A New Vision for Illinois Assessment: Problems Worth Solving Tests Worth Taking

1. Illinois State Board of Education A New Vision for Illinois Assessment: Problems Worth Solving Tests Worth Taking October, 2013

2. What Is PARCC? The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers: Made up of 19 states + DC and US Virgin Islands KY and PA are participating states Developing common, high-quality math and English language arts (ELA) tests for grades 3–11 Computer-based and linked to what students need to know for college and careers For use starting in the 2014–15 school year

3. The Common Core State Standards are here and better standards require better tests. Unlike many current tests, PARCC tests will be engaging and will test the critical-thinking and problem-solving skills students need to succeed in school and life. Validity of interpretation for large-scale assessment data rests squarely on the close alignment of assessment items with curriculum. Why New Assessments Now?

4. PARCC’s Fundamental Advance PARCC is designed to reward quality instruction aligned to the Standards, so the assessment is worthy of preparation rather than a distraction from good work.

5. PARCC Assessment Priorities • Determine whether students are college- and career-readyor on track • Compare performance across states and internationally • Assess the full range of the Common Core Standards, including standards that are difficult to measure • Measure the full range of student performance, including the performance of high and low performing students • Provide data during the academic year to inform instruction, interventions and professional development • Provide data for accountability, including measures of growth • Incorporate innovative approaches throughout the system

6. PARCC’s Core Commitments to Mathematics Assessment Quality • Focus: PARCC assessments will focus strongly on where the Standards focus. Students will have more time to master concepts at a deeper level. • Problems worth doing: Multi-step problems, conceptual questions, applications, and substantial procedures will be common, as in an excellent classroom. • Better Standards Demand Better Questions: Instead of reusing existing items, PARCC will develop custom items to the Standards. • Fidelity to the Standards: PARCC Evidence Statements are rooted in the language of the Standards so that expectations remain the same in both instructional and assessment settings.

7. What is Different About PARCC’s Development Process? • PARCC states first developed the Model Content Frameworks to provide guidance to key elements of excellent instruction aligned with the Standards. • The Model Content Frameworks were then used to provide guidance in the content emphasis for the mathematics assessment. So, for the first time. . . • PARCC is communicating in the same voice to teachers as it is to assessment developers!  • PARCC is designing the assessments around exactly the same SHIFTS the standards expect of teachers and students.

8. What Are the Shifts at the Heart of PARCC’s Design? • Focus: The PARCC assessment will focus strongly where the Standards focus. • Coherence: Think across grades and link to major topics within grades. • Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application.

9. College and Career Ready Determination (CCRD) • Students who achieve a College and Career ReadyDetermination on the high school assessment will be able to enter directly into certain entry-level, credit-bearing courses in college, without having to take placement tests.

10. The Common Core State Standards Require New Aligned Assessments • The Common Core State Standards were developed collaboratively by K-12 and postsecondary content experts and faculty to establish standards of college readiness • Higher education partners in PARCC—nearly200 institutions and systems covering over 850 campuses across the country— committed to work with K-12 partners to develop assessments aligned to these standards and set acollege-ready cut score that will be used to place incoming freshmaninto credit-bearing college courses

11. To set college-ready performance standards on the high school assessments, PARCC will use evidence from research such as: Concurrent validity studies Compare performance on PARCC with ACT/SAT/COMPASS/Accuplacer Predictivevalidity studies Connect success of students on PARCC to performance in first-year courses Judgmentstudies Rate importance of CCSS standards and test items in comparison with first-year course content Alignment studies Examine relationship between first course content and content PARCC measures Research Strategy for Validation of College and Career Ready Scores

12. CCRD: Placement NOT Admission A College and Career Ready Determination on the PARCC assessments indicate: • Mastery of the core competencies in the Common Core State Standards identified by postsecondary education faculty as prerequisites for and key to success in entry-level, credit-bearing courses in English and mathematics • Readiness for placement into entry-level, credit-bearing courses in ELA and mathematics A College and Career Ready Determination will not: • Determine admission to college or university • Replacecollege/university tests to place students into higher level mathematics and English courses • Address non-traditional students who delay enrollment

13. What are Performance Level Descriptors? Performance Level Descriptors or PLDs describe what students at each performance level know and can do relative to grade-level or course content standards assessed.

14. Performance Level Descriptor Language

15. AssessmentsELA/Literacy and Mathematics, Grades 3–11 Beginning of School Year End of School Year Flexible administration Performance-Based Assessment DiagnosticAssessment Mid-Year Assessment End-of-Year Assessment Speaking and Listening Assessment Key: Optional Required

16. Evidence-Centered Design (ECD) for the PARCC Assessments ECD is a deliberate and systematic approach to assessment development that will help to establish the validityof the assessments, increase the comparability of year-to year results, and increase efficiencies/reduce costs.

