Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids: Education Standards & Policies Review

1. ICAP – PWR – HEAR – Endorsed diploma – Grad guidelines – PARCC – ASSET – Remedial policy – ASCENT – ISR – CAP4Kids – College admissions standards – Common Core – CAS

2. Why you care ….

3. A quick review – back to 2008 Colorado Achievement Plan for Kids: • 2008 law that Matt Gianneschi helped write (he’s the DHE deputy executive director) • Called for standards (Common Core & more) • Called for tests (PARCC) aligned to standards • Called for the adoption of school readiness assessments and a state definition of postsecondary and workforce readiness (PWR)

4. CAS & Common Core State Standards • 2009 – State Board of Education adopts Colorado Academic Standards in 10 content areas and English language proficiency • 2010 – State board adopts Common Core in math, reading, writing and communicating • Analysis found 95% alignment between CAS and Common Core • 46 states & D.C. have adopted the Common Core standards in math and language arts

5. Example of CAS & Common Core • 9th-grade, oral expression and listening

6. CSAP/TCAP & PARCC PARCC = Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers • PARCC is a consortium of 22 states, including Colorado, working to develop a common set of grades 3-11 assessments in English and math • PARCC tests, which may be called something else, will take the place of the annual CSAP/TCAP exams in reading, writing and math in spring 2015

7. PARCC & College Readiness • New use of state tests; CSAP/TCAP not used for either college admissions or remedial placement • (Proposed) State colleges and universities will begin using 11th-grade PARCC results as one factor in college admissions • (Proposed) State colleges and universities will use 11th-grade PARCC results as one factor in deciding whether a student needs remediation • Decision expected by CCHE in December 2013

8. PWR: Bringing it all together PWR = Postsecondary and workforce readiness • The goal of CAP4K is to align education from preschool to postsecondary • Colorado K-12 and higher ed governing bodies agreed on description of PWR in 2009 • The description is detailed, yet difficult to measure: • Example: Literacy – Graduates should be able to use logic and rhetoric to analyze and critique ideas

9. Next step: PWR endorsed diplomas • Description of PWR led to diploma criteria: • Complete HEAR or prove remediation is not needed • Complete ICAP • Demonstrate 21st Century Skills by completing volunteer work, internship/employment and extracurricular activities • Show mastery in at least three academic subjects. (Ex. Math – GPA of 3.0 or better in four qualifying classes plus achieving certain score on state or other tests

10. What PWR endorsed diploma means • Intended to identify student excellence over and above standard high school diploma • Expected to mean automatic admission to most Colorado colleges and universities • Piloted in Aurora, Sterling school districts in 2012-13 • Voluntary use by all districts expected in 2014-15

11. Still to come … Graduation guidelines • Vote by State Board of Education this week • Proposed to start with 6th-graders in fall 2014 Revised college admissions standards and remedial education policy • Vote by CCHE in Dec 2013 • Proposed to start with 9th-graders in fall 2014

12. Graduation guidelines • 2007 law requires the setting of graduation guidelines local districts must meet or exceed • Recommended guidelines are essentially a series of cut scores for various tests – i.e., 18 in English and 19 in math on the ACT • Cut scores are based on what’s required for entering college without needing remediation, what’s considered proficient on state exams, etc. • Concerns expressed by various groups

13. College admissions policy review • State law requires review of DHE policies • Proposed admissions changes: • eliminate the admissions index, based on grade point average or class rank and ACT/SAT score • emphasize demonstrations of competency, such as HEAR or concurrent enrollment, instead • add PARCC results as a factor in admissions

14. Remedial education policy review • Proposed remedial policy changes • differentiated cut scores for math remediation based on chosen field of study • use of PARCC, Compass and Smarter Balanced, in addition to ACT, SAT and Accuplacer, to determine placement • review of current cut scores and subsequent achievement • Town halls now gathering feedback

15. CCCS remedial education changes • Colorado Community College Board approved major changes to remedial education in Feb • Goal is through remediation in one semester or less • New formats include brief refresher courses, “support” classes, STEM and non-STEM math remedial requirements • Implementation complete by fall 2014

16. Handy timeline for reference • 2013 (May) – Graduation guidelines adopted • 2013 (Nov) – Ballot measure to boost K-12 school funding • 2013 (Dec) – Admission and remedial policy changes to be adopted • 2013-14 – Implementation of new standards; statewide implementation of S.B 191 educator evaluations begins • 2014-15 – New 12th-grade state science and social studies tests begin in fall 2014 while new PARCC assessments begin in spring 2015 for grades 3-11; community college remedial changes in place; all districts may participate in endorsed diplomas (proposed); new educator evaluations continue with ineffective ratings counting towards loss of non-probationary status • 2018-21 – Graduating seniors must meet new graduation guidelines and new college admissions and remedial policies (proposed)

17. Etc. & questions • 11th-grade ACT is not going away – yet • Accuplacer stays – for now • What would you like to know more about?