New Developments in NYS Assessments

What is new? Required use of Standardized Scannable Answer Sheets for all Regents Exams starting in June 2012 Beginning in the 2012-13 school year, teachers may no longer score their own students’ exams.

What’s Changed for 2012 Grades 3-8 ELA and Math Tests? The ELA and Math Tests will include embedded multiple-choice field test questions Writing mechanics will be assessed by its inclusion in the English Language Arts Test scoring rubric for extended responses Schools must schedule 90 minutes of testing time for each session, on each day, at each grade. Grade 3 ELA Test sessions will not feature separately timed segments. Students will be given a 5-minute break at the midway point in session one of the ELA Test at all grades.

Embedded Multiple-Choice Field Test Questions Embedding field test questions allows for a better representation of the student population and more reliable field test data on which to build future operational tests. It will not be apparent to students whether a question is a field test question that does not count towards their score or an operational test question that does count towards their score. The embedded field test questions will reduce the amount of stand-alone field testing during the spring of 2012, but will not eliminate the need to conduct stand-alone field tests later this year. Embedding will occur in Book 1s in ELA and Book 1s and Book 2s in Math

Assessing Writing Mechanics Writing mechanics has been added to the rubric for scoring extended-response questions in Listening and in Reading/Writing. The revised rubric and exemplar responses scored according to this rubric are available in the Guide found at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/apda/ei/ei-guide-12.pdf A PowerPoint to help prepare teachers for scoring extended responses with this revised rubric will be provided. There will not be any multiple-choice questions on the 2012 tests measuring writing mechanics.

Coming Attractions To help prepare schools for administering the Grades 3-8 Tests, the following documents will be posted at: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/apda/ei/eigen.html Grades 3-5 and 6-8 ELA and Math Teacher’s Directions (by March 9) PowerPoint, “Training for Teachers Scoring Extended-Response Questions in the 2012 Grades 3-8 English Language Arts Tests” with the revised rubric (by March 23)

Documents to Be Posted (continued) School Administrator’s Manual (by March 30) Scoring Site Operations Manual (by March 30)

School Year Transition of State Assessments (as of 3/1/12, subject to change) 2012-13 Grades 3-8 ELA Tests aligned to Common Core Grades 3-8 Math Tests aligned to Common Core NYSESLAT aligned to Common Core 2013-2014 Regents Exam in English aligned to Common Core Regents Exam in Algebra I aligned to Common Core Regents Exam in Geometry aligned to Common Core NYSAA in ELA and Math aligned to Common Core 2014-2015 PARCC Assessments are scheduled to be operational and are subject to adoption by the Board of Regents Regents Exam in Algebra II aligned to Common Core Grades 4, 6*, 7* & 8 Science Tests aligned to Next Generation Science Standards Regents Exams in Living Environment, Earth Science, Chemistry, & Physics aligned to Next Generation Science Standards Grades 6-8* Social Studies aligned with the 2012 CC aligned SS Standards Regents Exams in Global* (Possible split. If so, Global I – 2015 and Global II in 2016), & Regents Exam in US History & Government aligned with the 2012 CC aligned SS Standards NYSAA in SS and Science aligned to Common Core * Pending the availability of funding.

PARCC Assessments PARCC assessments are scheduled to be operational in 2014-15 and are subject to Board of Regents adoption All PARCC assessments are aligned to the Common Core The PARCC Consortium is developing ELA and math assessments that will cover grades 3-11 www.parcconline.org

Shifts in the Common Core There are twelve shifts that the Common Core requires of us if we are to be truly aligned with it in terms of curricular materials and classroom instruction. There are six shifts in Mathematics and six shifts in ELA/ Literacy http://engageny.org/resource/common-core-shifts/ We are working on shifts in terms of each assessment. Content will change on tests, but students should still expect to see a combination of multiple-choice and constructed-response items.

Math Practice 5 of the New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for Math Use appropriate tools strategically Mathematically proficient students consider the available tools when solving a mathematical problem. Proficient students are sufficiently familiar with tools appropriate for their grade or course to make sound decisions about when each of these tools might be helpful, recognizing both the insight to be gained and their limitations. Mathematically proficient students at various grade levels are able to identify relevant external mathematical resources, such as digital content located on a website, and use them to pose or solve problems. They are able to use technological tools to explore and deepen their understanding of concepts.

Math Tools and Math Shift 3 for 2012-13 Tests: Fluency (Our current draft thinking as of 3/1/12) Grades 3-8 students must have the use of a ruler for the entire test. Grades 4-8 students must have the use of a protractor for the entire test. Grades 3-5 students will not have the use of calculators. Grade 6 students must have the use of a four-function calculator with a square root key or a scientific calculator for the entire test. (Schools may choose which type they purchase.) Grades 7 & 8 students must have the use of a scientific calculator for the entire test.

Next Generation Science Standards (as of 3/1/12) Next Generation Science Standards - a multi-state consortium (of which NYS is a lead state) designed to create a nationally recognized set of science standards based on research and best practices, which is based on frameworks from the National Research Council The Next Generation Science Standards will incorporate the Common Core State Standards for ELA/Literacy in Science, as well as the Common Core State Standards for Math, as applicable The Next Generation Science Standards consortium plans to have a draft for public release by spring 2012 and a final set of standards for release by winter 2012 Should the New York State Board of Regents choose to adopt the Next Generation Science Standards, the assessments will be aligned to the new standards. New assessments will be implemented starting with the end-of-year administration

Social Studies (as of 3/1/12) Educators and experts from around New York State are collaborating to design Common Core aligned SS Standards pre-K to 12th grade that focus on deep conceptual understandings of critical issues in social studies. Pending adoption by the Board of Regents, CC aligned SS Standards will be released in spring of 2012. These will incorporate the Common Core State Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, as well as the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics, as appropriate. Following the release of CC aligned SS Standards, social studies curriculum modules and assessments that incorporate Common Core-like changes will be developed and released If approved by the Board of Regents, the Regents Exam in Global History & Geography which currently covers two years of content, will be split into two exams that each cover one year of content (pending the availability of funding)

Questions E-mail:emscassessinfo@mail.nysed.gov Providing feedback on State examinations through the Teacher Evaluation Form: http://www.forms2.nysed.gov/emsc/osa/exameval/reexameval.cfm

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