Linking Curriculum Standards, Assessment, and Instructional Practices

1. Martha L. Thurlow February 11, 2003 Linking Curriculum Standards, Assessment, and Instructional Practices . . .when Educating Children with Disabilities

2. Assessment Standards Instruction

3. Topics for Discussion • Why talk about linking? • Expectations and success • Building blocks of success • Some steps for you to take

4. Why talk about linking? • Standards-based reform • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 1997) • No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB 2001)

5. Standards-Based Reform Context High Standards All Students --- Everything else is negotiable --- schedules, place, time, structure, curriculum, instructional methods, methods of assessment. . . AcCOUNTability

6. IDEA 1997 . . . a law created within the context of the standards-based reform movement . . .

7. Statement of present levels, needs, and how they affect involvement and progress in general curriculum Annual goals and objectives to allow involvement and progress in the general curriculum Key Provisions in IDEA 97

8. Key Provisions in IDEA 97 • Services needed to be successful in the general curriculum • Modifications and supports to be successful in the general curriculum • LRE statements

9. Key Provisions in IDEA 97 • General educator collaboration • Assessment – full integration into standards-based reform The key provisions in IDEA 97 really address equity concerns – access to common standards, challenging curriculum, and effective instruction

10. Standards! Content standards = what all children should know and be able to do Performance/achievement standards = how well children can demonstrate what they know and are able to do

12. NH WA MT ND VT MN ME SD OR WI ID WY MI NY IA NE PA OH IL IN RI NV UT CO CT WV KS MO KY VA NJ CA NC DE OK TN AZ AR MD NM SC MS AL TX GA LA AK FL HI Status of Content Standards All regular states, except Iowa, have state-level standards MA PREL (Pacific Resources for Education and Learning) has good information on standards-based learning

13. AFT (2001) recommends that: • Standards should be explained, along with the performance levels required to meet them • Examples of standards and student work at various grades and performance levels should be available to teachers, students, parents, and the public so that there is a shared understanding of them

14. Step 1:Dig into your state’s standards so that you know what they are like and understand them

16. No Child Left Behind . . . reinforces standards-based education for all students and introduces accountability for results

17. “…to ensure that all children have a fair, equal, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging State academic achievement standards and state academic assessments” Stated purpose of No Child Left Behind

18. Key Provisions in NCLB • Development of grade level standardsandassessments aligned to those standards • Inclusion of all students in assessments, including students with disabilities and limited English proficient students

19. Key Provisions in NCLB • A state accountability system that defines adequate yearly progress to ensure that all students reach proficiency by 2014 • School improvement plans and consequences when AYP is not evident

20. Within a Content Area AYP combines Test Data Progress over time % Proficient + Advanced AND 95% tested • 12 Years to 100% Proficient • Intermediate goals • Annual measurable objectives

21. This is high stakes! • For the system – schools, districts, and states

24. The “why” is primarily about the LAW and assessments Is there more to it than that?

25. Assessment will drive improvements in instructional programs For students with disabilities, participation in assessments will increase their access to the general education curriculum, thereby increasing their opportunity to learn to high standards.

26. Students who are tested are those who get taught! When educators know that students will be tested, and that their scores will count, they are more likely to make sure that they learn what they need to learn – that they get the resources they need.

27. Inclusion in assessments may result in other inclusive opportunities As students are included in assessments, the need to access to the general curriculum becomes more evident, and promotes the need to develop instructional activities that are more appropriate for all students.

28. Negative effects of exclusion are avoided Inappropriate referrals to special education are often avoided – if special education is an avenue to exclusion

29. Higher expectations emerge for students who have been suffered from low expectations Students in special education particularly have been subjected to low expectations (in the guise of protecting and caring for them), and these in turn has limited their opportunities to learn

30. We obtain data on student performance, so that we know whether students are learning and programs are working – for all students If we have no data to look at, we have no basis for making decisions, and we do not know whether students are learning and programs are successful in meeting the goals for students.

31. Instructional programs improve (especially with professional development) and student learning improves! Evidence is now accumulating that indicates benefits to educators and to students.

32. Recent article in the Boston Globe (December 22, 2002) Katie Bartlett has spent all of her 17 years exceeding the expectations the world placed on her when she was born with Down syndrome. . . .Still no one was quite sure what would happen when Bartlett took the MCAS exam, now a requirement for a high school diploma in Massachusetts. This is what happened: She passed

33. Other Data Also Coming to Light New York Regents Exam, 2001: Number of students with disabilities passing is higher than the number taking in the past Trend data across grades in large southern state – special education population changes over time mask closing of gap between special education and general education students

34. These success stories are related to the content standards, a defined general curriculum, aligned instruction, good assessments, and good assessment decision making

35. Access to the General Curriculum is essential, but: • Is the general curriculum linked to the content/curriculum standards? • Has the general curriculum been defined? General curriculum does NOT = books General curriculum does NOT = regular classroom placement

36. Step 2:Identify the linkages among standards, especially grade to grade, then define the general curriculum Define access, participation, and progress in the general curriculum for students with disabilities

37. State system of academic content standards What all students should know and be able to do for future success Curriculum and instructional plans What and how all students will learn – varied and rich, multiple settings, resources, authentic applications in the general curriculum Individual student needs, strengths consideredServices and supports to be successful Assessment of student performance Appropriate assessments to document knowledge and skills rather than disabilities Building Blocks

39. Aligned with challenging State standards Adequate technical quality for the purpose Involve multiple up-to-date measures, including measures of higher-order thinking and understanding Measure achievement against State standards in at least mathematics, reading/language arts, and (beginning in 2007-08) science Assessment Requirements No Child Left Behind

40. Reminder: Types of Assessments – All Important Eligibility Assessments Classroom Tests Large-ScaleAssessments District-wide Statewide National

41. Ways to Participate in Assessments • Same way as other students • With accommodations • In an alternate assessment But, this does not mean that it is simple

42. It's really much more complicated! • School accountability systems • High stakes for students • Bubble of students without access to the general curriculum, high expectations • Lawsuits that suggest new ways of thinking about accommodations and other alternatives

44. Step 3:Recognize the importance of individualized assessment decisions – evaluate these decisions and revisit them

45. Accommodations Accommodations are changes in assessment materials or procedures that allow the student’s knowledge and skills to be assessed rather than the student’s disability. Setting, Timing, Scheduling, Presentation, Response, Other Clarify what is okay and not okay!

48. Good Accommodations Decisions • Start with good instructional decisions • Raise systematic questions about accommodations for individual students • Use data to aid decision making What helps student learn or perform better? What has student or parents told you? What gets in the way of the student showing skills? What has the student been taught to use?

49. Individualized accommodation decisions should be linked to the standard, the construct assessed, the nature of instruction or the assessment, and the student’s characteristics Purposeful reading – reading to select and apply relevant information for a given task Does this allow different modes of print interaction? And, what are the implications of these different modes for accommodations?

50. Universally-Designed Assessments Be part of the movement toward assessments designed from the beginning for the widest range of students – not to assess different standards but to better assess the standards that we have • During item development • During item tryouts • During item reviews