Executive Office
SBE-003 (REV. 09/2011)
Dsib-adad-may16item02 / ITEM #07
/ CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION
MAY 2016 AGENDA
SUBJECT
California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress: Approve California Alternate Assessment 2015–16 Student Score Report, Approve California Alternate Assessment Performance Level Descriptors, and Provide an Update on Program Activities Related to the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress System. / ActionInformation
Public Hearing
SUMMARY OF THE ISSUE(S)
4/29/2016 1:07 PM
dsib-adad-may16item02
Page 7 of 9
This agenda item reflects the collaborative efforts of several divisions within the Department to provide an update on the California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress (CAASPP) System, and is an action item to approve both the 2015–16 CAASPP California Alternate Assessment (CAA) Student Score Report (SSR) templates and the proposed CAA performance level descriptors (PLDs).
RECOMMENDATION
The California Department of Education (CDE) recommends that the State Board of Education (SBE) approve the CAA PLDs (Attachment 2) and the 2015–16 CAASPP CAA SSR templates (Attachment 3) and authorize the CDE to make any necessary technical edits to the SSRs.
BRIEF HISTORY OF KEY ISSUES
Per California Education Code (EC) Section 60640, the CAASPP System succeeded the Standardized Testing and Reporting Program on January 1, 2014.
Update on Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments
In May, the preliminary student scores and aggregate reports will be available on the Online Reporting System (ORS). ORS provides three main types of reports: preliminary SSRs, assessment target reports, and aggregate reports. The SSR provides the student’s overall score and achievement level. Assessment target reports provide relative strengths and weaknesses at each assessment target for a group of students (e.g., roster, grade, school, or district). The aggregate reports provide a summary of the results organized by subgroup, roster, grade, school, or district). Local educational agency (LEA) CAASPP and test site coordinators and other authorized users (including educators provisioned [i.e., allowed access to system] by LEA coordinators) have access to these reports in ORS.
Preliminary SSRs are available in the Test Operations Management System three to five weeks after a student has completed all testing. For example, a grade three student will have a preliminary SSR approximately available three weeks after completing all testing (i.e., Smarter Balanced English language arts/literacy [ELA] and mathematics assessments). Whereas, a grade five student will have a preliminary score report available approximately five weeks after completing testing (i.e., Smarter Balanced ELA and mathematics assessments and science assessments) due to time needed to process paper-pencil science assessments. Printing of the final SSRs will begin after an LEA’s test administration reaches 90 percent of having its students complete all testing and their test scores are in ORS.
In order to assist parents and guardians in understanding his/her child’s SSR, the following resources can be found on the CDE CAASPP SSR Information Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/ca/caasppssrinfo.asp. In addition, LEA personnel and other stakeholders can use these resources.
· Understanding the SSR: This document will be translated into Spanish and 10 other languages.
· Student Score Report Video: This 5-minute video explains the components of the individual student score report to parents/guardians and can be used for a variety of audiences, including teachers. This video will also be available in Spanish.
· Smarter Balanced Student Score Report Web page: This page is being developed to assist parents and guardians in understanding his/her child’s results. It is anticipated that this resource will be available in summer 2016. This information will be found at http://www.testscoreguide.org/ca.
Peer Review Update
In September 2015, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) released guidance regarding the criteria and process for demonstrating that statewide assessment systems meet the requirements of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 as amended. Assessment Development and Administration Division staff have been working in cooperation with Smarter Balanced to prepare evidence for submission to the ED for peer review. Evidence for peer review is divided into six major components for which evidence must be presented. Evidence submitted will include information compiled by Smarter Balanced, primarily in the areas of item and test development. CDE staff are compiling evidence for other components, including test administration, scoring and reporting, inclusion of English learners and students with disabilities, standards adoption, and test security. California will submit evidence for peer review by June 3, 2016. The ED will conduct a site visit during the summer of 2016.
Post-Test: Connecting Assessment to Instruction Training
In May and June, Educational Testing Service (ETS) will be conducting eight Post-Test Workshops throughout California (See Attachment 1 for locations and dates). In the past, the emphasis of these meetings has been on providing LEA CAASPP coordinators with information on overall CAASPP scoring, available reports, using ORS, timeline for reporting, and interpreting results. This year, ETS has expanded the training to include LEA CAASPP coordinators as well as LEA professional development staff and curriculum specialists. The focus of the meetings will be on developing LEAs’ capacity to train others in accessing and using the available reports and data, including Assessment Target Reports, to improve classroom instruction.