17. Claims for Mathematics Master Claim: Students are on-track or ready for college and careers

18. Evidence-Centered Design (ECD) for the PARCC Assessments ECD is a deliberate and systematic approach to assessment development that will help to establish the validityof the assessments, increase the comparability of year-to year results, and increase efficiencies/reduce costs.

19. Evidence Statement Tables:Types of Evidence Statements Several types of evidence statements are being used to describe what a task should be assessing, including: • Those using exact standards language • Those transparently derived from exact standards language, e.g., by splitting a content standard • Integrative evidence statements that express plausible direct implications of the standards without going beyond the standards to create new requirements • Sub-claim C & D evidence statements, which put MP.3, 4, 6 as primary with connections to content

20. Evidence-Centered Design (ECD) for the PARCC Assessments ECD is a deliberate and systematic approach to assessment development that will help to establish the validityof the assessments, increase the comparability of year-to year results, and increase efficiencies/reduce costs.

21. Overview of Task Types • The PARCC assessments for mathematics will involve three primary types of tasks: Type I, II, and III. • Each task type is described on the basis of several factors, principally the purpose of the task in generating evidence for certain sub claims. Source: Appendix D of the PARCC Task Development ITN on page 17

22. Overview of PARCC Mathematics Task Types For more information see PARCC Task Development ITN Appendix D.

23. Type I

24. Type II

25. Type III

26. Algebra II/Math III Sample Task

27. Algebra II/Math III Sample Task

28. Algebra II/Math III Sample Task

29. Sub-Claim D: Highlighted Practice MP.4 with Connections to Content (modeling/application) Claims Structure: Mathematics Sub-Claim B: Additional & Supporting Content2 with Connections to Practices Sub-Claim E: Fluency in applicable grades (3-6) Sub-Claim A: Major Content1 with Connections to Practices Master Claim: On-Track for college and career readiness. The degree to which a student is college and career ready (or “on-track” to being ready) in mathematics. Total Exam Score Points: 82 (Grades 3-8), 97 or 107(HS) Sub-Claim C: Highlighted Practices MP.3,6 with Connections to Content3 (expressing mathematical reasoning) . ~14 pts (3-8), ~23 pts (HS) ~37 pts (3-8), ~42 pts (HS) 14 pts (3-8), 14 pts (HS) 4 pts (Alg II/Math 3 CCR) 12 pts (3-8), 18 pts (HS) 6 pts (Alg II/Math 3 CCR) 7-9 pts (3-6)

30. Questions

32. Illinois State Board of Education Mathematics Performance-based Assessment and End-of-Year Assessment

33. Illinois State Board of Education Prairie State Achievement Exam Approximately 50% of the items on the ACT Mathematics Test involve knowledge and skills Approximately 30% of items involve direct application Approximately 20% of the items involve understanding concepts/integrated conceptual understanding

35. PARCC Comprehensive Accessibility Policies

36. Accessibility Features for All Students

37. Accessibility Features Identified in Advance • Availableto all students (i.e., not limited to students with IEPs, 504 plans, or English learners), but will be selected and “turned on” by school-based educators prior to the assessment, based on each student’s Personal Needs Profile (PNP). • Based on each student’s individual needs, a PNP is created for the student to ensure that he or she receives appropriate access without the distraction of other tools and features that are not required by the student. • Although school-based educators will enable specific accessibility features for students, the student will decide whether or not to use the feature. These accessibility features will be readily available on the computer-delivered testing platform.

38. Accessibility Features Identified in Advance

39. Administrative Considerations for All Students • Detailed guidelines on the administration of the PARCC assessments will be included in the PARCC Test Administration Manual. • Principals may determine that any student may require one or more of the following test administration considerations, regardless of the student’s status as a student with a disability or who is an English learner: • Small group testing • Frequent breaks • Time of day • Separate or alternate location • Specified area or seating • Adaptive and specialized equipment or furniture

40. Proposed Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

41. Presentation Accommodations * See notes below

42. Response Accommodations * See notes below

43. Other Proposed Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

44. Unique/Emergency Accommodations • A small number of students may require additional accommodations either because they are not listed in the PARCC manual, or they do not have an IEP or 504 plan but require an accommodation as a result of a recently-occurring accident or illness. • PARCC states will review requests for unique accommodations in their respective states on an individual basis and will provide approval after determining whether the accommodation would result in a valid score for the student, using guidelines comparable across PARCC states.

45. Proposed Accommodations Policies for English Learners

46. Accommodations for English Learners KEY for Table 5 below: •Highly recommended for use by English learners at this English language proficiency level Recommendedfor use by English learners at this English language proficiency level May not be appropriate for students at this ELP level

47. PARCC Information Release July 2013 • Summative assessment cost estimates • Final English Language Learners policy • Final accommodations manual for students with disabilities • Final performance level descriptors for all grades/courses in ELA/literacy and mathematics August 2013 • Additional sample items • Specific information about windows for traditional and block scheduling, when assessment components will be available within the window, models of what PARCC will look like in schools, and proctor requirements

50. Questions