Improving the Assessment System - Looking Back and Looking Forward

1. Looking Back – Looking Forward Implementation of the Assessment SystemPresentation to:California Institute for School Improvement (CISI) Sacramento – May 26, 2015 Presented by: Deb Sigman, Deputy Superintendent, Rocklin Unified School District National Chair – Smarter Balanced Executive Committee

2. Overview of Presentation Reflection on 2014-15 testing California climate and context Making the assessment better Looking forward – getting ready for results

3. Smarter Balanced Update

4. 2014-15 Update on Testing in Smarter Balanced States As of May 15: Over five million (5,167,421) students have started the Smarter Balanced assessments. Of those, 5,075,321 have completed at least one part.

5. 2014-15 Update on Testing in California As of May 20 — 52 testing days: • Local educational agencies where testing has begun: 1,779 • Number of students that started a summative assessment: 3,133,866 • Summative assessments completed: • English language arts/literacy test: 2,365,983 • Mathematics test: 2,307,580 • Tentative results streaming into districts

6. California vs. National Context

7. California Picture By all accounts, successful implementation Students are testing The large majority of students on-line Minor episodes of slowing of the system Some minor technical log-in and pausing issues Pockets of opt-outs

8. National Picture • Large scale opting out of assessment • Kentucky • New York • Washington • North Dakota • Delaware • Florida • Ban on Common Core • Wisconsin • Ban on Smarter Balanced • Maine

9. National Picture • Technical difficulties • Nevada • North Dakota • Montana • Wisconsin • Missouri • Michigan

10. Making the Assessment Better

11. Enriching the Item Bank • Field testing approximately 12,000 items • Not all items will be available. • Quality checks prevent items from moving forward when: • Not enough responses overall • Not enough responses at each level of the rubric for constructed response items • Item statistics indicate item would not be fair to all students (item behaves poorly)

12. Enriching the Item Bank • Items that are calibrated and pass quality checks will be included in spring 2017 tests • Consortium beginning to write new performance tasks and items • Teachers will be recruited for item writing, editing, sensitivity/bias review, content review and accessibility reviews • Investigating using illustrations for translated items

13. Improving the Test Administration Manual States use the template from the Consortium but have some degree of discretion regarding editing the manual. States will be making some changes to their sections. The consortium will improve sections that were confusing based on feedback from states The consortium is considering opportunities for streamlining and adding flexibility where possible

14. Improving the Digital Library The digital library is getting enhancements to the application including a new landing page that will better help direct educators to the resources they are seeking Additional members for the State Network of Educators (SNEs) are being recruited Additional modules are being procured and will be included as part of additional Spotlight Forums

15. Other Enhancements Under Development for Digital Library

16. Looking Forward – Getting Ready for Results

17. Results – What We Know Baseline for future, not comparison to past • Will need to reframe the conversation • Scale scores on Smarter Balanced assessments • Four-digit number • Range roughly from 2000-to-3000 • Measures of performance • Measures of growth • Meaningful information for students, teachers and parents • Reliable and valid information for “accountability” systems

18. New Expectations – Describing English Language Arts Performance • Students who perform at the College Content-Ready level in English language arts/literacy demonstrate reading, writing, listening, and research skills necessary for introductory courses in a variety of disciplines. • They also demonstrate subject-area knowledge and skills associated with readiness for entry-level, transferable, credit-bearing English and composition courses.

21. New Expectations – Describing Mathematics Performance • Students who perform at the College Content-Ready level in mathematics demonstrate foundational mathematical knowledge and quantitative reasoning skills necessary for introductory courses in a variety of disciplines. • They also demonstrate subject-area knowledge and skills associated with readiness for entry-level, transferable, credit-bearing mathematics and statistics courses.

24. Celebrating Our Successes Over 3 million students successfully assessed on summative assessment Digital library being accessed by hundreds of thousands of California educators Over a million students accessing interim assessments

25. Setting the Stage for Future Success • Remember the purpose • Assessment for learning • Assessment of deeper skills • Preparing students for college and career • Focus on teaching and learning • Learn from other states • Proactively change the conversation about effective schools • Accountability at the local level • Multiple sources of data • Schools are more than a single number • Aligning resources to need • Measures of growth in addition to measures of performance