General Information BulletinAlberta Provincial Student

Learning Assessment2014–2015School Year

Pilot

This document was written primarily for

Students

Teachers

Administrators

Parents

General Audience

Others

Copyright 2014, the Crown in Right of Alberta, as represented by the Minister of Education, Assessment Sector, 10044 – 108 Street, Edmonton, Alberta T5J 5E6. All rights reserved.

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The General Information Bulletin presents directives of the Minister of Education, under the authority of the Alberta Regulation 177/2003, Student Evaluation Regulation, pursuant to the School Act.

In this bulletin,

a. “Executive Director” means the Executive Director, Assessment Sector, Alberta Education,

b. “Student” means a student as defined in the School Act, and

c. “Director” means the Director, Examination Administration, Assessment Sector, Alberta Education.

This bulletin is a compilation of several documents produced by Alberta Education and is intended to provide Student Learning Assessment information to the education community.

The intent is to provide easy access for superintendents, principals, and teachers requiring information about all aspects of the Student Learning Assessments.

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Contents

Introduction to the Student Learning Assessment Program Purpose of the Bulletin ................................................................................................................... 1

Purpose of the Student Learning Assessment Program ................................................................. 1

Description of the Student Learning Assessment Program ............................................................ 1

Student Learning Assessment Pilot ................................................................................................ 2

Student Learning Assessment Administration ............................................................................... 2

Home Education Students .............................................................................................................. 2

SLA Parts ......................................................................................................................................... 3

Ensuring Student Learning Assessment Success ................................................................................... 3

Schedules & Significant Dates Significant Dates: Fall 2014 Administration .......................................................................................... 5

Security & Assessment Rules Security of Materials ............................................................................................................................. 7

Submission of Student Responses .................................................................................................. 7

Student Learning Assessment Rules ..................................................................................................... 7

Assessment Administration Supervision ........................................................................................ 7

Administration Directives Student Learning Assessment Administration Directives ..................................................................... 8

General Student Learning Assessment Program Directives .................................................................. 8

Who Writes Student Learning Assessments ................................................................................... 8

Who Supervises Student Learning Assessments ............................................................................ 8

Who Assesses Student Learning Assessment Performance Tasks ................................................. 8

Excusing Students from Writing Student Learning Assessments ................................................... 9

Preparation for the Student Learning Assessments ....................................................................... 9

Adherence to the Official Test Administration Schedules .............................................................. 9

Language of the Student Learning Assessments ............................................................................ 9

Technical Requirements and Contingency Plan Technical Requirements ............................................................................................................... 10

Technical Contingency Plan .......................................................................................................... 10

Client Services Help Desk .............................................................................................................. 10

Learning Supports for Students Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 11

Digital Learning Support Options .................................................................................................. 11

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Reader Support ................................................................................................................................... 12

Learning Support Guidelines ............................................................................................................... 12

Literacy Assessment (Digital Format) ........................................................................................... 12

Literacy Assessment (Performance Task) ..................................................................................... 13

Requesting Paper Versions of the Student Learning Assessments ..................................................... 13

Overview ....................................................................................................................................... 13

How to Request a Paper Version .................................................................................................. 13

Assessing SLA Performance Tasks Local Assessment of Performance Tasks ............................................................................................. 14

Reporting Student Learning Assessment Results Results Reporting .......................................................................................................................... 14

Parent Access to Individual Student Reports ............................................................................... 14

Public Access to Results ................................................................................................................ 15

Home Education Reports .............................................................................................................. 15

Paper Format SLA Student Reports .............................................................................................. 15

Field Testing Description of the Field Testing Program ..................................................................................... 16

How to Participate in Field Testing ............................................................................................... 16

Field Test Security and Administration Rules ............................................................................... 17

Field Test Scoring .......................................................................................................................... 17

Field Test Administration Dates.................................................................................................... 17

November 2014 SLA Field Testing ................................................................................................ 17

