Essential Skills

1. Essential Skills Basics, Transitions, and Common Core Connections Derek Brown, Manager Cristen McLean, Policy Analyst

2. Topics and Objectives

3. Essential Skills 101

4. 101 Topics • What are the Essential Skills? • Are they another set of content standards? • Why do we have the Essential Skills? • Which Essential Skills are required for graduation? • How do students show that they have these skills? • What else is required for graduation? • Do other states have similar graduation requirements?

5. What are the Essential Skills? … cross-disciplinary skills that students should be developing across grades K- 12. These skills are necessary for success after high school. Read and comprehend a variety of text Write clearly and accurately Apply mathematics in a variety of settings Listen actively and 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 These skills are necessary, but not sufficient for success after high school. These represent the basic toolkit and there are many additional important skills.

6. Are they another set of content standards? …no, they are proficiencies that are embedded within the content standards. The Essential Skills are skills that all students should have as a result of completing K-12 education.

7. Why do we have the Essential Skills? … to make the diploma meaningful. Essential Skills were developed: As a part of the New Oregon Diploma (within a national movement) By the Essential Skills Task Force  Educators  Post-secondary connections  ODE  Legislators  Business community  State Board Over multiple years, which included defining each skill, setting implementation timeline. Essential Skills were adopted into law in 2008. This was the 8th grade year for the first group of students who would be accountable for Essential Skills graduation requirements.

8. Which Essential Skills are required for graduation? … in order to earn a diploma this year*, students must show that they have the first 2. Read and comprehend a variety of text Write clearly and accurately * Graduation requirements are based on the year that students begun high school. The first two Essential Skills are required for students who begun high school 2009-10, most of whom will be graduating this spring, 2012-13.

9. … the remaining 6 skills are not yet planned as diploma requirements. in a variety of settings Listen actively and 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

10. How do students show that they have these skills? … by earning a certain score on one of the following assessments. • OAKS • Local performance assessment (districts develop, administer, and score work samples) • Other standardized tests (ACT, SAT, AP, IB, etc.)

11. What else is required for graduation? … students must meet two other requirements. • Earn 24 credits. • Complete personalized learning requirements

12. Do other states have similar graduation requirements? … well, it varies. There is substantial variability from state to state. Some states have: Similar graduation requirements, but easier assessmentsor more difficult assessments. More graduation requirements, such as requiring more assessments. Fewer graduation requirements, such as only requiring credits and not requiring assessments results. This is why it is not possible to compare graduation rates across states.

13. Summary of the Essential Skills Graduation Requirement The Essential Skills represent the skills that are necessary for success after high school. • This year – to graduate – students must show they can: • Read and comprehend a variety of text • Write clearly and accurately • Next year – to graduate – students must also show they can: • Apply mathematics in a variety of settings • There are a variety of assessments that students can use to show that they have these skills. • The Essential Skills include 6 other skills that are not yet required for graduation.

14. Reading and Writing Common core and Essential Skills

15. Common Core and Essential Skills… …are not separate. All that you do for Common Core implementation is also helping with Essential Skills. You are already: • Helping students develop proficiency in the Essential Skills. • Preparing students to meet the Essential Skills graduation requirement.

16. Reading Look at the Essential Skills definition and the Common Core reading anchor standards. What similarities do you see?

17. Writing Look at the Essential Skills definition and the Common Core writing and language anchor standards. What similarities do you see?

18. Common Core Assessment Selection

19. Assessment Selection Convene a representative workgroup Workgroup outcomes • Examined assessment options against Oregon’s requirements for an assessment • Voted on % of selection for each of the assessment features (distribute 100% over 5 features) • Independently evaluated each assessment against criteria for each feature • Through discussion, established group consensus on which assessment was best in terms of each feature • Calculated assessment selection per feature against % for each feature to determine assessment with highest %

20. Outcome

21. Essential Skills Graduation Requirements

22. Available Assessment Options • 2014-2015:OAKS (ELA and Math) will be replaced by the Smarter Balanced assessment • Students will still have three assessment options for demonstrating proficiency in the Essential Skills

23. Cohort Impact • Transition timeline, through the lens of cohorts (or grade groups) School Year Cohort/Grade Cohort Year Smarter Balanced Assessment - Operational

24. Eligible Evidence for Graduation Requirement • Will students be able to use Essential Skills evidence collected prior to the transition to Smarter Balanced? • Yes, so long as it comes from the approved list of assessment options.

25. Oaks to Smarter Balanced

26. Equivalent Levels of Rigor • Smarter Balanced field test results will be used to establish an equivalent level of rigor to OAKS * 280 500 236 (meets) 300 0 0 *Mock Scale

27. Achievement Level • Summer 2014: Smarter Balanced will set achievement level; results may reveal a discrepancy in the level of achievement defined as “meets” • Late Summer/Fall 2014: State Board will make final decision regarding achievement level required for students to meet Essential Skills graduation requirements * 280 500 320 (meets) 236 (meets) 300 0 0 *Mock Scale

28. Raising the Achievement Level? • Raising the achievement level(s) required for students to meet Essential Skills graduation requirements means students must be given adequate notice • Defined as March 1st of the 8th grade year * 280 500 320 (meets) 236 (meets) 300 0 0 *Mock Scale

29. Achievement Level Across Assessment Options The achievement level must be consistent across all assessment options. • The two other assessment options will be stable in terms of achievement levels while equivalent levels of rigor are being established.

30. Work Sample planning

31. Common Core Transition When did your school transition to the Common Core? School Year Cohort/Grade Cohort Year Smarter Balanced Assessment - Operational Work samples should be aligned to the standards to which the majority of their curriculum was aligned.

32. Common Core Work Samples

33. Questions? Cristen McLean, Policy Analyst Cristen.McLean@state.or.us Derek Brown, Manager Derek.Brown@state.or.us