Fall Preview for Higher Education Leaders

Sue Lane, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner for P-16 Access and Alignment, Massachusetts Department of Higher Education

Joslyn Overby, Assistant Director of Assessment, New Mexico Public Education DepartmentCallie Riley, Parcc Inc.’s Associate Director for State Engagement

October 8, 2015

Presented by:

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Determine whether students are college- and career-ready or “on track”

Provide tools to assess student learning and support instruction during the school year

Report growth in performance as well as absolute achievement

Report comparable results across schools, districts and member states

Generate valid and reliable information to inform instruction and accountability decisions

What are the primary objectives of the PARCC Assessment System?

Use technology for a range of purposes including increasing student access, providing accommodations, engaging students, and creating efficiencies in administration, scoring and reporting

What is higher education’s role?

Common Core State Standards• Teacher Preparation• Entry-level Course Alignment

PARCC Assessments•Readiness for Entry-level Credit Courses•Placement Testing & Developmental Education

Definition of College and Career Readiness•P-16 Engagement/Shared Goals

MATHEMATICS

Focus, coherence and clarity: emphasis on key topics at each grade level and coherent progression

across grades

Procedural fluency and understanding of concepts and skills

Promote rigor through mathematical proficiencies that foster reasoning and understanding across

disciplines

High school standards organized by conceptual categories

ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY

Balance of literature and informational texts; focus on text complexity

Emphasis on argument, informative/ explanatory writing, and research

Speaking and listening skills

Literacy standards for history, science and technical subjects

ANCHORED IN COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS

Defining College and Career Readiness

Why is this important for higher education?

• By the year 2020, 65% of jobs nationally will require a career certificate or college degree

• K-12 academic preparation does not align with postsecondary expectations

• 51.7% of students who enroll in 2-year institutions must take remedial courses• 67.7% of African American students who enroll in 2-year institution must take remedial

courses• 64.7% of low income students who enroll in 2-year institutions must take remedial

courses

• Of students who enroll in remedial courses at 2-year institutions, 9.5% graduate within 3 years

Send a clear message of college readiness knowledge, skills and practice

Enable a focus on “readiness gaps” to address in high school

Provide a pathway into entry level credit courses in English and Math for high school graduates

Furnish greater data to aid college placement tools and practices

College readiness standards and PARCC don’t replace the need for remediation, but together they:

Test Administration in 2015

1.2 million students in one day

204,000 students in one hour

Peak: 1m testers per day x 5 days

Thousands of hours contributed by thousands of educators

to develop the test

Key Stats

Test Design Changes - 90 Minute Reduction

Overall times include Reading/Writing and

Mathematics across all test units per grade

Test Design Changes – One Testing Window

Test Design Changes – Fewer Test Units

With the changes, students in all grades will participate in fewer test units. The redesigned ELA/L tests are composed of 3 units. The math tests are composed of 3 or 4 units.

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The Road to the First Score Report Spring 2015

Administration of PARCC assessments

July/August

Performance level setting for high school and grades 3-8

August/September

State K-12 and higher ed chiefs review/vote on recommended cut scores

Fall 2015

2014-15 assessment results available through score reports

The Road to the First Score Report

Five Performance Levels

Place a purple frame around imagesPARCC uses five performance levels that delineate the knowledge, skills, and practices

students are able to demonstrate:

Level 1: Did Not Yet

Meet Expectations

Level 2: Partially Met Expectations

Level 3: Approached Expectations

Level 4: Met

Expectations

Level 5: Exceeded

Expectations

Five Performance Levels

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Performance Level Setting: What is it?

This summer, educators and experts determined what score each student must earn on the assessment in order to achieve a particular performance level. States nominated a variety of stakeholders to participate in 12 in-person panels to review the assessments.Recommendations go to PARCC Governing Board for approval

K-12 educators Postsecondary faculty

Grade-Span Panels

Performance Level Setting: What is it?

OCTOBER

MIL

ESTO

NES

S

TATE

REL

EASE

S

DECEMBER

Score Release Timeline

Some states: high Level preliminary results

SEPTEMBER NOVEMBER

States, vendor quality control reviews, prepare score results

States release state-level score results, approximately

Districts receive HS score reports

Districts receive 3-8 score reports

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The Score Report

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http://www.parcconline.org/assessments/score-results

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Score Reports

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Individual Student Report: ELA/L

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Individual Student Report: Math

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Individual Student Report: Math

Individual Student Report: Math

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Score Reports

What Parents Need to Know About the Score Reports

• The PARCC tests replace the old state tests. They measure how well students are performing against the new state standards that guide math and English language arts instruction.

• The PARCC tests are only one of several measures, including report card grades and in-class performance, that are used to determine a student's academic achievement. They do not impact a student’s GPA.

• The score reports are a valuable tool for parents and teachers. The report provides a deeper level of information that can be used to better understand where students are doing well and where they need additional support. This helps teachers and parents support students.

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What Parents Need to Know About the Score Reports

• The PARCC tests moves away from multiple choice questions to ones that allow students to demonstrate a real understanding of what they know and can do by writing essays, solving real world problems, and reading and analyzing complex text—all critical skills in the real-world.

• Your child’s score may look lower this year because the tests measured more complex skills. A low score does not mean your child did not improve or learned less, but instead that the expectations have been raised for students.

• The first year’s scores are a new baseline from which to progress from and measure against moving forward.

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Available Instructional Tools from PARCC

https://prc.parcconline.org

Resources for Educators

http://www.parcconline.org/resources/educator-resources

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http://www.greatschools.org/gk/test-guide

GreatKids State Test Guide For Parents

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Skill Builder

http://bealearninghero.org/skill-builder

Questions?

Questions?