South Carolina Alternate Assessment

1. South Carolina Alternate Assessment District-level Test Administrator Training South Carolina Department of Education American Institutes for Research February 2013

2. Presenters South Carolina Department of Education Office of Assessment Suzanne Swaffield Douglas Alexander Anne Mruz American Institutes for Research Melissa Hudson Alternate Assessment Specialist Celine Tobal Project Manager

3. South CarolinaAlternate Assessment (SC-Alt) • Alternate assessment based on alternate achievement standards • For students with significant cognitive disabilities who cannot participate in PASS, EOCEP, or HSAP even with appropriate accommodations

4. Purpose of SC-Alt • To ensure that students with significant cognitive disabilities have the opportunity to participate in a challenging standards-based curriculum • To meet IDEA and ESEA (NCLB) requirements

5. Training Topics • Participation Criteria • Review of 2012 Administration Results • New Procedures and Changes for 2013 • Preparation for 2013 Administration • Major Errors Resulting in Non-Valid Administrations • Frequently Asked Questions about Administration and Scoring

6. Test Administration Manual (TAM) The TAM is your procedural guide to the SC-Alt administration

7. Test Security • SC-Alt is subject to SC Test Security Regulations. (TAM Appendix A) • Test booklets and all materials are secure materials. • Materials must be kept in a secure place when not in use.

8. Test Security Regulations • Test booklets, answer folders, second rater forms may not be copied or reproduced. • All test administrators and monitors must sign the Agreement to Maintain Test Security and Confidentiality (TAM Appendix D). • Testing Irregularity Form (TAM Appendix F)

9. Who Is To Be Assessed? • Students with significant cognitive disabilities who meet the participation criteria for alternate assessment (TAM page 3) and • Who were between the ages of 8-13 or 15 on September 1, 2012. See Age and Birth Date Reference Sheet (TAM Appendix B)

10. Determining SC-Alt Participation IEP Team decision • IEP Present Levels and Goals • Curriculum (grade-level content standards or extended standards) • Communication • Review Sample Tasks on the SCDE website • Parent Brochure • Guidance for IEP Teams on Determining Participation in the SC-Alt

11. Guidance for IEP Teams on Determining Participation in the South Carolina Alternate Assessment (SC-Alt)

12. Guidance Document Features • Eligibility Criteria Descriptors • Description of Sources of Evidence • Initial Determination of Eligibility Participation Worksheet • Review of Eligibility Participation Worksheet

13. Significant Cognitive DisabilityEligibility Descriptors • Characterized by ability scores on both verbal and non-verbal scales that are at least 2 ½─3 standard deviations below the mean and • Deficits in adaptive behavior skills (skills that enable people to function effectively in their everyday lives) that are at least 2 ½─3 standard deviations below the mean in two out of three domains and

14. Significant Cognitive DisabilityEligibility Descriptors (con’t) • Academic skills that are on the emerging, readiness (prerequisite), foundational level and/or functional (real life) application of the general curriculum.

15. Sources of Evidence • Individual Cognitive Ability Tests • Adaptive Behavior Skills Assessments • Individual and group administered achievement tests • Informal assessments • Individual reading assessments • District-wide alternate assessments • Language assessments including ELL, if applicable

17. Link to IEP TeamGuidance Document http://ed.sc.gov/agency/programs-services/48/documents/SC-AltParticGuidanceForIEPteams.pdf

18. What is Assessed?

19. Content Areas Assessed • All students take ELA and math. • All high school students (age 15) take ELA, math, and biology. • Students ages 9 and 12 take science and social studies. • Students ages 8 ,10 ,11, and 13 take science or social studies.

20. Extended Academic Standards Based on the academic standards in ELA, mathematics, social studies, science, and biology Define how standards and indicators can be accessed on grade-level for students with significant cognitive disabilities (essence of the grade-level standards and indicators)

21. Extended Academic Standards (cont.) • Basis for classroom instruction • Link to students’ communication level • Foundation for the development of assessment tasks and items

22. Social Studies • Revised Social Studies Academic Standards were adopted by the State Board of Education, August 2011. • Social Studies Extended Standards are in the process of development. • Social Studies Literacy Skills for the 21st Century are the basis for SC-Alt tasks for 2013.

