Rachel R. Watkins Schoenig, J.D.

CEO of Cornerstone Strategies, LLC (“Cornerstone”), an association of professionals dedicated to serving the assessment industry.  Cornerstone clients, including high stakes testing programs as well as government and licensure jurisdictions, have leveraged Cornerstone’s services for strategic planning, program reviews, crisis communications, statistical analyses, policy enhancement, incident response planning, and training development and delivery.  Rachel has created industry alliances to develop proctor training videos, led development of new data forensics, redesigned ACT’s security framework, developed an industry-leading program to deter impersonation testing, and designed innovative applications for use on personal devices, including a highly-rated facial recognition app. 

Rachel is regularly asked to speak on exam security and test integrity matters.  She recently taught the first-ever graduate level course on exam security at the University of Iowa with Dr. Deborah Harris.  An active industry supporter, Rachel is a recent member of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Test Publishers, the 2018 Innovations in Testing Conference Chair, the 2016 Innovations in Testing Program Chair, current chair of the Workforce Skills Division, and past Workforce Security and Privacy Chair, and Security Best Practices Co-Chair. Rachel served as a 2019 featured speaker for exam security and emerging changes associated with technology and AI, delivered the opening address for the 2018 Innovations in Testing Conference, moderated the 2019 Closing Keynote Debates at the Conference on Test Security, delivered the 2015 National College Testing Association Conference keynote address, and launched and moderated the popular Innovation Lab for ATP.  She currently serves on the Executive Committee for the Conference on Test Security and on the board for the Institute for Exam Security.  Her publications include co-authoring the ATP-NCTA Proctoring Best Practices, a chapter in The Handbook on Test Security, CAS Standards for Testing Offices, and the ATP Workforce Credentialing Survey Report and Framework. 

Rachel is admitted to practice law in several jurisdictions.  Prior to founding Cornerstone, Rachel was Head of Test Security for ACT, Inc. where she leveraged her legal, international, and testing experience to improve exam security.  Before joining ACT, she led the legal department for Bandag, Incorporated, a publicly-traded company engaged in international franchising and manufacturing, where she provided advice concerning mergers and acquisitions, compliance, litigation, and intellectual property matters, and later served as a corporate officer of Bridgestone-Bandag, LLC.  She earned her J.D. summa cum laude from Drake University Law School.  Rachel is passionate about the assessment industry and the positive impact we can have on individual lives and communities.