Transcript OSAR Update - Western Suffolk Boces

SED Update: USDOE Peer Review &
Grades 3-8 Testing Program
David Abrams
Assistant Commissioner
Office for Standards, Assessment,
and Reporting
Fall S/CDN Meeting
September 14, 2006
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act
 NCLB requires that, by the 2005-06 school
year, states have in place:
 challenging academic content and achievement
standards in reading/language arts and math;
and
 an aligned assessment system that measures
student achievement towards meeting those
standards in Grades 3-8 and once in Grades 1012.
 Goal – to enable all students to meet
challenging academic content and
achievement standards
NCLB: Title I
 Title I, Part A accountability requires
States to determine AYP, in part, by
annually administering tests “aligned
with challenging academic content
and student academic achievement
standards” in “reading or language
arts” to all students.
NCLB: Title III
 Title III, Part A requires that states,
LEAs and schools show:
 “Demonstrated improvements in the
English proficiency of limited English
proficient children each fiscal year; and
 Adequate yearly progress [in meeting
State academic content and student
academic achievement standards] for
limited English proficient children,
including immigrant children and youth.”
Peer Review – Overview
 NCLB requires that USDOE review
and approve each state system of
standards and assessments,
including evidence of how the state
has met the relevant NCLB
requirements.
Peer Review – Process
 States must prepare and submit a
report with accompanying
documentation (NYS submitted its
report in January 2006).
 The submission is then reviewed by
Peer Reviewers, “national experts
knowledgeable in the fields of
standards and assessment.”
Peer Review – NYS Results
 On June 27, 2006, SED received a letter
from Assistant Secretary Henry L. Johnson
stating that NYS must provide additional
evidence to meet NCLB requirements.
 USDOE has determined that NYS is not
incompliance with NCLB with respect to:
 NYSESLAT
 Assessment of ungraded students
 Alternative assessment for students with
disabilities
 NYS must come into full compliance by end
of 2006-07 school year.
Peer Review – NYSESLAT
 Regarding NYSESLAT, USDOE said:
 “The NYSESLAT is not sufficiently
comparable to the regular English
language arts assessment to use…as a
substitute language arts assessment
for limited English proficient students.”

Henry L. Johnson Letter (June 27, 2006)
NYSESLAT – Design and
Administration
 Administered each spring in five
grade bands:





K-1
2-4
5-6
7-8
9-12
NYSESLAT – Design and
Administration
 Each grade band has four subtests:




Speaking
Listening
Reading
Writing
 Speaking: administered to students
individually any time over a 4-week period
 Listening, Reading, and Writing:
administered to groups of students in three
sessions during a 2-week period
NYSESLAT – Design and
Administration
 Tests are untimed
 Tests are kept secure after
administration
NYSESLAT – Content
 Design based on:
 Learning Standards for English as a
Second Language
 Current research from the field of second
language assessment
 Guidance from an ESL expert advisory
board
 Direction from SED
NYSESLAT – Next Steps
 SED has accepted invitation from USDOE to
join LEP Partnership
 SED will engage in specific empirical
research looking at LEP/ELL student
performance on ELA exams and NYSESLAT
 SED will work with partner states to
propose a research agenda to USDOE to
see if a dual purpose instrument is possible
and feasible
Special Education: Ungraded
Students
 SED has amended its policy to ensure
that ungraded students with disabilities
who are not eligible for NYSAA do not
take an out-of-level assessment.
 See August 2006 Memo: Revised
Guidelines for Participation of Students
with Disabilities in State Assessments
for 2006-07 (Rebecca H. Cort/Jean C.
Stevens)
Special Education: NYSAA
 SED will revise NYSAA to link it to
grade level standards.
 See August 2006 Memo: Important
Changes Regarding Administration of
the New York State Alternate
Assessment for 2006-07 (David
Abrams & James P. DeLorenzo)
Special Education: NYSAA
 New Administration Dates for 20062007 School Year: January 2, 2007March 9, 2007
 Test will return to original
administration dates in 2007-2008
School Year
Grades 3-8 Refresher
 Original RFP called for Vertical Scale
 Research with CTB showed that the
test design was not long enough
(need a minimum of 50 MC items) to
design a pure vertical scale
 Field Objected to original design due
to administration issues
Grades 3-8 Refresher
 State Opted to use the Vertically
Moderated Standards (VMS)
approach
 Student progress is measured from
grade-to-grade relative to
proficiency in meeting the standards
(rather than in terms of scale scores
on tests)
Grades 3-8 Refresher
 Measurement experts say this
method is more reliable than vertical
scaling for monitoring student
progress
 VMS design does not require
overlapping items and allows test
forms to be shorter
Grades 3-8 Refresher
 Items are on each test are
developed only for a single gradelevel and it allows for better content
converge for each grade
 SED is researching feasibility of
Vertical Scaling through field-testing
research design: results of research
will inform next generation of tests
Grades 3-8 Update
 Summary Test Score information will be
released to school districts on
September 14: majority of school
districts should receive overnight
 Testing Data is embargoed until
Commissioner’s News Conference
which is scheduled for September
21 at 11:00 AM