South Carolina Alternate Assessment

1. South Carolina Alternate Assessment District-level Test Administrator Training South Carolina Department of Education American Institutes for Research January 2012

2. Presenters Suzanne Swaffield Douglas Alexander Office of Assessment South Carolina Department of Education Lynnett Wright Jennifer Chou American Institutes for Research

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 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, and • To meet IDEA and ESEA (NCLB) requirements.

5. Training Topics • Participation Criteria • Review of 2011 Administration Results • New Procedures and Changes for 2012 • Administration and Scoring Fidelity • Preparation for 2012 Administration

6. 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, 2011. (See Age and Birth Date Reference Sheet, TAM appendix B-1)

7. 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

8. Content Areas Assessed • All students take ELA and math. • All high school students take ELA, math, and biology. • Science and social studies are sampled in some grades.

9. Extended Academic Standards Define how standards and indicators can be accessed on grade level (essence of the grade-level standards and indicators). Based on the academic standards in ELA, mathematics, social studies, science, and biology. Provide extensions for all standards and indicators not just those addressed by the SC-Alt.

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

11. Social Studies • Revised Social Studies Academic Standards were adopted by the State Board of Education, August 2011 • Social Studies Extended Standards are in process of development. • Social Studies Literacy Skills for the 21st Century are the basis for SC-Alt tasks for 2012

12. Link to Extended Standards http://ed.sc.gov/agency/programs-services/48/SC-AltExtendedStandards.cfm You can also go to the South Carolina Department of Education website at www.ed.sc.gov Click on: Agency  Divisions/Offices  Accountability  Assessment  South Carolina Alternate Assessment  Extended Standard

13. 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 ofSeptember 1, 2011, as pre-coded 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 website to determine the correct form.

14. Science and Social Studies Administration (Elementary and Middle School Forms) Students ages 9 or 12 on September 1st 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

15. 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

16. Location of the Answer Folder Security Number

17. Administration Plan (TAM page 6)

18. Review of the 2011 AdministrationResults 18

19. How Results Are Reported • Scale Scores (260-740) • Achievement Levels 1-4 • Parent, School, and District • Reports are provided

20. Score Report User’s Guide • Provides information on SC-Alt scores, score interpretation, and sample score reports • Includes descriptions of achievement levels • Copies have been distributed to each school and DTCs-Alt • A down-loadable copy is also posted on the alternate assessment web page

21. SC-Alt Scores Are Included in Accountability • Achievement Levels 3 and 4 are counted as “Proficient” in AYP calculations at the school and district levels. • Achievement Level 2 is counted as “Met” in state accountability calculations at the district level

22. SC-Alt 2011 Participation and Performance • 3,175 students were tested in 2011 (1,492 students at the elementary level, 1,326 at the middle school level, and 355 at the high school level) • SC-Alt scores have an overall positive effect in accountability calculations • In 2011, approximately 70% of all SC-Alt students scored at Achievement Levels 3 and 4 in each content area

23. What’s New for 2012?

24. New for 2012 • Changes to the Answer Folder • The teacher name field and other fields that were previously on page 2 (back side of cover) have been moved to page 3. • Within the scoring grids, the “AL” (access limited) bubble is now simply “A,” and the “NR” (no response) bubble is now “N”. • A Homeless code box has been added. • The Student’s Learning Characteristics questionnaire has been deleted.

25. Response Options Updated in Test Booklet The “NR” symbol has now been changed to “N”.

26. Response Options Updated in the Answer Folder • The “NR” bubble has now been changed to “N”. • The “AL” bubble has now been change to “A”.

27. New for 2012 Use of a Second Rater will replace videotaping for assessing administration and scoring fidelity.

28. Preparation for the 2012 Administration

29. Administration Window March 5 - April 27 Testing materials will arrive in the districts by February 24th

30. Major Reasons for Non-Valid Administrations • Failure to complete the 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. • Failure to complete Test Administrator Security Affidavit.

31. Non-Valid Administrations(cont.) • Failure to transfer item scores from the worksheet to the answer folder. • Misplacement of the answer folder in the return materials, resulting in a lost answer folder. • Assessment of student with wrong form. • Errors in administration procedures and scoring.

