Assessment Tips for Credit Flexibility

1. Assessment Tips for Credit Flexibility Featured Speakers: Stan Heffner, Associate Superintendent, Ohio Department of Education Mark Hartman, Senior Director, Battelle for Kids May 7, 2010 10:00 – 11:00 Eastern Pre-Conference Information

2. Ohio Department of Education www.education.ohio.gov Pre-Conference Information

3. Credit Flexibility Web Conference Series • Hosted by the Ohio Department of Education • Spring 2010 • Intended to support local implementation of Ohio’s Credit Flexibility Policy • Includes highlights from guidance documents • Connects participants with Ohio schools, districts, organizations and related resources for support Pre-Conference Information

4. Great Lakes East Comprehensive Center at Learning Point Associates For more information, visit www.learningpt.org/greatlakeseast The Comprehensive Centers Program consists of 16 regional comprehensive centers and five national content centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The regional comprehensive centers provide technical assistance designed to increase the capacity of states to help districts and schools meet the goals of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. Pre-Conference Information

5. Updated Credit Flexibility Website Visit www.education.ohio.gov; Select School Options; Select Credit Flexibility Guidance Case Studies Web Conference Series Pre-Conference Information

6. Credit Flexibility Guidance • Assessment • Appeals Process • Athletic Eligibility • FAQs General Implementation Visit www.education.ohio.gov; Select School Options; Select Credit Flexibility HQT Requirements School Finance Gifted Education Students With Disabilities EMIS Pre-Conference Information

7. Credit Flexibility Case Studies • Case Study Sites • Delaware Area Career Center • Granville Exempted Village School District/Granville Studio of Visual Arts • Metropolitan Cleveland Consortium for STEM High School (MC2) • New Boston Local School District • North Union Local School District Visit www.education.ohio.gov; Select School Options; Select Credit Flexibility Topics Getting Started Staff Coordination Assessment Instruction Partnerships Pre-Conference Information

8. Assessment Requirements To ensure alignment with Ohio’s academic content standards, Local Education Agencies are advised to: • The extent to which categories of content appear in the standards, syllabus and assessments • The complexity of the knowledge tested within the content area and how it relates to the standards/syllabus of what students are expected to know and do Pre-Conference Information

9. Assessment Requirements Continued • How the span of student knowledge as stated in a standard or syllabus matches what students need to correctly answer assessment items and activities • Whether emphasis given on the assessment is comparable to the emphasis of the learning objectives that fall under a specific standard or syllabus • The primary difficulty of the assessment items which should be significantly related to the level of student content knowledge as represented in the standards and syllabus Pre-Conference Information

10. Designing Instruments LEAs could devise a comprehensive end-of-course exam, a performance-based project and/or successful completion of one or more educational options (e.g., distance learning, educational travel, independent study, internship, music, arts, after-school/tutorial program, community service or other engagement projects and sports) The primary rule of thumb is to make sure that the assessment reflects the scope, type, depth and content that the course is intended to cover Pre-Conference Information

11. Paper & Pencil Tests ODE will not provide a list of approved paper and pencil test instruments because of the individualized nature of the credit flex concept and the unique circumstances of each student’s situation Local districts are responsible for selecting or designing any paper-and-pencil instruments they choose to use to award course credit Pre-Conference Information

12. Paper & Pencil Tests LEAs should follow their local grading policies when administering testing opt-out provisions. It is the district’s responsibility to determine what a comparable measurement of achievement is. Performance levels are set by each LEA, often using letter grades and/or weighted or unweighted quality points, consistent with the LEA’s grading policies Pre-Conference Information

13. Web Conference Series Visit www.education.ohio.gov; Select School Options; Select Credit Flexibility Materials from this web conference that will be available online: • Video archive • Transcript • PowerPoint presentation • Q &A Document Pre-Conference Information

14. Web Conference Series • For more information about the credit flexibility web conference series and toregister for upcoming web conferences, visit the Ohio Department of Education website. • Visit www.education.ohio.gov; Select School Options; • Select Credit Flexibility Upcoming Webinars: May 7 – Assessment Tips for Credit Flexibility 10:00-11:00 EST (Today’s Event) May 17 – Teacher Led Initiatives Using Technology 10:00-11:00 EST View Archived Webinars from the series: March 17 – Credit Flexibility and Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements March 24 – Ohio Credit Flexibility: Working with Gifted and Special Education April 9 – School Finance and Credit Flexibility April 22 – Mastery-based Assessment Models April 29 – Developing Quality Student Credit Flexibility Plans Pre-Conference Information

15. Thank you for participating in today’s web conference, our presentation will begin shortly. Please make sure you have logged in to both the web and phone portion for today’s web conference. For the audio: Dial 1-800-501-8979 / Access Code 6496550 Pre-Conference Information

16. Assessment Tips for Credit Flexibility Featured Speakers: Stan Heffner, Associate Superintendent, Ohio Department of Education Mark Hartman, Senior Director, Battelle for Kids May 7, 2010 10:00 – 11:00 Eastern

17. Sarah Luchs Associate Director, Student Success Ohio Department of Education Phone: (614) 387-0960 E-mail: sarah.luchs@ode.state.oh.us Ohio Department of Education 25 South Front Street Columbus, OH 43215 education.ohio.gov

18. Overview Increase understanding of assessment guidance for credit flexibility Recommend district and school approaches Respond to your questions

19. Context • Expectations for success • defining Common Core Standards • acquiring 21st century skills • graduating college and career ready/preparing for next level learning • Proficiency defined as demonstration of knowledge and skills • Allow assessment to fit student strengths, quality engagement and student motivation • Same expectations for success, does not necessarily dictate same methods, conditions, time, etc.

