MCAS 2.0- What Parents Need to Know Morris Elementary School 2017 Presented by: Carolyn Boyce, M.Ed. Principal of Morris Elementary School

Why do we give state standardized testing? We are required by law MCAS emerged out of Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993. First MCAS test given in 1998. Federal requirement started with No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Bush administration, 2001 Continues under Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), Obama Administration, Dec. 2015 It allows us to see how our students perform as compared to other students across the state Helps us to determine areas of academic instruction that need improvement. Assess how well we are teaching the MA Frameworks. Helps us to determine which subgroups of students need more academic support

Some important terms and acronyms... MCAS- Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System MCAS 2.0- latest version of the MCAS debuting this year (2017) Next Generation MCAS- another term for MCAS 2.0 Legacy MCAS- the old MCAS PARCC- Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers. State piloted and then abandoned ship...sort of CBT- Computer-Based Testing PBT- Paper-Based Testing

Total number of schools 2017 Testing Mode Summary Public schools administering CBT only : 40% (565 schools) Public schools administering PBT in at least one grade/subject: 60% (840 schools) This is based on the 1,405 public schools serving students in grades 3–8, such as elementary schools, middle schools, and combined elementary/middle schools. www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=24144 Gr. 3 Gr. 4 Gr. 5 Gr. 6 Gr. 7 Gr. 8 Schools doing CBT 38% 93% 41% 42% 95% Schools doing PBT 62% 7% 59% 58% 5% Total number of schools 973 961 894 589 505 500 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Transition to Next-Generation Tests for Grades 3–8 ELA and Math 2017 CBT required* for gr. 4 and 8 CBT optional for gr. 3, 5, 6, and 7 2018 CBT required* for gr. 4, 5, 7, and 8 CBT optional for gr. 3 and 6 2019 CBT required* for 3–8 and 10 * Paper test accommodation for students with disabilities or new ELLs See www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=21750 for details. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Grades 5 and 8 Science and Tech/Eng Transition Plan 2016–17 (PBT) 2017–18 (CBT) 2018–19 (CBT) Assesses 2001/2006 standards Assesses overlapping 2001/2006 and 2016 standards Assesses 2016 standards Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Number of Sessions Mathematics ELA Gr. 3–6: 2 non-calculator sessions Grades 3–5: 3 sessions Grades 6–8: 2 sessions Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

2017 MCAS Test Design Next-generation ELA and Mathematics tests will be a combination of Legacy MCAS test questions Newly developed MCAS test questions PARCC test questions www.doe.mass.edu/mcas/tdd/g3-8ela- math.pptx Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

What’s New- ELA The introduction of EBSR – Evidence Based Selected Response: Relies on a student’s ability to find evidence in the text. There are multiple choice parts. Part A and Part B. If a student answers part A incorrectly, part B will automatically be scored wrong. Technology enhanced questions The addition of short response questions on the grade 4 test The elimination of the long comp in grades 4 and 7 The introduction of a Narrative writing task in grades 3-8 Open Response is now called Text-Based essay. On legacy MCAS students were not penalized for spelling and grammar. These elements will be scored with the new test.

ELA Example Part A Throughout the first half of the story, Dad can best be described as feeling brave. amused. peaceful. determined. Part B Which sentence from the story best supports the answer to Part A? “Derrick had never been camping or fishing.” (paragraph 1) “Great Idea’, Dad said.” (paragraph 2) “Dad and I didn’t realize how true that would turn out to be.” (paragraph 3) “Minor setback’, he assured Derrick. (paragraph 13)

What’s New-Mathematics Legacy MCAS MCAS 2.0 Question Types Multiple choice Short answer Open response Question Types Multiple Choice Multiple Select Technology Enhanced (drag and drop, etc) Fill in the blank Short answer Open response (sometimes called multiple part)

What’s New-Math Cont’d Legacy MCAS MCAS 2.0 Open response questions would build upon each previous part calling on the students to use their answers from part A and B to answer part C Open response questions call on students to synthesize information without “leading” them to the correct answer for the final part(s)

Math Example Legacy MCAS MCAS 2.0 The perimeter of the park is 42 miles. Part A- Find the missing sides of the rectangular park. Part B- Find the area of the park. Part C- A ranger estimates that there were 9 deer in each square mile. If this estimate is correct how many total deer are in the park? Explain your answer using numbers, symbols, and words. The perimeter of the rectangular park shown is 42 miles.   A ranger estimates that there are 9 deer in each square mile of the park.  If this estimate is correct, how many total deer are in the park.  Explain your answer using numbers, symbols, and words.

Preparing Students Students can ask for help from a test administrator to locate a tool or navigate to a test question, as requested by student New accessibility feature: students may ask test administrator to read aloud selected words (Math and STE only). For CBT, familiarize students with student testing platform (“TestNav”) Student tutorial Practice tests Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Student Tutorial navigate through the student testing platform Shows how to … navigate through the student testing platform use different onscreen tools and accessibility features use CBT accommodations enter seal codes at the beginning of a session review responses before submitting a test Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Materials Needed for Testing – CBT Required materials Computer for each student Computer for test administrator Scratch paper Pen/pencil for scratch paper Testing tickets Seal codes CBT-embedded materials Rulers Reference sheets* Calculators* Notepad for ELA Highlighter and other tools * Ok to print/give out Note: Headphones only for use with Text-to-Speech edition. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

What is permissible for test administrators to help students with technology during testing? Examples of allowable assistance, after a student tries but cannot figure out how to use interface: Logging students in Pointing to a tool button (e.g., the calculator or answer eliminator button) Helping a student use the drag-and-drop feature Showing how to move through the test using arrow keys Helping a student submit his or her test Example of prohibited assistance: Telling a student to use the calculator or a specific tool on a particular question Telling a student the correct answer when using the drag-and-drop feature Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Test Security Requirements for Students During testing, students must NOT … preview test materials copy others’ work or communicate with other students ask for or accept any coaching let someone else answer for them work in a different test session use materials that are prohibited during testing Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Results will be invalidated for students who use cell phones or other electronic devices at any time during a session, including after a student turns in his or her test materials, during a break, or during the transition to a test completion area. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Supporting Your Child Emphasize effort over results. Check in to see how your child is feeling about MCAS testing. Follow your child’s lead. Help your child understand that testing in elementary school is not “high stakes.” MCAS 2.0 is new to everyone and we are all figuring it out together.

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