All ThingsSmarter Balanced

December, 2014

Today’s Topics

Key messages about Smarter Balanced Additional information on:

Digital Library Interim Assessments Summative Assessments

Sample items Preparing for new test scores Higher ed perspective of new tests

Key Messages About Smarter Balanced

Smarter Balanced is part of Washington’s plan to prepare all students for success in college and careers.

The Smarter Balanced Assessment System focuses on English/Language Arts

and Mathematics

Smarter Balanced is more than just a year-end test.Teachers will have access to resources that help them check in on student progress throughout the year.

These tests will be more accessible to more students (translations, accommodations, supports).

Because the new assessments measure higher standards, the definition of grade-level performance will be higher than it was with old tests.

Smarter Balanced Assessment System

Common Core State

Standards

specifyK-12

expectations for

college and

career readiness

All students

leavehigh

school college

and career ready

Teachers and schools

have information and tools

they need to improve teaching

rand learning

Summative: College and career

readiness assessments for

accountability

Interim: Flexible and open assessments, used

for actionablefeedbac

k

Formative EducatorResources:

Digital Library with instructional and professional learning resources that include embedded formative assessment processes

“Students can demonstrate progress toward college andcareer readiness in English Language arts and literacy.”

“Students can demonstrate college and career readiness in English language arts and literacy.”

“Students can read closely and analytically to comprehend a range of increasingly complex literary and informational texts.”

“Students can produce effective and well-grounded writing for a range of purposes and audiences.”

“Students can employ effective speaking and listening skills for a range of purposes and audiences.”

“Students can engage in research and inquiry to investigate topics, and to analyze, integrate, and present information.”

Overall Claim for Grades 3-8

Overall Claim for Grade 11

Claim #1 - Reading

Claim #2 - Writing

Claim #3 - Speaking and Listening

Claim #4 - Research/Inquiry

The "What":Claims for the ELA/Literacy Summative

Assessment

“Students can demonstrate progress toward college and career readiness in mathematics.”

“Students can demonstrate college and career readiness in mathematics.”

“Students can explain and apply mathematical concepts and interpret and carry out mathematical procedures with precision and fluency.”

“Students can solve a range of complex well-posed problems in pure and applied mathematics, making productive use of knowledge and problem solving strategies.”

“Students can clearly and precisely construct viable arguments to support their own reasoning and to critique the reasoning of others.”

“Students can analyze complex, real-world scenarios and can construct and use mathematical models to interpret and solve problems.”

Overall Claim for Grades 3-8

Overall Claim for Grade 11

Claim #1 - Concepts & Procedures

Claim #2 - Problem Solving

Claim #3 - CommunicatingReasoning

Claim #4 - Modeling and Data Analysis

The "What":Claims for the Mathematics Summative

Assessment

Six public baccalaureate institutions (below) and the community and technical college system have agreed to use 11th grade Smarter Balanced Assessment scores of 3 or 4 to enroll college freshmen in entry-level college math and English courses without further placement testing. The agreement applies to the high school graduating classes of 2016 through 2018 and will then be renewed or modified, based on the outcomes for students.

Central Washington University

Eastern Washington University

The Evergreen State College

University of Washington

Washington State University

Western Washington University

Washington Community and Technical College System

Smarter Balanced scores to be used for ELA and Mathematics College Placement

College Content-Readiness Policy for Grade 11 Assessment Results

Note: Applies only to students who matriculate directly from high school to college.

• Not Yet Content-Ready - Substantial Support Needed• K-12 & higher education may offer interventions

• Not Yet Content-Ready – Support Needed• Transition courses or other supports for grade 12

• Conditionally Content-Ready/Exempt from Developmental• In each state, K-12 and higher education must jointly develop grade

12 requirements for students to earn exemption

• Content-Ready/Exempt from Developmental• K-12 and higher education may jointly set grade 12 requirements to

retain exemption (optional for states)

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

Our New Assessment System

Smarter Balanced assessments were jointly developed by 22 states and territories

Pooling resources across states lowers the cost and improves the design of the tests and other system components.

Nearly 500 teachers from Washington have been involved in the development of the system.

New assessments will include computer adaptive testing and performance tasks, yielding better measurement of what students have learned.

Grade to grade assessments are connected so students’ progress can be monitored and instructional supports provided as needed.

A Balanced Assessment System

Digital LibraryAvailable Now

• An online collection of resources aligned to the Common Core that will support K-12 teachers’ use of the formative assessment process

• Assessment literacy modules

• Exemplar instructionalmodules

• Education resources submitted and vetted by teachers

• Teachers can rate materials and share their expertise with educators across the country

Interim AssessmentsAvailable Beginning Winter 2014-15

• Optional assessments administered in grades 3-8 and high school• At the high school level, the assessments are consistent with

the grade 11 summative design and may be administered in grades 9, 10, 11, and/or 12.