April 2015 SLA Field Testing .......................................................................................................... 17

Revisions Revisions .............................................................................................................................................. 18

Contacts *NEW Contacts ............................................................................................................................................... 19

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Introduction to the Student Learning Assessment Program

Purpose of the Bulletin This bulletin outlines the key features of the Student Learning Assessment Program and lists the specific directives issued under the authority of the Ministerial Order on Student Learning (#001/2013). The information provided is intended primarily to assist school authorities, administrators, and classroom teachers in implementing the program in their authorities and schools. Purpose of the Student Learning Assessment Program Assessment is a process, and its primary purpose is to improve student learning. To facilitate this, assessment information can be used by:

• a student to be informed about, to reflect upon, and to initiate activities to enhance his or her learning;

• parents to have meaningful conversations with their child and their child’s teacher(s); and • a teacher to assist in meeting the learning needs of a student.

Assessment information is also available to enhance instruction for students. To facilitate this, assessment information can be used by:

• a teacher to be informed about, to reflect upon, and to initiate activities to enhance his or her instruction;

• a principal to strategically support instructional practices and address the organizational needs within the school;

• a school council to give advice about the learning opportunities, resources, and services provided by the school;

• a superintendent to allocate resources appropriately and promote effective instructional practices;

• trustees to create or amend authority policies and to guide their advocacy work; and • Alberta Education to be informed about the implementation and delivery of curriculum.

Assessment information also assures Albertans that the education system meets the needs of students and achieves the outcomes of the Ministerial Order on Student Learning. Provincial assessment programs, including SLAs, are sources of information that must be interpreted, used, and communicated within the context of regular and continuous assessment by classroom teachers. Description of the Student Learning Assessment Program The Student Learning Assessments (SLAs) contribute to realizing the vision of Inspiring Education by enabling parents and teachers to be aware of a child’s strengths or areas needing improvement at the start of the school year. The SLAs will support student learning while more effectively assessing literacy, numeracy, and competencies such as innovation, collaboration, creativity, and the ability to apply knowledge to different scenarios. For more information on the structure of the SLAs see the Student Learning Assessment Literacy and Numeracy Information Bulletin at

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http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments/teachers-and-administrators.aspx. Every effort is made to ensure that the SLAs show respect for cultural diversity. Student Learning Assessment Pilot The Grade 3 Student Learning Assessments will be administered in a pilot state for both September 2014 and September 2015. Reporting at the provincial level to the general public will not occur until the Grade 3 SLA has moved out of pilot status and is fully implemented. Student Learning Assessment Administration With the exception of students who are not permitted to access technology, SLAs are delivered and administered in a digital environment. The digital SLA application enables:

• innovative item types, including the use of multimedia • 24-hour reporting to teachers for digitally scored SLA parts • submission of results of locally assessed performance task parts to Alberta Education through

the Teacher Dashboard (available Friday, September 26 at https://extranet.education.alberta.ca/assessment/

Prior to administering the Student Learning Assessments, it is essential that school administrators and teachers review the SLA User Guide. By mid-September 2014, this document will be available at http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments.aspx and include information regarding:

• pre-administration set-up of students and classes • how to use the digital SLA application • technical requirements to administer the digital Student Learning Assessments

From September 29 to October 24, access to the Student Learning Assessments will be available at https://public.education.alberta.ca/assessment/.

Home Education Students Students enrolled in home education programs are expected to participate in writing the Student Learning Assessments. Since home education programs are supervised by either public or private school authorities, it is the responsibility of the school authority to:

• administer the Student Learning Assessments • assess the performance task parts and report the scores to Alberta Education through the

Teacher Dashboard

To facilitate the reporting of home education students’ results at an authority level, school authorities can create class groups specifically for these students.

