Willa Spicer, Deputy Commissioner Timothy Peters, Director, Office of State Assessments

1. NEW JERSEY ASSESSMENT OF SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE (NJ ASK) - STANDARD SETTING FOR GRADES 3-4, MATHEMATICS AND LANGUAGE ARTS LITERACY Willa Spicer, Deputy Commissioner Timothy Peters, Director, Office of State Assessments July 15, 2009 New Jersey Department of Education

2. OVERVIEW • New Jersey set challenging new achievement standards for grades 5 through 8 in 2008; • These standards were part of a larger initiative to raise expectations at all grade levels so that students are better prepared for college and careers; • The department seeks to address achievement gaps by identifying students in need of instructional support early in their academic careers, when they are best able to profit from that support;

3. OVERVIEW, cont. • The NJ ASK tests in grades 3 and 4 were redesigned in 2008-2009 to increase the rigor and variety of the test questions and to increase the total number of possible points; • As with the changes to the NJ ASK 5-8 test designs last year, these changes reflect a desire for more information about student achievement and for more challenging content;

4. OVERVIEW, cont. • This raising of expectations for student achievement is consistent with the department’s wider focus on preparing NJ students for the demands of the 21st century world in which they will be competing; • As we stated last year at this time, raising the bar for student achievement will challenge many of our old assumptions about student and school performance; • More students will start out in the partially proficient category - this is common in the first year of any testing program;

5. OVERVIEW, cont. • Raising the bar will motivate us all to focus on student learning before students approach graduation, before they are in danger of not graduating, before it is too late to address their needs; • We are asking the State Board to adopt these new standards today, by resolution.

6. Setting Standards: The Process • Combines use of expert judges (NJ teachers) with quantitative methods of measurement science; • Iterative, deliberative process over several days (June 23-26, 2009); • Culminates in recommendations by teacher panels to department senior staff, which may adjust them to assure articulation across grade levels and compatibility with state policy goals.

7. Setting Standards: The Process • Teacher panelists take the actual tests and score the results; • Teachers review and discuss performance level descriptors (PLDs), previously developed by separate panels of NJ teachers and DOE content specialists; • Panelists use the “Bookmark” procedure • 3 rounds • Use of ordered item booklets – easiest to most difficult items • Discussion between rounds • Consideration of impact data before final round

8. Setting Standards: Panelists • 65 NJ Educators • Ethnically Diverse • Included Bilingual or Multilingual Panelists • All Regions; all DFGs

9. Validation • NJDOE senior staff review panel recommendations • Comparisons to previous years • Cross-grade adjustments • Final cut scores established and submitted to State Board

10. LAL Cut Scores &Percent Correct

11. LAL Percent Proficient

12. LAL Percent Proficientor Above by Race

13. LAL Percent Proficientor Above by Status

14. Math Cut Scores &Percent Correct

15. Math Percent Proficient

16. Math Percent Proficientor Above by Race

17. Math Percent Proficientor Above by Status

18. Questions? • THANK YOU!