Brian Gong Center for Assessment

1. Better Assessment for Students with Disabilities by Design: Going beyond inclusion in the “Common Assessment” RFP Brian Gong Center for Assessment Presentation for the Input Meetings Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education for the “Common Assessment” RFP, “Race to the Top” funding November 18, 2009 Atlanta, GA

2. My main recommendation • Use the Common Assessment RFP to • Consolidate gains made in assessment for students with disabilities (SWD) over the past 20 years • “Do no harm” with contemplated changes to “more advanced” assessments • Include consideration of SWD in assessment from the beginning, and in accountability too Gong – USED Common Assessment & SWD RFP Input Mtg – 11/18/09

3. Consolidate Gains from SBA Movement • Remember that for two authorizations of ESEA assessment consisted of NRTs (norm-referenced tests) and SWDs were not included in the norms and often did not take the tests or took “out of level” tests and the scores were not included in school summaries • “All students” and “common standards” pushed assessment and educators to create inclusive and valid assessment policies and assessment instruments Gong – USED Common Assessment & SWD RFP Input Mtg – 11/18/09

4. Consolidate Gains – 2 • Use RTTT assessment dollars to create valid and inclusive assessments by design • Create conditions of learning before deciding that students cannot demonstrate learning on an assessment • Create assessments of what students can and cannot do • Balance standards-based with diagnostic and progress – be very clear about what is valued and how to be used • Integrate standards-based summative with interim and formative, including RtI and curriculum-based (now very different traditions) Gong – USED Common Assessment & SWD RFP Input Mtg – 11/18/09

5. Consolidate Gains - 3 • Use RTTT assessment dollars to create valid and inclusive assessments by design • Use evidence-centered design methods • Specify the construct and degree and conditions of expertise • What are “common standards” for SWD, including students with most severe cognitive disabilities? • Are multiple methods to show competence in individual form, or to triangulate generalization? • Careful empirical work will help determine what is “construct irrelevant variance,” i.e., valid access • What are appropriate accommodations with technology, performance assessments? Gong – USED Common Assessment & SWD RFP Input Mtg – 11/18/09

6. Consolidate Gains - 4 • Use RTTT assessment dollars to create valid and inclusive assessments by design • Build on long tradition in assessment of SWD of a different balance between standardization and flexibility – this can inform general assessment • For example, comparable but not same performance tasks • Or more radically, why age-based grade-level content standards? Gong – USED Common Assessment & SWD RFP Input Mtg – 11/18/09

7. “Do no harm” with “advances” • Technical issues: For example, growth and value-added typically exclude SWD disproportionately because SWD assessments “cannot be scaled,” “assessments have non-comparable modifications,” “student populations are too small” to include with general statistical model, etc. • Policy issues: For example: consider the long, pernicious history of “testing out of level” for SWD when considering “adaptive tests”; we must find ways to promote better assessment, better assessment use, and better consequences • Testing out of level was symptom of non-inclusion • Goal is not only inclusion in assessment but delivery of effective instruction Gong – USED Common Assessment & SWD RFP Input Mtg – 11/18/09

8. Include SWD from beginning • Assessment design should not be divorced from a theory of action of how the assessment information will be used • Keep “1% assessment” for technical and policy reasons • Remove “2% assessment” for technical and policy reasons – it was an artifact of NCLB Gong – USED Common Assessment & SWD RFP Input Mtg – 11/18/09

9. Foundations for Common Assessments • Common definitions and training in classification for disabilities that will result in common identification across states? • Common guidelines for IEPs, including test accommodations? • Common research to establish validity of accommodations? • Common research and development on effective curriculum and instruction, and teacher preparation? Gong – USED Common Assessment & SWD RFP Input Mtg – 11/18/09

10. For more information: Center for Assessment www.nciea.org Brian Gong bgong@nciea.org Gong – USED Common Assessment & SWD RFP Input Mtg – 11/18/09