Implementing High Quality Assessments for All Students: A Discussion of the Lessons Learned John Olson Assessment Solutions Group NCSA – San Diego June 24, 2015

Issues and Info Many lessons learned by individual states Also, lessons from many other states ASG Survey of State Assessment Programs Initiated in 2011 and developed to get info on states plans and movement toward higher-quality assessments Surveys of states done in 2012, 2013, and 2014 Lots of data -  Lots has been learned! Across all states, the main assessment issues and lessons we learned from the past year were: Changes to State Assessment Plans and Designs Technology Implementation and Use in State Assessments Assessment System Sustainability Test Security Challenges February 17, 2015www.assessmentgroup.org 2

Summary of Recent Trends ASG has collected data for three years now and is starting to see some trends emerge Increased use of online assessments Big improvements made to technology infrastructure More states going it on their own and dropping out of a consortium, especially PARCC Commitment to CCR but not necessarily CCSS More use of EOC tests Continued growth of ACT in state programs Increasing use of interim and formative assessments More attention to test security 3

Changes in State Assessment Plans Testing becoming much more political The anti-testing movement seems to have gathered more support than the anti-common core movement although both are having influence in states Increase in GOP governorships, Chiefs and legislatures feeding the anti-CCSS/anti-testing movement PARCC has seen major state defections from initial state plans (from low-mid 20s to about 10 now) while states planning to use the SBAC assessment system have decreased from about 24 to 18 (or fewer) 4

Technology Issues Technology readiness still the number one issue for states in implementing the new assessments PC availability and bandwidth are the top two concerns Manpower/resources and district/school expertise in technology and support are also a concern Vendor ability to deliver w/o problems continues to be a concern February 17, 2015www.assessmentgroup.org 5

Assessment System Sustainability Issues Political system with regard to assessments/consortia is still shaking out in several states Most states believe they have a pretty good idea of their path forward, and not surprisingly, the “current path” is usually the one DOEs want to continue on with respect to the summative assessment Joining or remaining in a consortium for alternate assessments and/or ELP assessments appears to be okay even for those states that have left a general assessment consortium. Many are in either NCSC or DLM, and WIDA or ELPA21. 6

7 Other Assessment Issues – Test Security Test security is becoming an increasing important issue in state assessment Numerous cheating scandals around the country have heightened public awareness of the problem CCSSO (TILSA SCASS) issued an important report to states on Test Security Guidelines in 2013 and a new report on “Lessons Learned” in 2015 States are increasing their use of data forensic analysis, outside vendors (Caveon) for security services and dedicating employees to monitor test security issues

Final Conclusions A lot of changes and uncertainty in state assessment programs in Fate of the CCSS and common assessment consortia Likely roll-back of testing in some states (numbers of tests, amount of time spent, use of performance assessments) ESEA reauthorization still pending Consortia assessments will be an improvement in assessment quality but probably not a sea change One or both consortia will likely survive but with nowhere near the numbers of states once thought More and more states are going it alone 8