23. Link to Extended Standards http://ed.sc.gov/agency/programs-services/48/SC-AltExtendedStandards.cfm

24. Common Core State Standards • Adopted by the State Board of Education for ELA and Math • Development of the link to the Common Core State Standards for Alternate Assessment in process • Core Content Connectors • Learning Progression Framework • Will be available by next school year

25. SC Assistive Technology Program www.sc.edu/scatp

26. SC Interagency Deaf-Blind Project www.scsdb.org SCDeafBlind@scsdb.org

27. Administration Window March 4 - April 26 Testing materials will arrive in the districts by February 21, 2013

28. What’s for 2013?

29. for 2013 • Green border instead of green arrow to indicate correct response • Updated “Try 2” statement • Change in TA “Say” statement - “Tell (show)” changed to “Show (tell)” • “Secure Materials” added to the back of print manipulatives

30. Review of the2012 Administration Results

31. Participation in SC-Alt 3,431 students were tested in 2012, compared to 3,175 in 2011 The percent of all tested students (SC-Alt and PASS) who were tested with SC-Alt in 2012 was 0.9% 81.6% of SC-Alt students taking ELA scored Proficient (Achievement Levels 3 and 4)

32. How Results are Used Results are included in both state and federal accountability calculations

33. Score Reports • Individual Student Report • Suggested ideas to support learning • Parent Brochure • Will arrive in the district in August

34. Score Report User’s Guide Provides an overview of the SC-Alt assessment and scoring Includes descriptions of achievement levels Copies have been distributed to each school and DTC-Alt A downloadable copy is posted on the SC-Alt Web page

35. Preparation for the 2013 Administration

36. Common Errors Resulting in Non-Valid Administrations • Assessment of student with wrong form • Failure to complete the Student Placement Questionnaire (SPQ) • Assessment of student beginning with wrong starting task (not following drop back rule if student does not respond successfully to starting task) • Failure to administer the minimum number of tasks in the required set

37. Common Errors Resulting inNon-Valid Administrations (cont.) • Failure to complete Test Administrator Security Affidavit • Failure to transfer item scores from the worksheet to the answer folder • Errors in administration procedures and scoring • Misplacement of the answer folder in the return materials, resulting in a lost answer folder

38. Assessment of Studentwith Wrong Form

39. Assignment to Grade-Band Forms Elementary, Middle, and High School • Students are assigned to SC-Alt grade-band forms on the basis of their age as of September 1, 2012, as precoded in the PowerSchool data base. • For students who do not have a pre-assigned form, refer to the Age and Birth Date Reference Sheet in the TAM (Appendix B) or on the SCDE Web site to determine the correct form.

40. Science and Social Studies Administration (Elementary and Middle School Forms) Students ages 9 or 12 on September 1 take both science and social studies Students ages 8, 10, 11, and 13 Random assignment of 50% of students to science and 50% to social studies Precoded students will be pre-assigned, with science or social studies specified on the student roster

41. Science/Social Studies Assignment Non-Precoded Students The student’s age and answer folder number will be used by the test administrator to determine science and/or social studies participation. Students ages 9 or 12 take both science and social studies Students ages 8, 10, 11, or 13 even answer folder security number – science odd answer folder security number – social studies (TAM page 6)

42. Location of the Answer Folder Security Number

43. Administration Plan(TAM page 5)

44. Failure to Completethe Student Placement Questionnaire (SPQ)

45. Student Placement Questionnaire (SPQ) • The SPQ is designed to identify the most appropriate starting task for each student to allow maximum opportunity for the student to demonstrate his/her skills without prolonging the assessment.

46. Student Placement Questionnaire (SPQ) (cont.) • The teacher must complete one SPQ for each student in each content area. • The SPQ for each content area is located in the Student Answer Folder. • The detailed directions for using the SPQ are located in the TAM, pages 18 – 21.

47. SPQ Steps Summary Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4

48. Beginning Assessment with Incorrect Starting Task

49. Starting the SC-Alt • Determine if the student will begin the assessment at task 1, 3, or 7 based on the SPQ score. • If a student gets at least 3total points on all of the items in the beginning task, the starting task is appropriate. • If the student scores less than a total of 3 points on the designated starting task, drop back to the next starting level. • Starting task 3 - will drop back to task 1 • Starting task 7 - will drop back to task 3

50. Failure to Administer the Minimum Number of Tasks