1. Kaliko Oligo Senior Consultant ACT Mountain/Plains Region
Kansas ACT Workshop
Southwest Kansas
Kaliko Oligo
Senior Consultant
ACT Mountain/Plains Region

2. Workshop Agenda About ACT The ACT College Readiness System
The Foundation
National Curriculum Survey®
College Readiness Standards™
College Readiness Benchmarks
The Data
Student Score Report
Profile Summary Report
Item Response Summary Report
Early Intervention Rosters
Questions & Resources

3. Helping people achieve education and workplace success.
About Us
Not-for-profit
Education and the workforce
50+ years worth of functional data
Research agenda
Customer service
Almost 20 years of data on non-self selected student data
Our Mission
Helping people achieve education and workplace success.

4. College and Career Readiness System
MEASURING STUDENT PROGRESS TOWARD READINESS
IMPROVING COURSE RIGOR
SUPPORTING SOLUTIONS PLANNING SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT
EXPLORE
8th and 9th grade curriculum-based educational and career planning program
PLAN
10th grade curriculum-based educational and career planning program
The ACT
11th and 12 grade curriculum-based assessment for learning outcomes
ENGAGE
Middle and high school assessment that measures all factors of academic success
QualityCore
Research-driven solutions for strengthening curriculum
CoreWork Diagnostics
Online service to diagnose and improve content and practice areas
Core Practice Audit
Framework for evaluating current practices

5. The New ACT Assessment System
Vertically-articulated, internationally benchmarked, standards- based system of assessments highlighting progress toward College Readiness as well as the Common Core
Summative assessments on a vertical scale that spans Grades 3-10 and links to ACT’s College Readiness score scale (1-36)
Computer delivered (with paper-and-pencil options)
Fast, online, actionable reporting
ACT’s next generation system is designed to address the expressed needs of states (mentioned on previous page), as well as:
The system will have a vertically-articulated, standards-based system of assessments to ensure that there is alignment within a subject and skills build upon each other in a logical order from one grade to the next.
The assessment system will be constructed using evidence-based design to provide reliable indicators of students’ college and career readiness. ACT’s evidence-driven design serves as the solid foundation for our claim that our assessments provide a strong indicator of college and career readiness.
The new system will be aligned with the Common Core State Standards, which draw heavily from ACT’s College Readiness Standards, Benchmarks and research. The system will also utilize international benchmarks. Recent ACT research has established that, in mathematics and reading, the standard of college and career readiness represented by our College Readiness Benchmarks is competitive with the performance standard set by the highest-performing nations in the world ACT. (1)
ACT will offer the next generation assessment system using a state of the art platform; however we understand the critical need to offer paper and pencil options.
Technology will enable fast actionable reporting including the ability to analyze scores on constructs such as critical thinking, problems solving, and text complexity.

6. Longitudinal Assessments
English, math, reading, science, optional writing test (ACT only)
Career and educational components
EXPLORE
8th–9th Grade
Score Scale: 1—25
PLAN
10th Grade
Score Scale: 1—32
The ACT
11th–12th Grade
Score Scale: 1—36

7. Common Score Scale Relationship5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
EXPLORE
PLAN
ACT 36 32 25

8. Kansas ACT 2011-12 Data KS at a Glance: 23,907 graduates took the ACT
81% of graduates took the ACT
22,216 10th-grade students took PLAN
11,017 8th-grade students took EXPLORE

9. What is College Readiness?
College Readiness is the level of preparation a student needs to be equipped to enroll and succeed-without remediation-in a credit-bearing first-year course at a two-year or four-year institution, trade school, or technical school.

10. College and Career Readiness System
The Foundation
National Curriculum Survey®
College Readiness Standards™
College Readiness Benchmarks

11. ACT National Curriculum Survey®
Determines what skills and knowledge postsecondary institutions expect
Measures college-ready skills
Surveys completed nationally
Consultation with content area experts
Every 3-5 years
Middle school, secondary, & postsecondary teachers surveyed
What’s currently being taught & considered important for college success
Identifies gaps
Disseminates results to inform P-16 alignment efforts
Validates and updates assessment programs

