Equity: The Dance Between Practice, Policy, and Politics CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment June 2019 1
Panel Participants Laura Pinsonneault Chad Buckendahl Wisconsin Department of Education ACS Ventures, LLC laura.pinsonneault@dpi.wi.gov cbuckendahl@acsventures.com Andy Middlestead Pat Roschewski Michigan Department of Education Data Recognition Corporation (DRC) middlesteada@michigan.gov proschewski@datarecognitioncorp.com Shelley Loving-Ryder Virginia Department of Education shelley.loving-ryder@doe.virginia.gov 2
Providing equity for all educators and students means State Directors spend much time influencing, implementing, and delivering the educational policies required in their states. Therefore, Directors of Assessment and Accountability engage in the “Dance” between Practice, Policy, and Politics. Among the many dance steps are the following: • Rethinking the work of educators • Clearly establishing the purposes of assessment and accountability • Creating conditions for educator and student success • Providing proven strategies for educator and student improvement • Protecting educators from being distracted by other (or too many) Rethinking the work of educators 3
Andy Middlestead Michigan Department of Education middlesteada@michigan.gov Equity: The Dance Between Practice, Policy, and Politics CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment June 2019 4
A Michigan Perspective … The “dance” between policy, practice, and politics … Three constants in the life of an assessment and accountability director … 1) CHANGE 2) “Expert” policy makers 3) CHANGE 5
A Michigan Perspective … How can you, or how has Michigan, promoted the work and importance of its educators amongst these things? Involvement in the item and test development process from beginning to end! Item writing Item reviews Data reviews Standard setting Rangefinding Focus groups about reporting 6
A Michigan Perspective … With the constant of change, and politics, how has our team shared information purposely to protect our educators from distractions or too many initiatives? Clear, concise, regular communication! Be aware of who your audience is! ( it’s usually not an assessment expert like yourself) 7
Stay Informed OEAA strives to keep YOU informed! Published every Thursday Contains important updates, training info, deadlines, etc. Delivered to email addresses and posted to M-STEP webpage 8
Michigan Parent Dashboard for School Transparency • Began with conversations related to the Every Student Succeeds Act (2015) • Requested by parents and other education stakeholders • Initiated by State Board of Education policy (2017) • Has been architected, designed, tested, and is now implemented www.MISchoolData.org/ParentDashboard 9
An Easy-to-Use Parent Dashboard • Provides one easy location where parents and caregivers can view building-level data they say are important to them • Offers a more balanced picture of school quality, since it contains information about more than just test scores • Shows the performance of every public school in Michigan, including public school academies 10
Dashboard Features • Quickly find a school, learn about it, view its performance, and drill in for more detail • Compare a school’s performance over 3 years to peer schools and the state of Michigan • Find answers to common questions within each page, or through Help or Contact pages • Easily share and print information from any page • Learn more about overall state of Michigan performance on similar indicators 11
Laura Pinsonneault Wisconsin Department of Education laura.pinsonneault@dpi.wi.gov Equity: The Dance Between Practice, Policy, and Politics CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment June 2019 12
Wisconsin’s Equity Dance Promoting Equity • Equity is the stated mission of the Department of Public Instruction. • The State Superintendent established an Equity Council. • We are telling the story of achievement gaps in our state. We are talking about racial achievement gaps. • We actively check our accountability work in regards to its role in informing equity work in schools and districts. 13
Wisconsin’s Equity Dance Conditions and Strategies to Support Equity • We are aligning efforts to focus on equity: – Continuous improvement through an equity lens; – Equitable, multi-level systems of support; and – IDEA and ESSA identifications and supports focused on equity. • We designed ESSA reports with school leaders in mind. • We held coordinated (with staff from across the agency) technical assistance calls when ESSA and IDEA reports were released. 14
There have been complications … but it’s okay! Questions of Authority • State Superintendent running for Governor • Complicated relationships Separate State and Federal Accountability • Decision to have separate systems involved many stakeholders, including policymakers and politicians • Required clarity of specific purpose for each accountability system 15
Shelley Loving-Ryder Virginia Department of Education shelley.loving-ryder@doe.virginia.gov Virginia Is for Learners The Future of Education in Virginia CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment June 2019 16
What Is Virginia Is For Learners? • Virginia Is for Learners is Virginia’s commitment to make sure every public school student is ready to thrive after graduation —to be “life ready.” • Virginia is transforming its educational approach to combine a strong knowledge of facts and figures with the real world skills it takes to apply those skills successfully in a modern economy. 17
A Successful Graduate Will … • Achieve and apply academic and technical knowledge; • Demonstrate workplace skills, qualities, and behaviors; • Build connections and value interactions with others as a responsible and responsive citizen; and • Align knowledge, skills, and personal interests with career opportunities. 18
What Will Careers in the Future Require? • Today’s students need to be prepared for the careers of the future. Those careers will be characterized by change. Workers will need to be: – adaptable and agile as they are asked to respond quickly to unanticipated changes – lifelong learners as jobs continually evolve to meet changing demands or to incorporate new innovations • Adapted from the National Assessment Governing Board’s report on postsecondary preparedness found at https://www.nagb.gov/focus-areas/postsecondary- preparedness.html 19
Preparing Students for the Future • Focus on using and applying knowledge and skills • Accessing information; evaluating sources • Need for ongoing learning to live in an ever-changing world — lifelong learning • Embracing change — providing strategies for positive impact 20
Local Balanced Assessment Plans School districts create local “balanced assessment plans” that include performance assessments. Required for the following content areas in which state assessments were replaced with “local alternative assessments” by legislation. • Grade 3 Science • Grade 3 History • Grade 5 Writing • United States History to 1865 • United States History: 1865 to the Present Intent is to support application of knowledge and skills 21
Purpose of Balanced Assessment Plans • Support student success by providing opportunities to apply knowledge and skills • Support assessment FOR learning — encourage teachers to see themselves as “assessors” 22
Virginia Is for Learners … Ensuring that instruction and assessment practices prepare Virginia students for the future 23
Chad Buckendahl ACS Ventures, LLC cbuckendahl@acsventures.com Equity: The Dance Between Practice, Policy, and Politics CCSSO National Conference on Student Assessment June 2019 24
So You Think You Can Dance? • Prioritizing competing interests and stakeholders • Cross-disciplinary thinking • Validation framework that considers operational, policy, and innovation needs • Transferable skills and change management 25
Questions and Answers 26
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