Assessing the new Social Studies GLCEs and HSCEs (and other changes): through Assessment & Accountability Conference 2008

How do we assess over 500 CEs? First Steps…. A subgroup of the OEAA Social Studies Steering Committee met in January 2008 Recommended Content Expectations (CEs) to be state assessed Grades 3-8 and high school only At least 50% of the grade or course CEs must be assessed at state level All the standards will be assessed each year with at least one CE (except P3, P4)

Current Steps… Recommendations were reviewed by Steering Committee March 2008 Office of School Improvement (OSI) and task forces met to review CEs for assessment purposes May 2008: Draft of “clarification document” OSI currently editing clarification document: slated to be available fall 2008 Primary CEs: assessed every year; Secondary CEs: in 2-3 year test cycle Remember: All standards will be assessed every year by at least one CE (3-HS, except for P3, P4)

Sample from Clarification Document: Focus Questions and Responses for all CEs: Grades K-HS 3 - H3.0.1n What are the questions and sources historians use to understand Michigan's past? Historians ask what happened, when did it happen, who was involved, and why did it happen to learn about the past. 3 - H3.0.2n What are the questions and sources historians use to understand Michigan's past? Historians use primary and secondary sources to answer questions about the past. 3 - H3.0.3y How can cause and effect help us describe the relationship between 3 events in Michigan's past? Cause and effect relationships show us how historical events are related to each other. We can use a graphic organizer to describe how one event in Michigan's past led to another. 3 - H3.0.4n How do we make generalizations about American Indians who lived in Michigan? One way we can make generalizations about beliefs of American Indians is to use traditional stories. 3 - H3.0.5n What can we use to compare how American Indians and settlers in the early history of Michigan interacted with their environment? We can use informational text, like text books, trade books, letters and diaries of settlers, and internet sources; visual data like maps showing Indian trails of the past, and museum resources, or field trips to compare how American Indians and settlers adapted to, used, or modified the environment.

Next Steps:  Summer 2008: item writers began writing “new” items to new CEs  Fall 2008 MEAP: Current test design, no “new” items to new CEs  Spring 2009 MME: Current test design minus Inquiry Strand (replaced with ACT WorkKeys Locating Information items); no “new” items but will re-code some field test items with crosswalk from old benchmarks

Next Steps (continued):  Fall 2009 MEAP Grades 6&9: Current test design: Items are aligned with old bench marks: Field test “new” items to new CEs  Spring 2010 MME: Current test design: Operational Cross-walked items; Field test “new” items to new CEs  Fall 2010 MEAP Grades 6&9: New test design  Spring 2011 MME: New test design

More Next steps…  : Steering Committee and OEAA/OSI will review new test design options  Spring 2009 May 1st: Secondary Credit Assessment System (SCAS) US History and Geography: about 100 items with 2 “Taking A Stand” items

More Next steps…  Current plan to produce one SCAS per year for WH&G, Civics, and Economics  2010: Possible stand alone pilot for World History and Geography items only (perhaps with SCAS pilot)  : Pilot new test designs, Grades 6, 9, MME

Changes for Fall 2008 MEAP… Fall 2008 MEAP and Spring 2009 MME: no longer any “Taking a Stand” written items* (but will be included in SCAS, see earlier slide) MEAP 2008: 10 items per 4 stands, and 6 for Inquiry; plus 10 Field Test=total 56 items *Persuasive writing is still part of the curriculum and is expected to be taught and assessed at the classroom level

Changes for Fall 2008 MEAP… MEAP 2008: Still assessing the old benchmarks; Parts 1 and 2 MEAP 2008: Must administer on October 23 rd or October 28 th ; or give Make-Up MEAP 2008: Still officially untimed

Spring 2009 MME changes…. Spring 2009 MME: no longer any “Taking a Stand” written items (but will be included in SCAS, see previous slides) Spring 2009 MME: reduced to 7 items per 4 strands, no Inquiry*, plus 14 field test=42 total items Spring 2009 MME: timed; approximately 45 minutes, only one part * ACT WorkKeys: will include 6 items that will also be scored for social studies Inquiry, and added to the MME Social Studies score

Stay tuned… Transition: switching gears from teaching/assessing old bench marks and new CEs: we’re all in the same boat! OEAA is aware of some students possibly assessed on content not yet taught; as with other content areas, adjustments are made on new items to ensure parity and fairness

Stay tuned… New test designs ( ) will incorporate matrix design in order to assess all standards each year Matrix design: all students will get at least 50% of the same operational items: OEAA equates difficulty of operational items across forms

Social Studies Assessment and Curriculum Contact information Ruth Isaia, , Karen R. Todorov: MEAP: MME: ACT. WorkKeys: Social Studies OSI (curriculum):