12. College Readiness Standards™
Direct link between what students have learned and what they are ready to learn next.
Help interpret the meaning of EXPLORE, PLAN and the ACT scores.
Identify the knowledge and skills students are likely to demonstrate at various score ranges on each academic test.
Script
Follow slide. Make sure to use some of the slide information as a guide.
Slide Information
Spending time on CRS again for a couple of reasons.
New educators and counselors who are new to CRS
2. This yr CRS reports are included in with E/P standard packages and we want to schools and districts make the best use of this information
3. We want to share examples of how users are incorporating this information in their process
CRS provides educators with more than just a score. The score relates to empirically derived standards that identify a student’s proficiency in the four core subject areas tested on the ACT. They also provide information as to what the student needs in order to increase proficiency, and therefore their ACT score in a particular subject area.
Background
Review College Readiness Standards:
Traps
Worries about teaching to the test? You should teach to the standard, you won’t have to teach to the test. By teaching to the standard, students should then do better on the test. Again, the ACT tests for student proficiency in the four core subject areas. The more schools, teachers, etc. teach to the standard (and therefore provide rigorous courses at all levels) the more likely a student will achieve a satisfactory level of proficiency in a subject area and thus perform better on the test.
Remember that ACT solutions are based on a national curriculum survey.

13. College Readiness Standards
Mathematics
80% of students who achieve a score in this range demonstrate these skills
Score Range
Basic Operations &
Applications
Probability, Statistics,
& Data Analysis
Numbers: Concepts & Properties
13-15
Standards
Perform one-operation computation with whole numbers and decimals
Solve problems in one or two steps using whole numbers
Perform common conversions (e.g., inches to feet or hours to minutes)
Calculate the average of a list of positive whole numbers
Perform a single computation using information from a table or chart
Recognize equivalent fractions and fractions in lowest terms
Ideas for Progress
Investigate and build understanding of the concept of percentage as a comparison of a part to a whole
use multiple operations to solve multistep arithmetic problems
solve real-world problems that involve measures of central tendency (e.g., mean, median, mode)
interpret data from a variety of displays (e.g., box-and-whisker plot) and use it along with additional information to solve real-world problems
conduct simple probability experiments and represent results using different formats
recognize and apply place value, rounding, and elementary number theory concepts
Suggestions to progress to a higher level of achievement 13 13

14. Standard from Math, 16-19, Measurement Strand: Compute the perimeter of polygons when all side lengths are given.
EXPLORE
Which of the following is a general expression for the perimeter of the right triangle below, in miles?
z miles
y miles
x miles
This is an example of how we might measure this skill with an EXPLORE question.
Note:
Drew a diagram. This in itself makes the question easier
Labeled the sides
No computation required
We are measuring whether the student understands the concept.
A. x + y + z
B. 2(x + y) C. D.
E. xy

15. Standard from Math, 16-19, Measurement Strand: Compute the perimeter of polygons when all side lengths are given.
PLAN
What is the perimeter, inches, of a square whose sides each measure 5 inches?
This is an example of a test item measuring the same skill, but written for PLAN.
Notice:
No diagram. However, they can draw their own if they wish.
No labeled sides
Students have to know that a square has 4 sides – 4 equal sides
They can add the fraction 4 times or they can multiply by 4, whichever is easier for them
It is also appropriate to use estimation to get the answer.

16. Standard from Math, 16-19, Measurement Strand: Compute the perimeter of polygons when all side lengths are given.
The ACT
The out-of bounds lines around a basketball court in Central Park need to be repainted. The court is a rectangle 90 feet long and 50 feet wide. What is the perimeter, in feet? A B C D
E. 4500
This is an example of a test item measuring the same skill, but written for the ACT. On the surface, it looks easier. The arithmetic is very easy. But this requires a higher level of reasoning than the other two. Remember, this is only at the range.
Common mistakes?
Get only ½ the perimeter?
Get the area instead of the perimeter?
Overdependence on calculators?

17. How do you define and measure college and career readiness?

18. ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks
Trap: Biology as the standard.
This decision was based on our National Curriculum Survey of over 200,000 middle school, high school and postsecondary educators and administrators that identified Biology as the ‘entry-level’ Science course.
Trap: How stable are the benchmarks?
The benchmarks are empirically derived and are based on course grades earned by more than 90,000 students in a nationally represented population of both two year and four year postsecondary institutions. They are nationally normed, so they cannot determine probability of success at a particular institution (ACT’s Course Placement Service can assist 2 and 4-year institutions in creating institutional specific benchmarks), but they provide a good overall view of a student’s college readiness.
Trap: Why do the Benchmark scores vary?
This was research based and ACT made choices on where to draw the lines- guidelines. Based off of the National Curriculum Survey, ACT also determined the levels of proficiency that initially indicate a higher probability of success in the four core subject areas, and therefore determined the specific benchmark scores for each.
Trap: Placement vs. Benchmark
The highlighted benchmarks on this slide provide an overall view of a student’s readiness for college. As mentioned before, these are nationally normed benchmarks, and in order to use such scores for placement at a particular college/university, an institution would have to work with ACT to complete a Course Placement Service that would provide schools with institutional specific benchmarks for use in placement.
Test
College Course
PLAN
ACT
8th Grade
9th Grade
English
English Composition 13 14 15 18
Math
College Algebra 17 19 22
Reading
Social Sciences 16 21
Science
Biology 20 24
EXPLORE
Empirically derived
50% chance of achieving a B or higher or about a 75% chance of achieving a C or higher in the corresponding credit-bearing college course