32. Determining the Starting and Concluding Tasks in the Assessment

33. Student Placement Questionnaire The SPQ is designed to identify the most appropriate starting task for each student. The student's teacher completes a series of questions (12-15) regarding student’s knowledge of the content in each content area. Based on the teacher’s responses, teachers compute a score to determine most appropriate starting task in the test form. The teacher will complete one SPQ for each student in each content area. 33

34. Student Placement Questionnaire (SPQ) • Allows maximum opportunity for student to demonstrate his/her skills without prolonging the assessment • The SPQ for each content area is located in the Student Answer Form. • The detailed directions for using the SPQ are located in the TAM, pages 18 - 21 34

35. 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 a least three total points on all of the items in the beginning task, the student has responded successfully (at least a combined total of three points for all the items in a task) and 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 target level. • Starting task 3 - will drop back to task 1 • Starting task 7 – will drop back to task 3

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

37. SPQ Summary • The SPQ provides the initial starting point for a student’s administration. The minimum number of tasks and specific tasks that must be administered to each student for each starting level are specified below:

38. Required Task Sets Starting at task 1 Starting at task 3 Starting at task 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 38

39. Special Note about Access Limited • If the entire last task in the set is access limited for an individual student, skip the task and go to the next task to allow the student the opportunity to continue on in the assessment. • Follow the same rules for concluding the assessment when the student no longer responds successfully.

40. ExampleConcluding the Assessment from Start Point 1 Task 7 3 points Go to task 8 Task 8 3 points Go to task 9 Task 8 0-2 points STOP Task 9 3 points Go to task 10 Task 9 0-2 points STOP 40

41. Starting and Concluding the Assessment Summary • All tasks in a given set must be administered regardless of whether the student is responding successfully. • If you start too high (the student is unsuccessful) and do not drop back to task 1 or 3, the administration will be considered non-valid and the student will not be counted as tested. • If you do not continue administering tasks as long as the student is responding successfully, the administration will be considered non-valid and the student will not be counted as tested.

42. SC-Alt Administration and Scoring Fidelity

43. Test Administrator Requirements A certified employee of the district or other eligible person approved by the DTC-Alt. Test administrators may not administer the assessment to close relatives (e.g., children, grandchildren). If a test is administered in a location other than the school, the test administrator must meet the criteria specified in the TAM page 6-7. Must be trained to administer SC-Alt

44. Administration and Scoring Fidelity SC-Alt is administered and scored by the test administrator. To ensure fidelity in administration, several procedures are in place. • Assessment Monitors • Test Administrator Security Affidavit • Second Rater Procedure

45. Monitors Monitors are required and must be trained. • Purpose • Observe test session procedures • Authenticate student responses • Verify the use of proper procedures. • Parents, guardians, grandparents, foster parents, or other family members may not serve as monitors. • Monitors must sign the Agreement to Maintain Test Security and Confidentiality. (Appendix D) TAM page 7

46. Monitor’s Responsibilities • Observe administrations. • May assist in recording session start and stop time, if needed. • May assist with logistics, if requested. • Sign the Test Administrator Security Affidavit (Appendix E)to verify adherence to procedures.

47. Test Administrator Security Affidavit • Included in the student answer folder. • No pre-code or linking labels will be needed. • Must be signed by the teacher and by the assessment monitor for each content area administration and validated by the principal. (TAM page E-1)

48. Test Administrator Security Affidavit (cont.) Complete during the assessment administration. Use to record the length of sessions Code this information to the session information grid on the answer folder. Complete all signatures. Failure to complete the Test Administrator Security Affidavit will result in an invalid administration.

49. Second Rater Procedure • Fidelity of administration and scoring is monitored using a second rater to verify that in a sample of administrations all procedures were followed. • Replaces videotaping for capturing administration and scoring fidelity for the 2012 administration. • Math is the only content area requiring a second rater.

50. Second-Rater Procedure (cont.) • The second rater scores the student responses at the same time as the TA and records the scores on a separate Second Rater Answer Folder. • The TA scoring is the official scoring record; the second rater scoring is collected to compute scoring consistency.