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SLA Parts

The SLAs are comprised of Literacy and Numeracy assessments. Each assessment has two parts:

• Literacy (digital) • Literacy (performance task) • Numeracy (digital) • Numeracy (performance task)

For detailed information on the structure of Student Learning Assessments, please refer to the Literacy and Numeracy Information Bulletin at http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments/teachers-and-administrators.aspx.

Ensuring Student Learning Assessment Success

This section outlines how to ensure a successful administration of the Student Learning Assessments.

• Access the documents found at http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments.aspx. Documents found at this link include:

o Student Learning Assessment information bulletins o Ministry Application and Web Standards and SLA Technical Requirements o Quick Facts for:

administrators teachers parents

o SLA User Guide o other supporting documents

• School administrators, teachers, and jurisdictional staff will work together to ensure that technical requirements are met and infrastructure is ready to administer the Student Learning Assessments. The Ministry Application and Web Standards and SLA Technical Requirements document can be accessed at this link: http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments/teachers-and-administrators.aspx.

• To prepare students to respond to the digital Student Learning Assessments, teachers are encouraged to provide students with an opportunity to interact with the digital SLA application and respond to practice questions at this link: https://public.education.alberta.ca/assessment/home/practice.

• Teachers must read the SLA User Guide and the instructions pertaining to the use of the Teacher Dashboard and the digital SLA application. The user guide and instructions provide information on setting up the SLA application before students can take the assessments. The SLA User Guide will be available at http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments.aspx.

• It is important to plan when each part of the SLAs will be administered within the 4-week window. Spreading out the various activities will contribute to maintaining a balance between other classroom activities and reducing anxiety and fatigue amongst students.

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• By the end of the 4-week administration period, teachers are required to have administered all four parts of the Student Learning Assessments and report to Alberta Education the local marks for the performance task parts. Since assessing the performance tasks will be time-consuming, teachers are advised to administer the performance task parts toward the beginning of the 4-week administration period.

• After all the digital Literacy and Numeracy questions have been completed by all of the students in a class and the teacher has submitted their class results, the preliminary results of the digital SLAs will be available within 24 hours for teachers. The preliminary results will be available via the SLA Teacher Dashboard.

Note: The preliminary results from the digital questions should be interpreted and used cautiously. These initial results are not based on the difficulty or complexity of the questions. They simply communicate which questions students answered correctly or incorrectly. The detailed student reports, which will be available November 26, 2014, contain the most helpful information for supporting individual students in their learning and for planning instruction.

• On November 26, 2014, teachers, schools, and school authorities will receive detailed reports. These reports will include information that reflects the literacy and numeracy components of Awareness, Knowledge and Understanding, and Strategies. The student and teacher reports will be available via the SLA Teacher Dashboard. The school and authority reports will be available on the extranet. For more information about the literacy and numeracy components and how they link to the current programs of study, see Supporting Documents at http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments/teachers-and-administrators.aspx.

• The digital reports for the Grade 3 SLA are pilot reports. Feedback regarding the content and structure of the reports will be collected. This information will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of these reports and to guide decisions about revisions.

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Schedules & Significant Dates Note: Student Learning Assessments must be administered according to the dates and times

indicated in this schedule.

Significant Dates: Fall 2014 Administration

Sept. 2 – Oct. 24, 2014 Period to apply to participate in Fall 2014 Student Learning Assessment field testing

September 12, 2014 Deadline for authorities to request access to paper-format SLAs for students who are not permitted to access technology

September 25, 2014 Deadline for school principals to submit Grade 3 school enrollment data to the Provincial Approach to Student Information (PASI)

September 25, 2014

Deadline for principals to approve access for Grade 3 teachers on the extranet

Principals need to have an Extranet account setup prior to Grade 3 teachers requesting access via the Extranet (available at https://phoenix.edc.gov.ab.ca/)

September 26, 2014 SLA Teacher Dashboard is made available to teachers to set up their class lists, print performance tasks materials, and prepare for administration

September 29 – October 24, 2014

The 4-week timeframe during which schools administer the Student Learning Assessments