19. The Data Use your assessment data to: Provide timely interventions
Inform instructional needs
Monitor longitudinal growth
Measure progress toward district goals
Counsel students effectively (college & career)

20. The Student Score Report
EXPLORE, PLAN, and the ACT

21. Student Score Reports Components Foundation of all aggregate reporting
Academic strengths and weaknesses
Career and postsecondary aspirations
College readiness indicators
Foundation of all aggregate reporting

22. The Interest Inventory

24. The ACT High School Score Report

26. How are you using your student score reports?

27. The Profile Summary Report
EXPLORE, PLAN, and the ACT

28. What is in the Profile Summary Report?
The information in this report is organized into tables with guiding questions at the top.
These tables will help you:
understand your students’ college & career readiness
determine how to assist and enhance their success

29. Frequency Distribution Table Intervention Exercise
EXPLORE: Page 2 in Profile Summary Report
PLAN: Page 2 in Profile Summary Report
ACT: Page 12 in the Profile Report

30. -19 within 2 points of benchmark
188 Total Students
Frequency Distribution Table
Where we want students to be
140 Students Above
Benchmark
Students on track to be college ready
50 Students on the Cusp
-31 in danger of slipping
-19 within 2 points of benchmark
Students on the cusp
8th Grade English College Readiness Benchmark
Benchmark
Students in real need of remediation
48 Students Below
Benchmark

31. Strategies to help the 31 students in danger of slipping

32. Frequency Distribution Table Application Exercise

33. College Readiness Standard Score Ranges
EXPLORE: Page 4 in Profile Summary Report
PLAN: Page 4 in Profile Summary Report
ACT: Page 9 in Profile Summary Report

34. College Readiness Standard Score Ranges
Questions to consider:
In which ranges are the majority of your students?
Given these score ranges, where are your students most proficient?
Given these score ranges, where are your students least proficient?
How will you incorporate this information into your curriculum?

35. `
What are the future educational plans of your students? How can you encourage and support these educational plans?

36. Additional ACT Profile Report Tables

37. The Item Response Summary Report
EXPLORE and PLAN

38. Item Response Summary Report
Provides data to administrators, teachers, and counselors relative to student performance on every English, math, reading, and science question.
When used along with the test booklet, the Item Response Summary Report becomes a very useful tool for curriculum review.
Slide Information
Customize to the presenter 38

39. The Item Response Summary Report shows you:
the percentage of your students who selected the correct response to each item.
the percentage of your students who selected each incorrect response.
the percentage who did not answer the item.
the average percentage of students who responded correctly to the items in each content area.

40. Given your curriculum, is the percentage of your report group answering each item correctly and consistent with your expectations?
Is a large percentage of your report group choosing incorrect response options?

41. Notice how every other question alternates in lettering.
Sample math ACT questions from:

42. How did our students perform on each item?
*Asterisked numbers are CORRECT answers.

43. EXPLORE/PLAN Test Booklet
What specifically were the hard/easy questions for students?
Bring the reports and test booklets back to your school/district and discuss with faculty.
Color-Code question numbers in the Test Booklet to match what you have done on the Item Response Summary Report. Once that is done, teachers have a quick reference for which items were weak/strong for your students.

44. Curriculum Alignment Assists in organizing teaching practices
Offers sequence for delivering content
Provides clear scope of what must be taught to all students
Curriculum Alignment ... a process of interpreting learning standards and developing learning objectives that are targeted directly to the standards.
According to Norm Webb (1997) curriculum alignment can be defined as the degree to which expectations and assessments are in agreement and serve in conjunction with one another to guide the system in assuring that students learn what they are expected to know and do.
In an aligned system all content standards must be accounted for in some manner (Mitchell 1996).

45. Curriculum Review Worksheets

46. Resources ACT Educator Site Educator Resources EXPLORE Student Site
Educator Resources
EXPLORE Student Site
PLAN Student Site
ACT Student Site
ACT Research
Online resources

47. Q&A

48. Your Kansas ACT Team
Lisa Wolf Senior Consultant, Program Solutions ACT Mountain Plains Region 3131 South Vaughn Way Suite Aurora, CO P) | F)
Kaliko Oligo Senior Consultant, Client Outreach ACT Mountain Plains Region 3131 South Vaughn Way Suite Aurora, CO P) | F)