Ohio’s Assessment Future The Common Core & Its Impact on Student Assessment Evidence by Jim Lloyd Source doc: The Common Core and the Future of Student Assessment in Ohio by Kathleen Porter- Magnee, et al from the Thomas Fordham Institute

Ohio Had a Choice to Make O There are 2 assessment consortiums available to Common Core States. Ohio had to choose to be part of 1 of them or fly solo: O Partnership for the Assessment of Readiness for College and Career (PARCC) or; O The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC)

What did Ohio do? O Ohio chose PARCC. O By making a commitment, OH can be at the table with the other PARCC states to influence decisions.

Ohio Chose PARCC What are the repercussions of this?

Short Term Impact O PARCC will begin piloting its assessment items in (current school year). O Both consortia plan to fully test new assessments in

Long Term Impact O PARCC is managed by Achieve Inc. O O SBAC is managed by the State of Washington’s Department of Education O PARCC has certain requirements that all states must follow

Assessment Design for PARCC O Assessment design rules apply to ELA & Math O Computer administered, but not “computer adaptive” O Computer adaptive is like the new GRE—test automatically adapts to student’s ability level O Participating states must have infrastructure in place by O Paper and pencil version only for students needing this special accommodation

Required Assessments

O Extended, multi-session performance-based assessments as close to end of year as possible O ELA—will include tasks focused on writing effectively when analyzing text O Math—will include tasks focused on applying the content and skills learned throughout the year O These assessments scored centrally with results ready “in time to inform the end of year summative assessment score for each student”

Required Assessments O Grades 3-8: ELA and Math—End of the Year O Computer-based and machine scorable O Grades 3-11: Assessment of Listening & Speaking O These elements are included in the CCSS O Design plans still being finalized O Teacher-scored using a common rubric O Results not included in student’s summative score O Results not required as part of the state’s accountability system

Required Assessments O Grades 9-11: ELA O Required for grades 9 through 11 O High School: End of Course Math O Required, Summative, computer-based, machine scored,

Optional Assessments Early Assessments Mid-Year Assessments Optional Formative Performance Tasks (K-2)

Optional Assessments— Early Assessments O Diagnostic reading, math and writing O Should be used in early part of the year for the purpose of: O Pinpointing knowledge and skill gaps of students who did poorly previous year AND/OR students who need enrichment

Optional Assessments—Mid Year O Performance-based Assessments that serve 2 purposes: O Provide early exposure to performance tasks students will encounter at the end of the year O Act as formative assessments. They will provide teachers with instructionally useful info NOTE—PARCC will not require Mid-Year assessments O Results won’t be used as part of student’s summative score O Some states may choose to require O Some states may choose to include in student’s summative score

Optional Assessments— Formative Tasks for K-2 O The primary focus will be 3-12 however; O Formative tasks will be available for teachers to monitor student progress O These assessments will not be used for teacher or admin evaluations

Other Things to Consider

Data & Accountability O All states will have common achievement levels and the same definitions of proficiency O Cut scores will NOT be locally determined O Student Performance/Score based on summative assessment and performance-based tasks O PARCC and SBAC assure results will be valid for teacher and admin evaluations NOTES: O PARCC assessments will have almost twice as many score points as existing state tests

Cost O Currently Ohio spends nearly $70 million/year administering 2 million state tests O PARCC indicated the average test will cost $14—doesn’t include cost of optional assessments O These do not include cost estimates for ramping up technology, internet access and additional staff time to administer

Tools for Teachers O Content frameworks to help inform curricula O Interactive data tools to allow educators to view student data and generate custom reports O Online practice tests

Other PARCC Considerations O End of Course Exams O PARCC is developing high school exams O Ohio law requires the state to implement them O Mid-Year Assessments O Administered and scored by teachers O Online score training tool will be provided O Ohio will need to commit to ensuring the mid-year results correlate with the results from the summative, end of year performance tasks

Ohio Timeline O 2011—Content frameworks released O —Piloting and field testing of assessment items O 2012—PARCC begins to release sample assessment items O —Technology in place to admin PARCC assessments in place in all schools O —PARCC assessment admin begins

Additional Considerations--Technology O Tech administered exams will get results back quickly O Broad assessment admin windows and platform neutral for admin O PARCC planning on creating a tool for districts to assess their tech readiness to admin O Ultimately cost and effort to admin will fall to states—this represents a HUGE unknown cost

Additional Considerations—Rigor O PARCC requires a common cut score across all states in order to make National and International comparisons easier O There is a considerable gap between the quality of standards currently in place and the ones that will be (i.e. the Common Core) O Fordham grade Ohio’s assessments as easy O 3 rd Grade—only 5 states had lower reading and math cut scores O 8 th Grade—only 3 states had lower in 8 th grade

Resources O O s/December2011PARCCPlaceNewsletter.pdf s/December2011PARCCPlaceNewsletter.pdf O s/PARCC-Overview-Dec2011.pdf s/PARCC-Overview-Dec2011.pdf