CCSSO Criteria for Procuring and Evaluating High-Quality Assessments – Effective Uses by States Prepared by Student Achievement Partners for NCSA 2016
Learning Objectives • Participants will have a high-level understanding of the ELA/literacy and Mathematics alignment criteria (Sections B and C) from the CCSSO “Criteria for Procuring and Evaluating High- Quality Assessments.” • Participants will learn about specific ways states have incorporated the Criteria into their assessment programs. PAGE 2
Sections of the Criteria for Procuring and Evaluating High-Quality Assessments A. Meet Overall Assessment Goals and Ensure Technical Quality B. Align to Standards – English Language Arts/Literacy C. Align to Standards – Mathematics D. Yield Valuable Reports on Student Progress and Performance E. Adhere to Best Practices in Test Administration F. State Specific Criteria (as desired) http://www.ccsso.org/Documents/2014/CCSSO%20Criteria%20for%20High%20Quality%20Assessment s%2003242014.pdf PAGE 3
Section B. Align to Standards – ELA/Literacy Criterion B.1: Assessing student reading and writing achievement in both ELA and literacy Criterion B.2: Focusing on complexity of texts Criterion B.3: Requiring students to read closely and use evidence from texts Criterion B.4: Requiring a range of cognitive demand Criterion B.5: Assessing writing Criterion B.6: Emphasizing vocabulary and language skills Criterion B.7: Assessing research and inquiry Criterion B.8: Assessing speaking and listening Criterion B.9: Ensuring high-quality items and a variety of item types PAGE 4
Format of the CCSSO Criteria for Procuring and Evaluating High-Quality Assessments B.5 Assessing writing : Test blueprints and other specifications as well as exemplar test Assessments items for each grade level are provided, demonstrating the emphasize writing expectations below are met. tasks that require Writing tasks reflect the types of writing that will prepare students students to engage for the work required in college and the workplace, balancing in close reading expository, persuasive/argument, and narrative writing, as state and analysis of standards require. At higher grade levels, the balance shifts towards texts so that more exposition and argument. students can For example, for common core aligned assessments, goals include: demonstrate o Taking all forms of the test together, writing tasks are college- and approximately one-third each exposition, argument, and career-ready narrative (some tasks may represent blended structures), with abilities. the balance shifting towards more exposition and argument at the higher grade levels. Tasks (including narrative tasks) require students to confront text or other stimuli directly, to draw on textual evidence, and to support valid inferences from text or stimuli. PAGE 5
Key phrase: “aligned balance” Criterion B.1 Assessing student reading and writing achievement in both ELA and literacy: The assessments are English language arts and literacy tests that are based on an aligned balance of high-quality literary and informational texts. Key phrase: “high - quality” PAGE 6
Aligned Balance of High-Quality Texts Aligned Balance : • CCR standards, and thus, CCR assessments, call for increased emphasis on informational text as students move through the grade levels so they will be prepared for the kinds of texts most often encountered in college and the workplace. High Quality: • Texts should be worthy of students’ time and attention. Well-crafted texts support the kind of close reading and deep analysis required by CCR standards. The evidence descriptors for B.1 speak to texts being either previously published or of publishable quality. PAGE 7
B.1: Informational Text Quality Non-CCR Text CCR-Aligned Text Are you tired and sleepy when you wake up …To help sleepy teens, some school in the morning? Do you think your school districts have tried delaying the opening of starts far too early in the morning for you the high school day. Educational researcher to learn effectively? What would you say if Kyla Wahlstrom, from the University of you learned that researchers think the Minnesota, has been following districts same thing? that changed their start times, tracking the It’s true. Recent research has shown that effect on schools and students. The teenagers benefit when high school starts Minneapolis school district, for example, later in the day. Researchers have found changed its start time from 7:20 to 8:40 that teenagers, an age group more likely to a.m., giving its 12,000 high schoolers an stay awake late into the night, benefit extra hour and twenty minutes each when school starts at a time allowing them morning. Wahlstrom says the students have to sleep later in the morning. benefited from the change… “What Time Should High Schools Start? ” Commissioned “High Schools Staring Later to Help Sleepy Teens’ by for Assessment Michelle Trudeau (g. 7 text) PAGE 8
