Design Treatment Presentation Fall 2005 T/TAC Online Project VA Assessments February 10, 2005 Matt Humphrey Aala’a Mashaal Pamela Sharpe Tim Smith Maria Washington Graduate School of Education George Mason University

Project Background VA Assessments  No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB)  Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)

Project Problem Statement VA Assessments  Transition to cognitive standards based assessments  Communication skills  State mandated assessments  New process for teachers

Needs Analysis Steps Taken  Determine current status  Performance Analysis  Analysis of results  Teacher expectations  Identify discrepancies  Determine the goals  Set priorities for action

Needs Analysis Current Situation/Actuals  Special Education teachers have not been doing assessments for their students in a standardized format  Special Education teachers’ collaboration outside the classroom is limited  The assessment documents are difficult to locate on the Virginia Department of Education website  The challenge of assessing special education students creates a barrier  Special education teachers of students with severe disabilities have not been required to conduct ASOL based assessments  Teachers spend an inordinate amount of time developing portfolios which are not aligned with ASOL expectations

Needs Analysis Desired Performance/Optimals  For students designated to be assessed under the VAAP, teachers must begin aligning lesson plans to new Aligned Standards of Learning (ASOL) guidelines, which include cognitive skills.  Cognitive skills will be measured in the four subject areas: Reading, Math, History & Social Science and Science.  Differentiate the ASOL enhanced lesson plans that are currently available on the ASOL Enhanced area of T/TAC Online for their students assessed under VAAP guidelines.

Needs Analysis Discrepancies in Teacher Performance  Teachers do not have experience in aligning their lesson plans to the new standards.  Some of the teachers do not have experience assessing using the former VAAP standards.  The greatest discrepancy in teacher performance is that the cognitive skill assessment process is new to all teachers in Virginia.  Teachers have limited resources to help them with the assessment process.  Teachers have limited time outside the classroom to dedicate to this process.

Needs Analysis Desired Performance/Optimals  The solution system should: Assist teachers with assessing their students using the different assessment procedures outlined in the VAAP, VGLA, and VSEP manuals Allow teachers to access the documents in one location or a “one stop shop” Facilitate the sharing of lesson plans with other teachers also involved in the process of creating lesson plans Facilitate the submission of standardized assessment portfolios with streamlined evidences thereby reducing the amount of time teachers spend compiling evidence of student performance  The documents should be searchable for easy access and downloading

Needs Analysis Priorities for Action  Analyze lesson plan process  Determine potential solution based on the needs  Create prototype of the solution system

Flowchart 2: Lesson Plan Document

Solution System Based upon the results of the needs and task analysis phases, our goals for the solution system are to: 1.Provide scaffolding for teachers to develop lesson plans aligned with the new SOLs. 2.Produce a searchable VAAP manual. 3.Provide additional resources for teachers to utilize throughout the assessment process.

Design Approach EPSS Characteristics Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS)  Computer software program that improves performance by: Reducing complexity Providing the performance information to perform a task Providing a decision support system that enables the user to identify appropriate actions

Design Approach EPSS Characteristics  Used on the job  Controlled by the user  Reduce the need for prior training in order to accomplish the task  Supports new constraints on an existing process

Design Approach Rationale  Supporting an existing process Teachers have created lesson plans New constraints on that process  New standard format for lesson plans is a system requirement  Teacher experience levels vary  Just-in-time support in the classroom

Development of Prototype  Users will be able to use the VA Assessments section on T/TAC Online to: Search the VAAP Manual Create lesson plans Search for created lesson plans

Searchable Online VAAP Manual  Users should be able to search the VAAP Manual by: Subject Subject and ASOL code Subject and Skill Group Instructional Strategy

Creating a Lesson Plan  Users will use the system to create lesson plans using a wizard with built in just-in-time supports  Users can also receive assistance if they need help with a particular part of the lesson plan creation process

Searching for Created Lesson Plans  Users will be able to search for previously created lesson plans by: Subject Subject & skill group Subject & ASOL code

Design Approach Prototype ssess.asp

Next Steps  Identify supports to be integrated into the EPSS Interview expert teachers Surveys Resources Collaboration  Continue development of prototype  Implement prototype  Usability testing  Formative evaluation

Thank You for Listening Are there any questions?