• Allow schools to check in on student progress and provideinformation to inform instruction

• Flexible administration options• Interim Comprehensive Assessments use the same

design as the summative assessments, assess the same range of standards, and provide scores on the same scale.

• Interim Assessment Blocks focus on smaller sets of related standards and provide more detailed information for instructional purposes.

Summative AssessmentsSpring 2015

• English and math assessments administered in grades 3-8and 11 toward the end of the school year

• Students will complete a computer adaptive test and performance task in each subject area

• Students will receive composite scores for each subject area and the following claim-level scores:• English Language Arts-reading, writing, listening, and

research;

• Math-concepts and procedures, problem solving and modeling/data analysis, and communicating reasoning

These tests will be more accessible to allstudents Smarter Balanced tests will have translations

or glossaries in 10 languages and dialects, and American Sign Language.

The tests have embedded accommodations and supports for students with and without disabilities (such as text-to- speech, enlarged print,color contrast).

The interim assessments also will have these supports so the summative test administration will not be foreign.

Accessibility and Accommodations

• Designed for all students, including students with disabilities and English language learners

• Three kinds of supports:

• Universal tools available to all

• Designated supports for those with identified need

• Accommodations for students with an IEP or 504 plan

Smarter Balanced Online Tools

Many online tools are built into the SBA, such as: Highlighter Calculator Zoom Digital notepad English dictionary and glossary

In addition, all students will be allowed to have scratch

paper, protractor, ruler, and other tools.

Current Timelines

All components of Smarter Balanced will be operational in 2014-15

Digital Library now available! Interim assessments available Jan 6

(Comprehensive) and Jan 27 (Blocks) Summative assessments administered

online in spring 2015 11th grade – last 7 weeks of year 10th grade – last 12 weeks of the year 3-8th grade – last 12 weeks of year (3rd gr ELA

more limited) 3rd grade ELA results must be returned in time for

principals to meet with parents before the end of the year so window is short and early

Student score reports available June 2015 (or three weeks after school’s testing is completed if online)

Digital Library

Digital Library

Functionality The Digital Library offers professional learning

resources and instructional materials—like lesson plans, units, and learning modules—for educators to use daily with students and staff. Resources span K-12 and are aligned to Washington State Learning Standards for English language arts and mathematics. Resources are also aligned to formative assessment practices.

If you are having difficulty accessing the Digital Library, contact Sara Castro.

Resources in the Digital Library

* Resources include the following file types: Video, HTML5, Audio, PPT, Excel, Word, and PDF.

• Commissioned professional development modules

• Resources for students and families• Frame formative assessment within a balanced

assessment system• Articulate the formative assessment process• Highlight formative assessment practices and tools• Commissioned professional

development modules• Instructional materials for educators

• Instructional materials for students

• High-quality vetted instructional resources and tools for educators

• High-quality vetted resources and tools for students and families

• Reflect and support the formative process• Reflect and support the Common Core State

Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts

• Create Professional Learning Communities

AssessmentLiteracy Modules

Exemplar Instructional Modules

Educational Resources

• Demonstrate/support effective implementation of the formative process

• Focus on key content and practice from the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and English Language Arts

Digital Library Basics

The Digital Library is accessed through a single sign-on with user permission levels so educators have access to all of the instructional and professional learning resources for each grade (Grades K-12).

There are resources that educators can share or use with students and families, butstudents and families will not be able to access materials directly.

All resources will have the formative assessment process embedded within them.But the Digital Library WILL NOT be a “bank” of formative

assessment items alone.

All submitted materials will be vetted through a Quality Criteria Review Process by reviewers across the nation.• Each resource reviewed and rated by at least 3 trained

educators• If resources do not meet the quality criteria, they are not

included in the library

Digital Library Functionality• Enables State Networks

of Educators and State Leadership Teams to submit, review, and publish resources

• Allows educators to view, download, and rate resources

• Uses state-of-the-art tagging and search to quickly find resources by CCSS and other topics

• Enables educators from across the Consortium to collaborate and share their knowledge

• Facilitates access to resources that are stored in participating libraries

Interim Assessments

Interim Assessment Design Principles

Administered through the same system as Summative Items drawn from same pool as Summative; full array of

item types Can be administered at various points in the year Optional for districts Online administration Adhere to Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations

Guidelines Adaptive as appropriate (2015-16) Not intended for accountability decisions

Interim Assessments Timeline

Interim Assessments will be available Jan 6 Jan 6 – Comprehensive Interim

Jan 27 – Interim Assessment Blocks

Initial release will include fixed forms; adaptive forms

will be available as the item pool allows

Summative Assessments

Summative Assessments -Administration Windows

Smarter Balanced 2015 Testing Windows

Grade 3 ELA March 10 to April 23 – online

Grade 3 Math Last 12 weeks of school, but no earlier than March 10 and no later than June 15 – online

