SED Update: USDOE Peer Review & Grades 3-8 Testing Program

1. SED Update: USDOE Peer Review &Grades 3-8 Testing Program David Abrams Assistant Commissioner Office for Standards, Assessment, and Reporting Fall S/CDN Meeting September 14, 2006

2. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act • NCLB requires that, by the 2005-06 school year, states have in place: • challenging academic content and achievement standards in reading/language arts and math; and • an aligned assessment system that measures student achievement towards meeting those standards in Grades 3-8 and once in Grades 10-12. • Goal – to enable all students to meet challenging academic content and achievement standards

3. NCLB: Title I • Title I, Part A accountability requires States to determine AYP, in part, by annually administering tests “aligned with challenging academic content and student academic achievement standards” in “reading or language arts” to all students.

4. NCLB: Title III • Title III, Part A requires that states, LEAs and schools show: • “Demonstrated improvements in the English proficiency of limited English proficient children each fiscal year; and • Adequate yearly progress [in meeting State academic content and student academic achievement standards] for limited English proficient children, including immigrant children and youth.”

5. Peer Review – Overview • NCLB requires that USDOE review and approve each state system of standards and assessments, including evidence of how the state has met the relevant NCLB requirements.

6. Peer Review – Process • States must prepare and submit a report with accompanying documentation (NYS submitted its report in January 2006). • The submission is then reviewed by Peer Reviewers, “national experts knowledgeable in the fields of standards and assessment.”

7. Peer Review – NYS Results • On June 27, 2006, SED received a letter from Assistant Secretary Henry L. Johnson stating that NYS must provide additional evidence to meet NCLB requirements. • USDOE has determined that NYS is not incompliance with NCLB with respect to: • NYSESLAT • Assessment of ungraded students • Alternative assessment for students with disabilities • NYS must come into full compliance by end of 2006-07 school year.

8. Peer Review – NYSESLAT • Regarding NYSESLAT, USDOE said: • “The NYSESLAT is not sufficiently comparable to the regular English language arts assessment to use…as a substitute language arts assessment for limited English proficient students.” • Henry L. Johnson Letter (June 27, 2006)

9. NYSESLAT – Design and Administration • Administered each spring in five grade bands: • K-1 • 2-4 • 5-6 • 7-8 • 9-12

10. NYSESLAT – Design and Administration • Each grade band has four subtests: • Speaking • Listening • Reading • Writing • Speaking: administered to students individually any time over a 4-week period • Listening, Reading, and Writing: administered to groups of students in three sessions during a 2-week period

11. NYSESLAT – Design and Administration • Tests are untimed • Tests are kept secure after administration

12. NYSESLAT – Content • Design based on: • Learning Standards for English as a Second Language • Current research from the field of second language assessment • Guidance from an ESL expert advisory board • Direction from SED

13. NYSESLAT – Next Steps • SED has accepted invitation from USDOE to join LEP Partnership • SED will engage in specific empirical research looking at LEP/ELL student performance on ELA exams and NYSESLAT • SED will work with partner states to propose a research agenda to USDOE to see if a dual purpose instrument is possible and feasible

14. Special Education: Ungraded Students • SED has amended its policy to ensure that ungraded students with disabilities who are not eligible for NYSAA do not take an out-of-level assessment. • See August 2006 Memo: Revised Guidelines for Participation of Students with Disabilities in State Assessments for 2006-07 (Rebecca H. Cort/Jean C. Stevens)

15. Special Education: NYSAA • SED will revise NYSAA to link it to grade level standards. • See August 2006 Memo: Important Changes Regarding Administration of the New York State Alternate Assessment for 2006-07 (David Abrams & James P. DeLorenzo)

16. Special Education: NYSAA • New Administration Dates for 2006-2007 School Year: January 2, 2007-March 9, 2007 • Test will return to original administration dates in 2007-2008 School Year

17. Grades 3-8 Refresher • Original RFP called for Vertical Scale • Research with CTB showed that the test design was not long enough (need a minimum of 50 MC items) to design a pure vertical scale • Field Objected to original design due to administration issues

18. Grades 3-8 Refresher • State Opted to use the Vertically Moderated Standards (VMS) approach • Student progress is measured from grade-to-grade relative to proficiency in meeting the standards (rather than in terms of scale scores on tests)

19. Grades 3-8 Refresher • Measurement experts say this method is more reliable than vertical scaling for monitoring student progress • VMS design does not require overlapping items and allows test forms to be shorter

20. Grades 3-8 Refresher • Items are on each test are developed only for a single grade-level and it allows for better content converge for each grade • SED is researching feasibility of Vertical Scaling through field-testing research design: results of research will inform next generation of tests

21. Grades 3-8 Update • Summary Test Score information will be released to school districts on September 14: majority of school districts should receive overnight • Testing Data is embargoed until Commissioner’s News Conference which is scheduled for September 21 at 11:00 AM