20. Stan Heffner Associate Superintendent, Curriculum and Assessment Ohio Department of Education Phone: (614) 995-3766 E-mail: stan.heffner@ode.state.oh.us Ohio Department of Education 25 South Front Street Columbus, OH 43215 education.ohio.gov

21. Mark Hartman Senior Director, Client Engagement Battelle for Kids Phone: (614) 481-3141 E-mail: mhartman@battelleforkids.org Battelle for Kids 1160 Dublin Road, Suite 500 Columbus, OH  43215 www.battelleforkids.org

22. Assessment What do I need to consider when getting started? What’s the best mechanism to use to meet student needs? Determine if it’s appropriate to assess for credit or use acceleration for placement. Does the assessment (test) or assessment strategies reflect the totality of course expectations? How do students know what is expected to successfully earn credit and determine a grade? How will you engage and set expectations with students and parents? What needs to be communicated to students and parents to set appropriate expectations?

23. Assessment How do I engage students in the breadth of learning needed to be successful in the next course? • Am I covering the key content and skills? • As articulated in the standards • Equivalent to course expectations • In ways that prepare students given depth, breadth, sequencing • Are assessments reflecting the equivalent proportion of content and skills (presentations, writing, problem solving) as in the course? Do they reflect the same emphasis? • Multiple measure (not limited to single event)

24. Assessment Can I use off the shelf products such as the ACT/End of Course assessments? AP exams? CLEP exams? How well does it align with or match the full extent of local and state expectations for the course and/or standards (and/or next-level-learning) Consider the purpose- many serve a capstone role Does it provide an apples- to-apples comparison? Is it a component of the demonstrated learning or the only measure?

25. Assessment Who assesses? How often? By what processes? Is this a core content area? If learning (planned or already acquired) is in a core content area, use an HQT teacher (see also archived HQT web conference). What criterion will you use to make determinations about demonstration of content/skills. Are rubrics needed? Utilizing other individuals or vendors may be appropriate. What processes/infrastructure help to make this possible and/or support customization with consistency?

26. Assessment How do I assign grades? Can students earn an F? Use established levels and benchmarks for the expectations for student work products If using national assessments (instead of local), you may need to make adjustments to reflect the level of rigor in the assessment Take precautions to safeguard students from failure (an exception, if at all) Apply policies consistently

27. Assessment How do I pay for development or evaluation costs? Ideally, no extra cost is incurred because basic assessments and capacity already exist in the school Consistent with school finance guidance document regarding what’s required with the establishment of any fee that maybe outside the regular public education entitlement (see also archived web conference on finance issues)

28. Big Ideas Keep the focus on student needs and positioning them to be successful at next level. Assessments should not be too easy, but not overly burdensome. Flexibility is intended to allow for customization while maintaining quality. Emphasis is on demonstrated knowledge and skills. Assessment is not prescriptive; no one right way. Consider purposes, scope and equivalency issues. Multiple methods may be appropriate.

29. Next Steps • Guidance www.education.ohio.gov • The full guidance documents are available For more information or additional questions: • Regarding assessment requirements, contact   Terrence Moore Assessment Technical Team, Ohio Department of Education 25 S. Front St., Columbus, OH 43215-4183 614-995-7125 terrence.moore@ode.state.oh.us

30. Next Steps • Web Conference Series • Archive, transcript, PowerPoint presentation, and Q&A document will be available online • Participants will receive a brief survey following the Web Conference • Credit flexibility web conference series • Next web conference: Thursday, May 17, 1-2 p.m. Eastern Time • Register at www.education.ohio.gov

31. Web Conference Series • For more information about the credit flexibility web conference series and toregister for upcoming web conferences, visit the Ohio Department of Education website. • Visit www.education.ohio.gov; Select School Options; • Select Credit Flexibility Upcoming Webinars: May 17 – Teacher Led Initiatives Using Technology 10:00-11:00 EST View Archived Webinars from the series: March 17 – Credit Flexibility and Highly Qualified Teacher Requirements March 24 – Ohio Credit Flexibility: Working with Gifted and Special Education April 9 – School Finance and Credit Flexibility April 22 – Mastery-based Assessment Models April 29 – Developing Quality Student Credit Flexibility Plans May 7 – Assessment Tips for Credit Flexibility (Available soon)

32. Updated Credit Flexibility Website Visit www.education.ohio.gov; Select School Options; Select Credit Flexibility Guidance Case Studies Web Conference Series

33. Thank you for participating in today’s web conference.