Board “Leanings” on State Assessment System

1. Board “Leanings” on State Assessment System David T. Conley, Ph.D. Professor, University of Oregon Director, Center for Educational Policy Research CEO, Educational Policy Improvement Center

2. Goals of the Paper/Presentation • Situate the current Oregon State Assessment System within a context relative to the state’s history and briefly consider the purposes of assessment in Oregon • Present a comparative analysis of a wide range of potential types of assessment along a series of key dimensions that help judge the utility of each for a series of purposes • Consider the potential purposes of different types of assessment that could conceivably be a part of a state assessment system • Identify possible purposes for the assessment types reviewed. • Summarize the type of assessment systems utilized by states for a variety of purposes • Explore a range of key policy issues directly related to the state assessment system and issues associated with them • Lay out in broad brush-strokes a vision for the statewide assessment system

3. Purposes of Assessment in Oregon • As identified by ODE, the purposes of the state assessment system are to: • Inform students, teachers, parents, employers, and postsecondary programs about student skill proficiencies • Provide information on student and school performance useful for policy decisions on budgets, staffing, and other matters by state elected officials, the State Board of Education, and local school districts • Support instructional program improvement • Inform the public about statewide student and school achievement in Oregon

4. Standardized norm-referenced achievement tests Standards-based criterion-referenced tests End-of-course exams On-demand performance tasks Extended performance tasks Project-centered tasks and exhibitions Oral examinations Moderated school-based assessment Portfolios or Collections of Evidence College admissions tests College placement examinations Industry Skill Certification Exams Teacher-generated grades Types of Assessment

5. Primary Possible Purposes of Assessment • Federal accountabilityrequirements (US Department of Education) • State accountability requirements (ODE, Legislature) • Local accountability requirements (parents, community) • Teacher and administrator accountability • Instructional alignment (vertically within a subject area, horizontally across grade levels) • Student course grades • Diagnostic feedback to teacher • Diagnostic feedback to student • Grade level promotion, high school graduation, college admission, college placement, skill certification • Policy decisions

6. Primary and Secondary Purposes of Assessments

7. State Assessment Systems • Standardized achievement test only • Standards-based test only • Standardized achievement test and standards-based test • Standards-based test and oral presentation • Standards-based test and college admissions test • Standards-based test and college placement test • Standards-based test and end-of-course test • Standards-based test, end-of-course test, and college placement test • Standardized achievement test, standards-based test, and moderated school based assessment • Standardized achievement test, standards-based test and end-of-course test • Standardized achievement test, standards-based test, end-of-course test, and college placement test • Standardized achievement test, standards-based test, end-of-course test, and college admissions test

8. Key Policy Issues • What must be assessed? • What should be assessed? • When should things be assessed? • How do national tests relate to state tests? • What assessment is going on in districts currently and how capable are districts of managing assessment locally? • What do students actually have to demonstrate? • How can students be motivated to do well on state exams? • What is the role of cohort models?

9. Considerations for Any Option • Ability to address purposes of Oregon assessment system • Acceptability to Oregon educators • Implementation challenges for Oregon educators • Time requirements for Oregon educators • Overall value for Oregon educators • Overall value for Oregon policy decisions

10. Assessment Type by Goal

11. Assessment Type by Goal (cont’d)

12. Workgroup Topics • Limit the number of core standards on which to base assessments • Focus state assessments on core reading, writing, math, and science standards • Encourage districts to use formative assessments • Ensure adequate rigor of core high school standards on the state assessments and any local assessments • Allow demonstration of proficiency through multiple pathways based on student educational plan and profile • Design state assessment system so that state assessments help validate teacher judgment of student performance

13. Potential Model: Board Leanings • In light of the various potential purposes of and issues associated with each type of assessment and combination of assessments, what are the Board’s leanings regarding the state assessment system?