Charter System Foundation GA Department of Education INNOVATIVE PILOTS Charter System Foundation GA Department of Education

Innovative Assessment Pilot Milestones are high stakes summative tests that yield lagging data that are not actionable.  ESSA invited states to submit applications to pilot innovative assessments to replace current summative assessments.  The goal is to move to through-year formative/diagnostic assessments that yield actionable data that teachers could use to differentiate instruction.  The results of these assessments would roll up into a summative score that would be used for accountability. Another primary goal is to reclaim instructional time lost to Milestones.  Georgia’s Assessment Pilot under SB 362 will last 5 years. The Georgia DOE has invited districts or consortia of districts to submit applications to pilot different assessment platforms.  Three applications have been presented and accepted by the SBOE.

Navvy Assessment Platform  - A consortium of 10 districts led by Putnam County (including Calhoun City, Fayette County, Pike, Oglethorpe, Dougherty, Evans, Liberty and McIntosh), in partnership with Dr. Laine Bradshaw from UGA, have been approved to pilot the Navvy platform.  Navvy is an online diagnostic test that determines whether a student has mastered or not mastered each standard.  Students are allowed 3 attempts to demonstrate mastery or non-mastery. A teacher may choose to administer the test to students on more than one standard at any time, giving teachers more flexibility regarding instruction.   Some of these districts use MAP in conjunction with Navvy.  The districts have laid out a 5 year timeline to complete the development of the platform.

MAP Formative Assessment A consortium of 10 districts (led by Marietta, Clayton, Floyd, Jasper, Polk and Jackson) have submitted an application to pilot the MAP assessment platform.  Many districts currently administer MAP as a formative test to guide instruction, provide growth data and nationally-normed scores.  While MAP is not currently designed to align fully with Georgia standards and is not used for accountability purposes, there is a strong correlation to Milestones results.    The consortium and NWEA (the owner of MAP) have laid out a 5 year timeline to make the necessary changes so that it meets Federal requirements.

Cobb County Assessment Platform Over the past 8 years Cobb County has developed a very robust assessment platform that teachers use to guide instruction.  Cobb has over 100k items (questions) that can be used.  The assessments are given throughout the year and detailed reports can be generated to show mastery or non-mastery of standards (or even individual standards) at every level – from the district to the school to the classroom to each individual student. 

Consolidation of Funds Pilot Federal law allows a district to consolidate federal funds (Title 1, 2, 3, 4, etc) with state and local funds into a single pool of funds to support a schoolwide program.  The federal funds lose their identity – they are treated as state and local funds.  The school will no longer have Title I teachers (and the restrictions on what they can do) and will no longer be required to treat new property/equipment purchased out of the consolidated pool as federal property.  The consolidated schoolwide budget becomes one line item, except for mandated federal set asides. Georgia is now in its third year in implementing consolidation of funds.  In year 1, there were 4 participating LEAs.  In year 2 (FY18), there were an additional 5.  This year (FY19), 12 new LEAs have joined.  Total: 21 LEAs The participating districts are reporting that they are seeing significant benefits from the flexibility. 

For More Information ASSESSMENT PILOT Dan Weber at dan@charter-system.org or 404.808.6670 CONSOLIDATION OF FUNDS PILOT Dan Weber or Shaun Owen at the DOE at sowen@doe.k12.ga.us