Update on Smarter Balanced Digital Library of Formative Assessment Resources
The following resources were recently released by the CDE to highlight the important role of California educators who are members of the Digital Library State Network of Educators (SNE):
· The Formative Assessment in Action video series, featuring California members of the SNE as they demonstrate formative assessment practices in their classrooms. To date, two videos have been released on the CDE Formative Assessment in Action Video Series Web page at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sa/fainaction.asp. The first video, titled “Rhetorical Reading Review,” features Leisa Machado, a middle school ELA and history teacher from the Turlock Unified School District. The second video, titled “Using Ratios to Solve Real-World Problems,” features Travis Burke, an elementary school mathematics teacher on special assignment in the Santa Maria-Bonita School District.
· The CDE Digital Library SNE Web page, available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sa/diglib-sneflyer.asp, describes the role and responsibilities of the SNE and highlights resources featuring California SNE members.
· The CDE “Meet an SNE Member” Web page, available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/sa/meetansne.asp, which provides a spotlight on a California SNE member each month, including a look at his or her teaching background, contributions to the Digital Library, and a favorite Digital Library resource and formative assessment strategy.
In addition to the above resources, the CDE will host a convening of California SNE members in June 2016. During this collaboration workshop, SNE members will focus on submitting and reviewing resources for inclusion in the Digital Library and will identify Digital Library resources that support educator use of interim assessments.
Technology Update
The CDE continues to assist the K–12 High Speed Network (K12HSN) with the implementation of the Broadband Infrastructure Improvement Grant (BIIG) programs, which are designed to assist schools improve their connection to the Internet to administer computer-based assessments. In the first round of funding (BIIG 1.0) from the 2014–15 school year, 70 sites have been completed, with data passing through the circuits. There are 13 sites with circuits installed waiting for equipment, and 85 sites with work in progress. Three sites are proceeding with solutions procured through BIIG 2.0.
Additional information about the status of the remaining sites receiving upgraded connections from BIIG 1.0 is available on the K12HSN BIIG Circuit Installation Web page at https://sites.google.com/a/icoeapps.org/biig/. (Note: If the preceding link does not display properly, copy and paste the Web address directly into a Web browser.)
The application deadline for BIIG 2.0 concluded on September 30, 2015, and 890 sites were evaluated. Fifty-four of the 58 counties had at least 1 site included in the application phase,representing approximately 600 sites. The bid process to solicit solutions for school sites in the application phase, in which 25 plus service providers submitted bids, closed on December 14, 2015. Bids were reviewed and recommendations were submitted in late January. Evaluations of the bids, which included a Technical Peer Review and Stakeholder Review, took place in January and February 2016. Two hundred unique sites were processed, 150 of which have accepted the terms of the memorandum of understanding and returned a signed agreement. Negotiation of final contract terms with service providers will conclude at the end of April2016.
Twenty-nine sites were approved to use paper-based versions of the CAASPP for the 2016 administration. Sixty-one LEAs have requested braille paper-based versions of the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessments for the 2016 administration.
California Alternate Assessments
This item seeks approval of the CAA PLDs and the CAASPP CAA SSR template.
PLDs describe what students at each achievement level know and can do by grade and content area. The PLDs were developed in conjunction with California educators utilizing the CAA blueprints, the Core Content Connectors (Connectors) for ELA and mathematics, and PLDs previously developed by the National Center and State Collaborative. The April 2016 SBE Information Memorandum outlines the process used to develop the content-specific PLDs. The Memorandum is available at http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/pn/im/infomemoapr2016.asp.
The first operational administration of the CAAs began on April 11, 2016. To date, more than 5,800 students have begun testing, with more than 3,300 students completing testing. The 2016 window closes on June 17, with an expected 37,000 students tested.
