Essential Skills

Essential Skills Last updated: 08/20/09

Essential Skills Objectives • Know what the essential skills are and understand the role they play in preparing students for life after high school. • Understand the current timeline and phase-in plans for implementation of the essential skills. • Understand the various assessment options for the essential skills.

Essential Skills Definition and Purpose • The Oregon Diploma Essential Skills are process skills which enable students to learn content and apply their knowledge across disciplines. These are not new or additional skills; they are embedded in existing content standards, already being taught in Oregon schools. • The Assessments of Essential Skills provide students a means of demonstrating and documenting that they have the skills to succeed in life after high school whether they head into work, an apprenticeship, or higher education.

Essential Skills Timing • The graduating class of 2012 must demonstrate proficiency in the Essential Skill of Reading • The graduating class of 2013 must demonstrate proficiency in the Essential Skills of Reading and Writing. • The graduating class of 2014 must demonstrate proficiency in the Essential Skills of Reading, Writing, and Apply Mathematics.

Essential Skills Timing (cont) • Districts and schools must continue to assess students in the essential skills of reading, apply mathematics, writing, and speaking even if these are not all currently required for graduation. • Additional Essential Skills which the State Board may phased-in at a future date include: speaking, civic and community engagement, critical thinking, global literacy, technology, and team work/personal management.

Essential Skills Options and Opportunities • Students will have multiple options and opportunities to demonstrate their proficiency in the Essential Skills. • The available options are published in the Test Administration Manual • Current Available Options are: • The Oregon Statewide Assessments; • Work Samples scored by trained teachers; or, • Additional standardized assessments (e.g ACT, Compass, Plan, Asset, Work keys)

Essential Skills Options and Opportunities (cont) • College board is going to provide additional information in October regarding how PSAT and SAT can link to OAKS and be used as Assessment of Essential Skills • ODE is working with the Assessment of Essential Skills Review Panel (AESRP) to develop a web-tool that will be used to help districts and schools implement the assessment of essential skills and will be used to communicate the criteria for local assessments

Essential Skills Options and Opportunities (cont) Reading: OAKS (236), ACT (18), PLAN (18), Work Keys (5), Compass (81), ASSET (42) – Work samples are currently under development Writing: OAKS (40 composite score), 3 Writing Work Samples one each of expository, persuasive, and narrative Apply Math: OAKS (236), mathematics work sample, ACT (19), PLAN (19), Work Keys (5), Compass (66 on Intermediate Algebra test), ASSET (41 on Intermediate Algebra test)

Essential Skills Dos and Don’ts Dos • Continue assessing students in the essential skills of reading, apply mathematics, writing, and speaking. • Make students and staff aware of the essential skills requirements and how these skills are important for their life after high school. • Establish policies to implement the Assessment of Essential Skills and ensure that there are staff assigned to the roles and responsibilities needed to enact the policies • Ensure that students and staff are aware of the various options available to meet the essential skills including OAKS, work samples, and additional standardized tests.

Essential Skills Dos and Don’ts (cont) Don’ts • Ignore changes in state rules or required procedures. Make sure you’re aware of changes by watching your emails. • Let a student graduate without meeting required essential skills (once they are required for graduation). • Forget to include students’ IEP teams in discussions regarding assessments of essential skills. • Lower the rigor of work samples as compared to OAKS or the other options. This is not in the best interest of students and there will be data that will be made public.

Essential Skills Promising Practices • Using student work that is already required as part of a classroom instruction and scoring it using the state scoring guide • Creating classroom assignments that allow students to demonstrate proficiency in more than one essential skill • Creating opportunities to apply essential skills in non-traditional learning situations • Developing prompts at the district level that can be used by each of the high schools

Essential Skills Proficiency vs Opportunity to Learn • Performance Assessments for Math, Writing, Speaking and Science must be administered to students in grades 3-8. • Performance assessments for Math, Writing, Speaking and Science must be administered at least once in High School whether students will use the work samples for graduation or not • Work samples can be used to satisfy the opportunity to learn and the proficiency requirement

Essential Skills In a Nutshell • The Essential Skills are: • Read and comprehend a variety of text (required for graduation 2012) • Write clearly and accurately (required for graduation by 2013) • Apply mathematics in a variety of settings (required for graduation by 2014)

Essential Skills In a Nutshell (cont) • Speak clearly and coherently • Think critically and analytically • Use technology to learn, live, and work • Demonstrate civic and community engagement • Demonstrate global literacy • Demonstrate personal management and teamwork skills (The Essential Skills above will be phased-in at a later date)

Essential Skills Acorns for Storage • How can the Essential Skills be integrated into district and school goals? • Who in your district/school is responsible for key roles required to implement the essential skills? • What will your district/school procedure be regarding students who don’t demonstrate proficiency in one or more essential skill? • How can elementary and middle schools prepare students for the Essential Skills?

Essential Skills