Dirk Mattson

In his role as SVP of Delivery & Operations, Dr. Dirk Mattson leads the NWEA teams tasked with the delivery of state and large district programs, as well as the operational production that support these programs. Handscoring services that support our state programs are also a part of the Delivery & Operations team.

Dirk has a rich background in education and assessment and is a long-time education partner with a range of experiences in K12 education, starting as a middle school teacher, a district-level administrator, and a state department official. Dirk served eight years at the Minnesota Department of Education. Five of those years he was the Director of Research and Assessment. During that time, Minnesota administered the first-in-the-nation online science assessment. Before joining NWEA, Dirk has had a long history in assessment. He was the Principal Investigator for the work that eventually led to the APIP technology standard to promote accessibility standards in assessment. He was one of the contributing authors of the original volume ofOperational Best Practices for Statewide Large-Scale Assessment Programs, a collaboration between state assessment programs and test publishers. In addition to his rich background, Dirk also brings a passion for serving state partners and driving innovation to yield stronger outcomes for students.

Dirk has a BA in secondary education from Concordia University – St. Paul, as well as Masters in English education from Minnesota State University and a PhD in curriculum and instruction from Arizona State University.