Board Exam Providers Meeting March 16, 2010

1. Board Exam Providers Meeting March 16, 2010 Jon Erickson, ACT Sherri Miller, ACT Ken James, America’s Choice

2. High School Core Courses and Rigor • Far too many students who take a core curriculum today are unprepared for challenges of college and career • The rigor of core courses is at risk in schools unless we align a number of essentials for college readiness • Research shows that high school courses can be made rigorous and that rigorous content can be effectively taught and learned

3. QualityCore • Focuses on fewer, clearer, and higher standards that are essential for college and career readiness in each course • Uses formative and summative assessments to guide effective, targeted instruction • Measures student progress in each course toward college and career readiness

4. QualityCore • Provides professional development resources, tools and opportunities to teachers and leaders • Customizes instruction to the needs of specific classrooms, schools, and districts

5. College Readiness Standards Benchmarks High Achieving Schools Courses, Practices, Materials National Curriculum Survey Postsecondary expectations Secondary instruction QualityCore Course-specific knowledge and skills Best Practices Development

6. Available Courses • Biology • Chemistry • Physics • U.S. History • English 9, 10, 11, 12 • Algebra I • Geometry • Algebra II • Pre-Calculus

7. QualityCore consists of… • Course-specific college readiness skills • End-of-Course assessments • A live formative item pool for benchmark assessments • Instructional resources • Implementation support

8. Educator’s Resources • Provide conceptual view of rigor • Provide ways to inject rigor into courses • Assist in planning

9. Educator’s Resources include: • Course Objectives/Standards • Course Descriptions/Syllabus • Course Outline and Instructional Plan • Model Instructional Unit • Guidelines for Developing Units • Template to Examine Student Work

10. Course Objectives and College Readiness Standards QualityCore courses are aligned to Common Core and College Readiness Standards

11. Course Objectives/Standards • Define the knowledge and skills students must master • Address the overarching themes or foundational concepts of the discipline • Teachers can use to • Select course content and organize it into instructional units • Identify the outcomes to be evaluated in formative assessments

12. Course Description and Syllabus • Defines course content • Identifies and illustrates pedagogical strategies • Sets forth classroom policies that encourage learning

13. Model Instructional Unit • 1/course provided • Illustrates how the course objectives are connected to instruction and delivered in the classroom • Teachers may use • As-is • To assess the quality of their existing units • As a model from which to develop new units

14. Guidelines For Developing Instructional Units • Teachers can use to create and review instructional units for courses • Checklist format

15. Online Delivery

16. End-of-Course Assessments • Two 45-minute multiple-choice components (35 score items each) OR • One multiple-choice component plus a 45-minute constructed-response component. (1-3 items) • Available in paper and pencil and CBT formats

19. Student OverviewReport Includes estimated College Readiness Indicator based on ACT’s College Readiness Benchmark

20. QUALITY CORE- PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Developed and Delivered by America’s Choice--A renowned Provider of outstanding professional development services. • Quality Core includes an aligned professional development offering for teachers and school leaders. • Sessions are tailored to the ACT Course Standards, educator’s resources, and end-of-course assessments. • An emphasis is placed on ensuring that teachers build the capacity to help ALL of their students learn.

21. QUALITY CORE--BENEFITS TO PARTICIPATING TEACHERS • Teachers who participate in Quality Core professional • development will: • Gain familiarity with all of the Quality Core resources and how • they support the development of rigorous high school courses. • Learn how to describe the specific level of performance they • expect of students in order to match a course specific standard. • Learn to map a process that guides and supports students toward • achievement of selected course goals.

22. QUALITY CORE-BENEFITS TO PARTICIPATING TEACHERS • Have opportunities to review classroom practices with respect • to effective assessment and instructional strategies. • Develop the capacity to analyze formative and summative test • items for depth of knowledge and compare those items to • differentiate the level of thinking required. • Increase their ability to use rubrics to improve student • achievement. • Have opportunities to examine classroom assignments for rigor • and relevance. • Learn how to use materials to enhance their own units.

23. QUALITY CORE-- WORKSHOP FEATURES • Designed to support English 9-12, Algebra 1 and Algebra 2, • Geometry, Biology, and Chemistry. • Five full workshop days: one three-day session in August, and • a single day session in the fall, and a single day in the spring. • Includes a single-day session for administrators. • Administrators also encouraged to attend the teacher sessions. • Minimum of 20 participants in each session by domain • Sessions held with the client district.

24. Rigor & Readiness

25. Rigor & Readiness: Tiered Intervention Systems

26. Academic PerformanceFor the Tiered Interventions

27. NEXT STEPS/QUESTIONS: KEN JAMES, EXECUTIVE VICE-PRESIDENT/COO AMERICA’S CHOICE, INC. 501-366-3839 kjames@americaschoice.org JON ERICKSON, SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT, ACT 319-337-1055 jon.erickson@act.org SHERRI MILLER, ASSISTANT VICE-PRESIDENT, ACT 319-337-1458 sherri.miller@act.org

28. Board Exam Providers Meeting March 16, 2010 Jon Erickson, ACT Sherri Miller, ACT Ken James, America’s Choice