Georgia’s Changing Assessment Landscape Melissa Fincher Associate Superintendent for Assessment and Accountability Georgia Department for Education GACIS Fall Conference – September 2013

What’s Next Given PARCC Withdrawal?

Federal Requirements for High Quality Assessments College & Career Ready standards and expectations Assessments in grades 3 – 8 and high school capable of measuring student growth over the course of the academic year accessible for all students, including SWD and EL ELP standards that correspond to CCR standards Administer no later than 2014 – 2015 Annually report college-going and college-credit accumulation rates for all students and student subgroups at district and high school levels

Georgia’s Plan New design – not a redesign Comprehensive – single program Coherent – consistent signals about student achievement both within system and with external measures (e.g., NAEP; PSAT; SAT; ACT) Rigorous – position Georgia students to compete nationally Accessible – allow all students to show what they know and can do Balanced – both formative & summative Inform effectiveness measures

Georgia’s Plan To accomplish this, Georgia must: continue strong partnership between K – 12 and post-secondary (USG and TCSG); include a variety of item types – more than just multiple choice; increase expectations for student learning and achievement; and continue to – and accelerate – transition to online administration

Georgia’s New Assessments As we begin to build new assessments, they: will be aligned to the language arts and mathematics CCGPS; will be of high-quality and rigorous; will be developed for students in grades 3 through 8 and high school; will be reviewed by Georgia teachers; will be offered in both computer- and paper-based formats; and will include a variety of item types, such as performance-based and multiple-choice items. As a state, we have to prepare for a significant increase in rigor.

CRCT Readiness Indicators A Step Towards Positioning Georgia’s Students for Success

CRCT Readiness Indicators: Reading, ELA, Mathematics Indicators are designed to send a signal to stakeholders about where students are relative to the expectations in the standards Indicators provide feedback about our preparedness for the increase in rigor and expectation for student achievement that is on the horizon Feedback consists of the percent of students who achieved each readiness level – state , district, and school levels – for instructional planning purposes

CRCT Readiness Indicators: Reading, ELA, Mathematics For instructional planning and decision making: Needs Additional Support: The student has demonstrated that his or her command of the knowledge and skills described in the CCGPS warrants additional instructional supports. On Track: The student has demonstrated that his or her command of the knowledge and skills described in the CCGPS is sufficient; the student is on track for success at the next level. Commendable: The student has demonstrated that his or her command of the knowledge and skills described in the CCGPS is exemplary.

CRCT Readiness Indicators: Reading, ELA, Mathematics For accountability purposes - at the student (promotion/retention), school, district, and state levels (CCRPI) - we will continue to use 800 and 850.  It is strongly advised, however, that schools use the scale scores associated with the Readiness Indicators as targets - we need to be working actively to get students to these levels because we know the new tests will be more in line with those expectations than the 800 / 850. The readiness indicators will be provided during the interim as additional feedback to districts and schools so they have "better" information about where students are in relation to where they need to be in 2014-2015 (with the increased rigor).  Bottom line: shooting for 800 isn't going to be sufficient in future years. 

Assessment Literacy Professional Learning Benchmark Assessments Formative Assessment Initiatives Bringing a Balanced Assessment Focus to the Classroom Online Assessment System (OAS) Formative Instructional Practices (FIP) Assessment Literacy Professional Learning Benchmark Assessments Formative Item Bank NAEP Item Tool: Released items; rubrics; exemplars; Georgia data February 2014 Fall 2014

FIP Learning Modules Introduction to Formative Instructional Practices Clear Learning Targets* Collecting and Documenting Evidence of Student Learning* Analyzing Evidence and Providing Effective Feedback Student Ownership of Learning: Peer Feedback, Self-Assessment, and More Leading Formative Instructional Practices (for district and/or school leaders) Coaching Formative Instructional Practices (for instructional coaches and/or teacher leaders) * Direct support for Student Learning Objectives (SLOs)

Questions?