September 30 – October 27, 2014

Digitally administered preliminary assessment results provided back to teachers within 24 hours of assessment administration

October 2, 2014 E-mail the instructions for the performance task to schools who will write the paper-format SLA

October 6 – 24, 2014 Schools that administer the paper-format SLA to administer the performance tasks

October 22, 2014 Electronic files for paper-format SLAs are distributed to schools that have students who are not permitted to access technology

October 22 – November 5, 2014

Administer the paper-format “digital” SLAs to students who are not permitted to access technology

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October 24, 2014

Deadline for the teacher’s assessment of performance tasks to be submitted to Alberta Education

• All performance task data is submitted via the SLA Teacher Dashboard

October 24, 2014 Deadline for school authorities to email a list of students who are excused from writing the SLAs

November 5, 2014

Deadline for student results from the paper-format SLAs to be submitted to Alberta Education

• Paper-format digital part data is submitted via spreadsheet

November 26, 2014

• Interactive Student Learning Assessment reports are digitally available to teachers

• Parents can access the interactive reports through their child’s teacher for the 2014 SLA Pilot

• School and Authority reports are available on the Extranet

• PDFs of Individual Student Reports are available for schools to distribute to parents

January 15 – 30, 2015 SLA 3 field testing period

April 2015 Deadline to apply for Spring SLA field testing

Notes:

• Field testing is a separate activity from the administration of the SLAs. Field testing is conducted to develop future SLAs that are fair, valid, and reliable assessments.

• In January 2015, only performance tasks will be field tested with Grade 3 students. • In April 2015, both the digital and performance task parts will be field tested with Grade 2

students.

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Security & Assessment Rules Security of Materials All materials for the Student Learning Assessments must be kept secure for the entire duration of the 4-week administration. Submission of Student Responses During the administration of the digital SLAs, student responses are automatically submitted to Alberta Education. The performance task parts assessed locally by teachers and the results must be submitted by the end of the 4-week period. Student responses to performance tasks are not returned to Alberta Education. Teachers may keep the performance tasks as part of a student’s portfolio.

Student Learning Assessment Rules

The SLA rules listed below apply to the administration of all SLA parts: Assessment Administration Supervision

1. All SLAs must be administered according to the directions specified for each assessment. This is the key responsibility of supervising teachers.

2. Supervising teachers may not provide assistance to students writing SLAs that would undermine

the validity or reliability of their responses.

3. No changes or alterations of any kind may be made to the responses made by students.

4. Although suggested durations are provided for each SLA part, there is no set time limit to complete an assessment. Extra time is not an accommodation, but rather is a universal support.

5. Using the official scoring guide provided in the SLA Teacher Dashboard, teachers must locally

assess the performance task SLA parts and submit the student scores to Alberta Education by the published deadline.

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Student Learning Assessment Administration Directives

Student Learning Assessment directives identify requirements and expectations related to the administration of these provincial assessments. These directives are issued by the Minister of Education under the authority of the Student Evaluation Regulation, Alberta Regulation 177/2003 pursuant to the School Act. The directives in this section outline the steps that should be taken to prepare for, supervise, and complete the administration of all Student Learning Assessments.

General Student Learning Assessment Program Directives The following directives outline general requirements and expectations related to who should write SLAs and under what conditions. Who Writes Student Learning Assessments Students registered in Grade 3 and ungraded students in their third year of schooling write SLAs, subject to the following caveats and/or exceptions:

1. A superintendent may, on an individual basis, excuse a student from writing the Student Learning Assessments for the following reasons:

a. the student is not capable of responding to the assessment b. participation would be harmful to the student

2. Students who are repeating Grade 3 shall write SLAs in their repeating year.

3. A private-school student shall complete the SLAs. In applying Point 1, the principal shall act as

the superintendent.

4. A home-educated student at a level equivalent to Grade 3 must be given the opportunity to write the Grade 3 SLAs, according to the published schedules, and under the supervision of the associate board or associate private school, in accordance with the Home Education Regulation, Alberta Regulation 145/2006.