Key phrase: “appropriate levels” Criterion B.2 Key phrase: “raise the bar” Focusing on complexity of texts: The assessments require appropriate levels of text complexity; they raise the bar for text complexity each year so students are ready for the demands of college- and career-level reading no later than the end of high school. Multiple forms of authentic, previously published texts are assessed, including written, audio, visual, and graphic, as technology and assessment constraints permit. PAGE 9
Emphasis on Text Complexity Appropriate Levels : • The evidence descriptors for this criterion outline an expectation for a process of determining text complexity, using both quantitative and qualitative tools and transparency around the associated results. Raise the Bar: • The evidence descriptors note that texts should increase in complexity as students move through the grades, meeting college- and career- readiness standards by the end of high school. PAGE 10
Key phrase: “carefully and deeply” Criterion B.3 Requiring students to read closely and use evidence from texts: Reading assessments consist of test questions or tasks, as appropriate, that demand that students read carefully and deeply and use specific evidence from increasingly complex texts to obtain and defend correct responses. Key phrase: “use specific evidence” PAGE 11
Reading Closely and Using Evidence Reading Carefully and Deeply : • The evidence descriptors for B.3 detail that test questions should arise from and require close reading and analysis of text and focus on the central ideas and important particulars of the text. • Also, the criterion addresses the need for questions to assess the depth and specific requirements delineated in the standards at each grade level. PAGE 12
Reading Closely and Using Evidence Using Specific Evidence: • The evidence descriptors call for many test questions to require students to directly point to textual evidence in support of a claim or inference. This aligns to research-based CCR standards, as the ability to develop claims and support them with evidence from text(s) is crucial for college and career readiness. PAGE 13
B.3: Traditional vs. CCR Item Traditional CCR Click on the sentence in paragraph 19 that the When the family first arrives at Old author uses to show what Gram thinks about Old Faithful, Sal says, “I was afraid Faithful. Gram was going to be disappointed because it didn’t look like much at Paragraph 19 included here for reference: first.” Circle three paragraphs that show that Gram was not More steam, boiling and hissing, and a huge jing-bang disappointed in Old Faithful. spray of water surged out, climbing and climbing, and then more and more, until it looked like a whole river of water was shooting straight up into the air. “It looks like an upsidey- down waterfall!” Gram said. All the while there was a walloping hissing, and I could have sworn the ground rumbled and trembled underneath us. The warm mist blew toward us and people started backing away. CA: Students should circle three paragraphs from the following CA: “It looks like an upsidey - down waterfall!” Gram options: 20, 22, 24, 25, or 26. said. Associated text: Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech PAGE 14
Key word: “range” Criterion B.4 Requiring a range of cognitive demand: The assessments require all students to demonstrate a range of higher-order, analytical thinking skills in reading and writing based on the depth and complexity of college- and career-ready standards, allowing robust information to be gathered for students with varied levels of achievement. PAGE 15
Cognitive Demand Range of Demand: • The evidence descriptors for B.4 describe the requirement that assessments should include a range of cognitive demand that is appropriate to the CCR standards themselves. PAGE 16
Key phrase: “analysis of texts” Criterion B.5 Assessing writing: Assessments emphasize writing tasks that require students to engage in close reading and analysis of texts so that students can demonstrate college- and career-ready abilities. PAGE 17
Writing to Sources Analysis of Texts: • The criteria outline a shift from a traditional emphasis on writing that calls for students to use only their prior knowledge or experience. Instead, the criteria, like CCR standards, place a premium on writing to sources. This approach requires that students use evidence from texts to present careful analyses, well-defended claims, and clear information. PAGE 18
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