Science Assessment Update
WSTA Conference, October 2015, Shorecrest High School
Agenda
Development of the next generation of science assessments
State testing in the mean time
Science Assessment Staff• Dawn Cope—Secondary Assessment Specialist (Lead)
• Kara Todd—Elementary Assessment Specialist• [email protected]
• Cinda Parton—Director of Assessment Development• [email protected]
• Jessica Cole—Administrative Assistant• [email protected]
Science Teaching & Learning Staff• Ellen Ebert—Science Director
• Amber McCulloch—K-12 Science Specialist• [email protected]
• Rochelle Gandour-Rood—Environmental and Sustainability Education,
Program Supervisor• [email protected]
• Sultana Shah—Administrative Assistant• [email protected]
General Science email account:
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Check calendar posted at: http://www.k12.wa.us/Science/ProfDevelopment.aspx
Next Generation of Science AssessmentDevelopment and Implementation
New Learning Standards = New Assessment Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) adopted
as our state science learning standards in October of 2013
Official name:
Washington State 2013 K-12 Science Learning Standards
Current assessment timeline—At the earliest…Fall 2015: begin development of
assessmentSpring 2016: limited pilot testSpring 2017: full pilot testSpring 2018: operational test for entire
state
Major assessment shifts…
All the tested grade levels will be tested online Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs)
embedded throughout Comprehensive for high school:
all of the domains—PS, LS, ESS, ETS—will be tested
Grade 5 test to assess 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade standards
Steps to building a new assessment: Develop item specifications from standards
Determine the test map/blueprint
Develop test items
Develop Achievement Level Descriptors (ALDs) from standards
Administer an operational test
Set achievement levels (Standard Setting)
Science Assessment Item Collaborative SAIC—January 2014 Led by CCSSO, Achieve, and WestEd Membership includes 14 states and the Virgin
Islands Arkansas California Connecticut Delaware Hawaii Illinois Kentucky Maryland
Massachusetts Michigan Nevada Oregon Washington Virgin Islands West Virginia
SAIC Products Assessment Framework document Item Specification Guidelines document Prototype items
Item Specifications—began spring 2015
What can be asked on a statewide assessment? What types of items will be used?
Contributing documents: A Framework for K-12 Science Education NRC Report: Developing Assessments for the NGSS Washington State 2013 K-12 Science Learning Standards (NGSS) Evidence Statements (from Achieve) Assessment Framework (from Science Assessment Item Collaborative—SAIC) Item Specifications Guidelines (from SAIC)
Washington Item Specifications Will be revised through stages of the assessment development cycle First published in fall 2017, revised annually
Test map/blueprint—begin fall 2015 What percent of the test will be about what part
of the standards? How many items will be on the test? What item types will be used? What information will be reported?
Resources and processes: Assessment Framework (SAIC) Educator/public input via web surveys—Sept/Oct 2015 Meeting with teachers to make recommendations—Summer
2016?
Test Item Development Cluster Development*—October 2015, March 2016
Content Review*—December 2015, July 2016
Bias/Sensitivity Review—December 2015, July 2016
Pilot Testing—Spring 2016, Spring 2017
Pilot Range Finding*—Summer 2016, Summer 2017
Content Review with Data*—Fall 2016, Fall 2017
Achievement Level Descriptors*—2016
First Operational Exams—Spring 2018
Achievement Level Setting*—Summer 2018
*Educator Committees
Piloting
Spring 2016: limited pilot test Grades 5 and 8 Pilot items embedded in online operational MSP
Spring 2017: full pilot test Grades 5 and 8, embedded in online operational MSP High School, separate online pilot test
Operational Test
Alignment Study (teachers)—winter 2018 Test administered in spring 2018
5th grade 8th grade High school
Scores not available until fall 2018 because of Achievement Level Setting meeting in summer 2018
Decisions pending:
At what grade level will high school students be tested?
Which cohort will have to pass the new high school assessment in order to graduate?
Will the Biology EOC continue to be available as a graduation option? If so, for how long?
What about the graduation requirement? Legislative intent regarding high school science
assessment 2013 Engrossed House Bill 1450 2015 Senate Bill 6145
Classes of 2017 and beyond must pass the science exam to graduate Biology EOC until a comprehensive NGSS Test is
administered (Spring 2018) Transition period where either the biology EOC or the
high school NGSS assessment could be used for graduation purposes, much like math’s transition to Smarter Balanced assessments.
Questions?
State testing in the mean time…
Federal assessment requirements: No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires that our state’s
science standards must be assessed: Once in elementary school (we give Measurements of
Student Progress in 5th grade) Once in middle school (we give MSP in 8th grade) Once in high school (we give Biology End-of-Course exam)
We will continue to give these assessments through spring 2017 at least Items are written to the 2009 science standards Scored and equated the same way as we have since 2011
(MSP) and 2012 (Bio EOC)
Scores—percent passing
5th 8th Bio-10th
2011 55.6 61.6 —
2012 66.2 66.3 61.3
2013 66.6 64.8 71.5
2014 66.8 67.2 77.7
2015 63.4 60.7 72.5
Measurements of Student Progress
Online testing encouraged, same engine as ELA/Math assessments
Paper/pencil testing still available Resources available:
Teacher Resource page: http://www.k12.wa.us/Science/EducatorResources.aspx
Updates documents—practice questions Scoring Training videos—how some short-answer
questions are scored Online Training test
Biology EOC
Paper/pencil Resources available:
Teacher Resource page: http://www.k12.wa.us/Science/EducatorResources.aspx
Updates documents—practice questions Scoring Training videos—how some short-answer
questions are scored
Alternatives for ELL and Spec Ed MSP and EOC available in 6 translation languages
Spanish, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Somali
IEP can designate Level 2 (Basic) to meet graduation requirement
DAPE is now the “Off-Grade Level” assessment Online in November and March
WA-Access to Instruction & Measurement (WA-AIM)
More info: Toni Wheeler, Alternate Assessment Coordinator
Who Takes the Biology EOC? Current Graduation Requirement: Class of 2017 and
beyond
Winter (January/February) 2016 Students (class of 2017+) who took EOC previously and did
not meet standard Students (class of 2017+) completing a biology course mid-
year
Spring 2016 Any student (class of 2017+) enrolled in a high school level
biology course All 10th graders who have not yet met standard
Meets the high school science testing requirement of NCLB
CAA Options Available for Biology EOC
GPA comparison ACT— A score of 16 or higher on the science portion of the ACT.
Advanced Placement (AP) score of 3 or higher: Biology, Physics, Chemistry, or Environmental Sciences
International Baccalaureate(IB) score of 4 or higher: Biology, Physics, Chemistry
Biology Collection of Evidence (COE)—next submission in June 2016 for the class of 2017
For more information: http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/CAAoptions/default.aspx
Questions?
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