5. Students are expected to write all four SLA parts.

Who Supervises Student Learning Assessments Grade 3 teachers supervise the administration of Student Learning Assessments for their own students. Who Assesses Student Learning Assessment Performance Tasks Schools and authorities can locally determine the process for assessing performance tasks. Below are three possible scenarios: Scenario 1: A teacher may assess his/her own students’ responses. Scenario 2: Teachers within the same school may collaboratively assess student responses. Scenario 3: Teachers within a school authority may collaboratively assess student responses.

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Teachers who assess performance tasks are not limited to Grade 3 teachers. Excusing Students from Writing Student Learning Assessments As indicated in the section above, a superintendent may excuse a student from writing the Student Learning Assessments if the student is not capable of responding to the assessment or if participation would be harmful to the student. School authorities are required to email a spreadsheet containing a list of students who are excused from writing Student Learning Assessments to exam.admin@gov.ab.ca. The deadline for submitting the list of excused students is found in the Significant Dates section of this bulletin. Preparation for the Student Learning Assessments Prior to the administration of the Student Learning Assessments, school principals are required to ensure school enrollment data is accurately entered into PASI. If students are not entered into PASI, they will not be able to access the SLA application. Details regarding this process are found under the Quick Facts About the Student Learning Assessments heading found at http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments.aspx Adherence to the Official Assessment Administration Schedules School and school authorities are expected to administer Student Learning Assessments within the 4-week administration window (see the Schedules & Significant Dates section). Given the flexibility afforded by the 4-week administration period, no requests for schedule changes will be granted. Language of the Student Learning Assessments The Student Learning Assessments are comprised of four parts: English Students French Immersion Students Francophone Students Literacy (digital) Évaluation de la littératie à

correction numérique Évaluation de la littératie à correction numérique

Literacy (performance task) Tâche de rendement de la littératie

Tâche de rendement de la littératie

Numeracy (digital) Évaluation de la numératie à correction numérique

Évaluation de la numératie à correction numérique

Numeracy (performance task)

Tâche de rendement de la numératie

Tâche de rendement de la numératie

The Literacy assessments are available in English, French (Immersion), and French (Francophone). The French Immersion and Francophone Literacy parts differ from each other and reflect the expectations and programs of study of their respective programs. Grade 3 students in French Immersion or Francophone programs are not expected to write the English literacy parts. Grade 3 students in French Immersion programs are expected to write the French language Numeracy parts.

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The numeracy assessments are available in English and French. The French numeracy assessments for both French Immersion and Francophone students do not differ from each other and are translated from the English version.

Technical Requirements and Contingency Plan

Technical Requirements Technical requirements for the administration of the Student Learning Assessments can be found in the Ministry Application and Web Standards and SLA Technical Requirements document at http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments/teachers-and-administrators.aspx. Technical Contingency Plan Principals, teachers, and technical personnel are required to have a technical contingency plan in place for the administration of the Student Learning Assessments. The plan should solve any potential technical issues such as loss of connectivity and/or access to computing devices. Client Services Help Desk For technical assistance or questions regarding administration of the Student Learning Assessments, contact the Client Services Help Desk: Telephone: 780-427-5318 Toll-free within Alberta 310-0000 Email: cshelpdesk@gov.ab.ca Office hours: Monday to Friday 8:15 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.

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Learning Supports for Students Overview Alberta Education is committed to supporting the learning needs of all Alberta students so that they may have fair and equitable access to educational opportunities, including the writing of the Student Learning Assessments. To ensure accessibility, Student Learning Assessments have been designed to incorporate as many digital supports as possible and are available for all students. Digital Learning Support Options The following table outlines the learning support test settings that administrators, teachers, and/or students can select for the writing of the Student Learning Assessments.

