decade and has extensive experience mentoring new teachers. A member of one of the first cohorts of National Board Certified Teachers and a Bay Area Writing Project teacher consultant, Carrie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Stanford University and a Master of Arts in education from the Stanford Teacher Education Program. In addition to instructing and supervising teacher candidates, co-authoring articles and writing a book, Carrie earned her doctorate at San José State University’s Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program in 2017.
Dr. Holmberg is currently an adjunct lecturer in the Department of Teacher Education at the Lurie College of Education at San José State University. Her scholarship has appeared in California English, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Phi Delta Kappan, The Handbook of Research in Middle Level Education and The English Journal. She co-authored Mastering Formative Assessment Moves: 7 High Leverage Practices to Advance Student Learning (ASCD, 2017) and Feedback for Continuous Improvement in the Classroom: New Perspectives, Practices, and Possibilities (Corwin, 2023) with Brent Duckor.
Carrie is committed to researching, developing, and celebrating elementary and secondary educators’ knowledge, skills, and professionalism. She is an enthusiastic ambassador for teachers, instructional coaches, and school staff charged with making schools and classrooms places for deeper learning that also inspire and spark the passion for life-long learning.
She lives in Silicon Valley with her family.