Grades 4–8 ELA and Math

Last 12 weeks of school, but no earlier thanMarch 10 and no later than June 15 – online

Grade 11 ELA and Math

Last 7 weeks of school, but no earlier than April 6 and no later than June 15 – online

October 27, 2014 Slide 29

Summative Assessments -Administration Windows

Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) 2015 Testing Windows

Grades 5 and 8 Science April 20 to June 5 – online

High School Exit Exams (HSPE) (Off Grade) (EOC) (ELA)2015 Testing Windows

Grades 11 and 12 HSPE Retakeo Readingo Writing

March 17March 18–19

Grade 10 ELA exit exam – Smarter Balanced

Last 12 weeks of school, but no earlier than March 10 and no later than June 15 – online

Math EOC exit exams May 11 to June 12Biology EOC exit exam May 11 to June 12Off Grade Level testing (formerlyknown as DAPE)

Last 12 weeks of school, but no earlier thanMarch10 and no later than June 15 – online

Summative Assessments – Estimated Testing Time

Times are estimates of test length for most students. Smarter Balanced assessments are designed as untimed tests; some students may need and should be afforded more time than shown in this table.

Test Type Grades CAT Perf. Task Only

Total Class Activity

Total

English Language Arts

3-5 1:30 2:00 3:30 :30 4:00

6-8 1:30 2:00 3:30 :30 4:00

11 2:00 2:00 4:00 :30 4:30

Mathematics 3-5 1:30 1:00 2:30 :30 3:00

6-8 2:00 1:00 3:00 :30 3:30

11 2:00 1:30 3:30 :30 4:00

COMBINED 3-5 3:00 3:00 6:00 1:00 7:00

6-8 3:30 3:00 6:30 1:00 7:30

11 4:00 3:30 7:30 1:00 8:30

Higher Ed Use of Smarter

Balanced Scores

Smarter Balanced + Higher Ed

Washington has had unprecedented movement to use mandatory high school tests in college placement

Recently announced - Agreement to provide access to credit bearing courses to 11th graders who score a 3 or 4 on the Smarter Balanced ELA and math tests

Washington’s Community Colleges Washington’s Baccalaureates

What about Graduation?

Legislature has given the State Board the option to set a different cut score for graduation purposes

The ELA exit exam cut score will be determined from 10th

graders’ performance on the Smarter Balanced HS ELA test (for classes of 2015-2018, at least).

Math EOC exit exam cut scores will be determined from this year’s performance on new EOC tests (for classes of 2015- 2018). Exit exam cut score on Smarter Balanced math may also be set next summer – SBE discussion next month.

High School Graduation Assessments Vary by Class of Cohort

Smarter Balanced –

Take the Test

Online Practice and Training Tests

• ELA/literacy and mathematics, grades 3-8 and 11–www.smarterbalanced.org/practice-test

•

••

Students can practiceusing the softwareScoring guides Accommodations– Text-to-speech– Braille– Pop-up Spanish

glossary (mathematics only)

Sample Questions

• More than multiple- choice– Constructed

response(writing)

– Performance tasks– Interactive

questions

• Allow students to demonstrate critical thinking and real- world problem solving.

4th grade math question

Technology-Enhanced Item (High School)

Short–Text Item (Grade 11)

Smarter Balanced – Preparing for New Test Scores

2015 results will set a new baseline ofstudent performance in Washington

Some people are predicting that the spring 2015 test results will see Washington students falling off a “performance cliff”, with scores dropping.

But the new tests are not comparable so we should not compare scores from one to the other.

We have a new baseline!

2015 Results (continued)

Think of the standards and the assessment as a new target with new results…. I envision two mountains:

People who successfully climb Mt Rainer (at 14,000 ft),

will find Mt McKinley (at 20,000 ft) more challenging.

Some will be able to meet the challenge, some will be close and some who previously were able to summit Rainier will not be able to summit McKinley at first.

Preparing for New Test Scores

Smarter Balanced assessments measure the full range of the Common Core State Standards.They are designed to let teachers and parents know whether students are on track to be college- and career-ready by the time they graduate.

Because the new standards set higher expectations for students--and the new tests are designed to assess student performance against these higher expectations--our definition of grade level performance is higher than it used to be.

As a result, it’s likely that fewer students will meet grade level standards, especially for the first few years. Results should improve as students have additional years of instruction aligned to the new standards and become better equipped to meet the challenges they present.

This does not mean that our students are “doing worse” than they did last year.Rather, the scores represent a “new baseline” that provides a

more accurate indicator for educators, students, and parents as they work to meet the rigorous demands of college and career readiness.

Questions?