Setting Options Description and Notes Language English (default)

French (default) Braille (available for 2015 pilot)

All English literacy and numeracy assessments are available in English only. All French literacy and numeracy assessments are available in French only. Braille versions are not available for the 2014 pilot.

Deaf or Hearing Impaired Transcript for all listening activities is provided for 2014 pilot.

A PDF transcript of all listening text is available by emailing exam.admin@gov.ab.ca. The text may be communicated to the student in a manner suitable to the student’s requirements.

Print Size No zoom (default) The zoom option is controlled by the student.

The option to change the font size on each question is available.

Text-to-Speech English and French literacy instructions: text-to-speech

The option for students to have audio is available only for the instructions portion of the assessment, with the exception of some listening activities and videos.

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English and French literacy assessment parts and source material: no text-to-speech (default) or reader English and French numeracy instructions, assessment parts, and source material: text-to-speech

The administrator of the assessment has the option to make a reader available for students who meet the Learning Support Guidelines (see below). The option for students to have audio is available for the entire assessment.

Reader Support The English and French literacy assessments do not have universal text-to-speech built into each question. Since the literacy components of the SLAs assess reading skills, an outcome of the literacy component is to determine how students perform without additional reading assistance. If a student’s Individual Program Plan documents a requirement to receive the support of a Reader, a Reader may be utilized for the SLA literacy assessments. If a Reader is utilized, it must be a decision that the child’s parents support and individual results should be interpreted differently from other students’.

Learning Support Guidelines The following guidelines outline general requirements and expectations related to the use of learning supports when administering Student Learning Assessments. Literacy Assessment (Digital) As indicated in the Digital Learning Support Options table above, text-to-speech is available for the instructions portion of the Student Learning Assessment questions. The source material within literacy questions cannot be read out loud using text-to-speech because the literacy component of the student learning assessment is intended to assess reading skills. A reader may be provided for a student if the following conditions are met:

• The student’s parents, teacher, and administrator have agreed that this support is necessary. • The student has an IPP explaining how the student’s reading needs will be addressed.

If a reader is utilized, individual results should be interpreted in a way that reflects the use of this learning support.

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Literacy Assessment (Performance Task)

If a student is unable to respond to the performance task in written form, the student’s verbal response should be recorded. The verbal recording will then be assessed by the teacher. The recording of a student’s verbal response can be used if the following conditions are met:

• The student’s teacher, parents/guardians, and school administrator have agreed that this is an appropriate support.

• The student has an IPP explaining how the student’s written communication needs will be addressed.

Requesting Paper Versions of the Student Learning Assessments

Overview Under special circumstances, Alberta Education will grant schools or school authorities permission to use a paper version of the digital SLA parts. Such circumstances are limited to students who are not permitted to use digital technology (e.g., colony students). The paper version must be administered according to the administration schedule for paper-based Student Learning Assessments (See the Schedules & Significant Dates section). How to Request a Paper Version

1. Requests must be sent to exam.admin@gov.ab.ca.

2. Requests must be received by the deadline specified in the Schedules and Significant Dates section.

3. Requests must include: • the rationale for the request • the name(s) and four-digit school codes of the school(s) included in the request • a contact person and email address to allow Exam Administration staff to follow up on

the request Schools approved for the use of the paper version will be provided with PDF versions of the assessment and the associated documentation by email. Schools approved to use paper versions are responsible for the printing and scoring of the SLA parts. These schools will also need to provide student results from the paper assessment to Alberta Education in addition to the results they must provide for the performances tasks. Instructions on reporting student results from the paper version of the digital assessments will be sent with the PDF version (see the Schedules & Significant Dates section).

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Assessing SLA Performance Tasks Local Assessment of Performance Tasks All performance tasks will be assessed locally within the 4-week assessment period. Classroom teachers will assess students’ responses using the assessment materials provided through the Teacher Dashboard. Assessment materials are comprised of performance task descriptors as well as samples of student writing that exemplify these descriptors. Results must be provided to Alberta Education via the Teacher Dashboard by the end of the 4-week assessment window (see the Schedules & Significant Dates section).