In the April 2016 Information Memorandum, the CDE also shared the draft CAA version of the CAASPP SSR (Attachment 3) for eligible students taking the CAA in ELA and mathematics and California Alternate Performance Assessment in science. The SBE adopted the CAASPP SSR at the January 2016 meeting for all other students. The CAASPP SSR template was used as a basis to develop the CAA version of the CAASPP SSR and was modified as appropriate after consulting and receiving input from parents/guardians, educators, and stakeholders (e.g., the CAASPP Stakeholder Group, Regional Assessment Network, Capitol Regional Assessment Network, CAASPP Technical Advisory Group, educator focus groups). The CAASPP SSR template was modified for CAAs in the following ways:
· Change in the color scheme to be more easily identified as the CAA version
· Text changes on the front and back to describe the CAAs
· Removal of error bands
The CAA version of the CAASPP SSR has been produced to mirror the look and feel of the previously approved CAASPP SSR while also addressing the feedback of stakeholders.
California Next Generation Science Standards Assessments
Item 08 on the May 2016 SBE agenda seeks approval of a letter to the ED requesting a waiver under Title I, Part A, Section 8401 to waive double testing of the science requirement.
The approval by the SBE in March 2016 to develop three online California Next Generation Science Standards (CA NGSS) summative assessments to meet the requirements of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) and EC Section 60640(b)(2)(B), consistent with the proposed test design in grades five and eight and high school, allowed the CDE to initiate the assessment development process (http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/ag/ag/yr16/documents/mar16item02.doc).
On April 20 and 21, 2016, ETS, in collaboration with the CDE, held an initial item writer training for the CA NGSS general summative assessment in Sacramento. Participants at this training (science educators from across California) were trained by ETS science content and measurement experts on how to write CA NGSS test items and tasks.
Items developed by the trained writers will be used on the 2017 pilot tests and future tests. The CDE will report to the SBE the pilot results in the fall 2017.
For the CA NGSS alternate summative assessments, ETS, in collaboration with their subcontractor edCount (the developers of the National Center and State Collaborative Connectors for ELA and mathematics), are currently developing CA NGSS alternate summative assessment Content Core Connectors (Connectors). The Connectors provide learning goals aligned appropriately with the needs of students with significant cognitive disabilities, and serve as the basis for the state’s CA NGSS alternate summative assessments for eligible students.
In November 2015, a group of 60 California educators (approximately 10 science educators and 50 special education educators who actively work with eligible students taking the CAAs) met in Sacramento to review and provide feedback to an initial draft of the Connectors.
In March 2016, a subgroup of the California educators from the November meeting gathered to review and edit a second draft of the Connectors. The CDE continues to have discussions with stakeholders (including California special education and science educators.) The Connectors will be presented to the SBE in July 2016 for adoption as the alternate achievement standards for the new CA NGSS alternate summative assessment.
Successor Assessment to the Standards-Based Test in Spanish
EC Section 60640(b)(5)(C) states that the State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall consult with stakeholders and English learner experts, to determine the content and purpose for the successor assessment to the Standards-based Tests in Spanish.
A design team, including national experts (who have agreed to partner with the CDE and ETS) have begun the development of a draft test design for the successor assessment to the primary language test. The high level test design will be presented at a SBE meeting in July 2016. The design team includes:
· Kathy Escamilla, Professor of Education in the Division of Social, Bilingual and Multicultural Foundations, at University of Colorado Boulder
· Kenji Hakuta, Lee L. Jacks Professor of Education at Stanford University
· Guadalupe Valdés, Bonnie Katz Tenenbaum Professor of Education at Stanford University
· Patricia Baron, Lead Research Project Manager at ETS
· Dr. Danielle Guzman-Orth, Research Scientist at ETS
· Dr. Alexis A. Lopez, Research Scientist at ETS
· Dr. Maurice Cogan Hauck, Assessment Development Strategic Advisor at ETS
· Dr. Joyce Wang, Senior Psychometrician at ETS
· Helen McMahon, Senior Director of K–12 Assessment at ETS
· Dr. Ralph Morris, Assessment Director at ETS
· Jason Gonzalez, Test Development Team Lead at ETS
· Zulma Torres, Program Director at ETS
CAASPP Independent Evaluation Update
At the September 2015 SBE meeting, the CAASPP Independent Evaluation Study Plan was approved. Five studies were included in the initial three-year plan. Two of the studies are being conducted this year: (1) evaluating the use of interim assessments and (2) investigating the use of accommodations and supports for students with disabilities and English learners. The three other studies approved by the SBE included: (1) the evaluation of scoring procedures; (2) the evaluation of the interpretation and use of assessment data and reporting tools; and (3) an alignment study for the new science assessments.