Reporting Student Learning Assessment Results Results Reporting The results from the Student Learning Assessments can be used to improve student learning. Teachers can use these results to guide their teaching throughout the year and inform students and parents about progress and learning. In addition, teachers can use the results to select appropriate curricula to meet the individual needs of each student. Principals can use the results to support teachers and instructional practices. The following reports will be provided:

• Within 24 hours following the administration of the digital parts, teachers will receive a Preliminary Results Report for the digital literacy and numeracy assessments for each of their students. The Preliminary Results Report will be available via the SLA Teacher Dashboard.

• In November 2014, teachers will receive access to interactive individual student reports and

class reports containing more detailed information on responses to individual questions, including item difficulty and the literacy/numeracy components assessed by each question.

• In November 2014, schools and school authorities will receive school and authority reports.

School and authority reports will be available on the Extranet. For more information on these reports, refer to the Student Learning Assessment Literacy and Numeracy Information Bulletin at http://education.alberta.ca/department/ipr/curriculum/student-learning-assessments/teachers-and-administrators.aspx. Parent Access to Individual Student Reports For the pilot years, individual student reports will be accessible at the school-level. Parents can access the interactive individual student reports by meeting with the teacher. Schools will also be provided with PDFs of individual students results that can be distributed to parents.

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Public Access to Results There will be no public report during the pilot of the Student Learning Assessments. Home Education Reports Results for students in home education programs are not included in the school authority report. Results are reported separately to each authority for their students in home education programs who wrote the Student Learning Assessments. Superintendents and supervising private school principals will ensure that home education supervisors and parents have access to individual student reports. Individual student reports are available to the parents and supervisors of home educated students to use in planning their instructional programs. Paper Format SLA Student Reports

For the pilot year, schools that have students that complete paper format SLAs will not have these students included on the school and authority reports.

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Field Testing Description of the Field Testing Program In order to ensure Student Learning Assessments are fair, valid, and reliable, Alberta Education administers field tests. Through field testing, questions are administered to determine their difficulty level and their appropriateness for use on a Student Learning Assessment. In addition, teachers are able to provide comments about potential assessment questions, thereby contributing to the development of fair, valid, and reliable Student Learning Assessments. Teachers are asked to consider the following points when commenting on specific questions and the overall assessment:

• appropriateness of the questions • ease of use of the testing platform • text readability • artwork/graphics clarity and appropriateness • question difficulty

Field tests may be composed of a digital literacy part, a literacy performance task part, a digital numeracy part, and/or a numeracy performance task part. Student Learning Assessment field tests are available primarily in digital formats with some paper components. They are not available in special formats. Performance tasks are delivered on paper in combination with a SMART Board or projector display under the supervision of the requesting teacher. The digital parts of the field tests are delivered and administered to students using computers under the supervision of the teachers who requested them. All Student Learning Assessment parts are field tested in French in Francophone and French Immersion classrooms. To ensure the reliability and validity of the field tests, all field tests are administered to a prescribed number of students in classes that are selected to ensure a representative sample from across the province. Consequently, not all requests for field tests may be met. How to Participate in Field Testing For a class of students to be selected to have a field test administered at their school, their teacher must submit a field test request by the published deadline. Field test requests are submitted through an online request system. For detailed information regarding the field testing process, refer to the Field Test Request Guide at http://education.alberta.ca/admin/testing/forms.aspx

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Field Test Security and Administration Rules For field test results to be valid and reliable, field tests must be administered under conditions that are similar to those that apply to the administration of Student Learning Assessments. Consequently, all of the directives and rules that are specified in this bulletin for the administration of Student Learning Assessments apply to the administration of field tests. In addition to the directives and rules that are specified elsewhere in this bulletin, the following rules must be adhered to when field tests are administered in a school:

1. Teachers requesting the field tests are responsible for their administration. Student Learning Assessment field testing does not involve field test supervisors provided by Alberta Education.

2. Only teachers whose students are writing a particular field test may examine its contents. 3. No field test question or answer key may be copied, either by hand or mechanically, for any

purpose. Field Test Scoring Student responses to the digital format SLA field tests will be automatically sent to Alberta Education once the test is completed. While performance tasks are assessed locally during Student Learning Assessment administration, teachers will not be provided with scoring guides for field testing and therefore not expected to score performance tasks. However, teachers are required to send performance tasks to Alberta Education. For shipping instructions, refer to the performance task teacher guide found on the Teacher Dashboard. Field Test Administration Dates See the Schedules & Significant Dates section for more information. November 2014 SLA Field Testing In November 2014, field testing with Grade 3 students will involve only performance tasks.

April 2015 SLA Field Testing In April 2015, both the digital and the performance task parts will be field tested with Grade 2 students.

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Revisions Revision Date Time frame to administer the Grade 3 SLA has been extended to October 24, 2014.

September 25, 2014

Schools will be provided with PDFs of individual students results that can be distributed to parents.

September 25, 2014

Dates for the paper-based SLA administration changed September 29, 2014 Executive Director Change February 6, 2015

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Contacts

Student Learning Assessments Sean Wells, Director Achievement Testing, Student Learning Assessments & Document Production Sean.Wells@gov.ab.ca Nicole Lamarre, Director French Assessment and Student Learning Assessments Nicole.Lamarre@gov.ab.ca Assessment Standards Team Leaders Deanna Wiens Grade 3 English Language/Literacy Deanna.Wiens@gov.ab.ca Renate Taylor-Majeau Grade 3 Numeracy (English and French) Renate.Taylor-Majeau@gov.ab.ca Peggy Lee Peters Grade 3 Francophone and French Immersion Literacy PeggyLee.Peters@gov.ab.ca Robyn Pederson Gr. 6 English Language Arts and Social Studies Robyn.Pederson@gov.ab.ca Denis Dinel Grades 6 and 9 Français/French Language Arts Denis.Dinel@gov.ab.ca Kelly Rota Grades 6 and 9 Mathematics Kelly.Rota@gov.ab.ca Matt Dodd (Acting) Grades 6 and 9 Science Matt.Dodd@gov.ab.ca Harvey Stables Grade 9 English Language Arts and Social Studies Harvey.Stables@gov.ab.ca Ray Shapka Knowledge & Employability (K&E) Ray.Shapka@gov.ab.ca

Assessment Sector Paul Lamoureux, Executive Director Assessment Sector Paul.Lamoureux@gov.ab.ca Examination Administration Dan Karas, Director Examination Administration Dan.Karas@gov.ab.ca Pamela Klebanov, Team Leader Business Operations and Special Cases Pamela.Klebanov@gov.ab.ca Pascal Couture, Team Leader Digital Systems and Services Pascal.Couture@gov.ab.ca Field Testing Team Examination Administration field.test@gov.ab.ca Special Cases Team Examination Administration special.cases@gov.ab.ca Curriculum Design Supports and Production Wendy Royer, Director Curriculum Design Supports and Production Wendy.Royer@gov.ab.ca Kim Brockhoff, Team Leader Digital Design and Production Kim.Brockhoff@gov.ab.ca Assessment Sector Mailing Address: Assessment Sector, Alberta Education 44 Capital Boulevard 10044 108 Street Edmonton AB T5J 5E6 Telephone: 780-427-0010 Toll-free within Alberta: 310-0000 Fax: 780-2422-4200 email: LAcontact@edc.gov.ab.ca Alberta Education website: education.alberta.ca

20 Pilot 2014

Client Services Help Desk: Telephone: 780-427-5318 Toll-free within Alberta: 310-0000 Email: cshelpdesk@gov.ab.ca Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The office is open during the lunch hour.