Coffee with the
principal
Testing, Assessment and the common
core standards
Rob famularo
Principal, coolidge school
January 2013
1
Summative vs. formative
FORMATIVE
summative
END OF CHAPTER
TEST
“FRIDAY” SPELLING
TEST
NJ ASK
FINAL EXAM
FINAL DRAFT
“AUTOPSY”
 CONFERENCE
NOTES
F&P Assessments
DIAGNOSTIC
ASSESSMENTS
EXIT CARDS
OBSERVATIONS
CHECKPOINTS
“PHYSICAL EXAM”
2
Why Test?
• Several data points help us to quantify student
achievement.
• Results are used to inform instruction to be
meaningful and efficient.
• Assessment serves to enhance and facilitate
instruction, not the reverse.
• Assessment itself, needs to be reevaluated
periodically
3
What are Wyckoff’s assessments?
Fountas & Pinnell READING ASSESSMENT
Spelling Inventories (WORDS THEIR WAY)
Anecdotal & running records
teacher created assessments
conferring notes
pre & post writing assessments
end of unit & chapter tests
project work
NJ ASK TESTING
TERRA NOVA/cognitive skills testing
4
2 types of test results
norm-referenced
criterion-referenced
5
Norm-Referenced Tests
are useful for comparing large numbers of students
or student placement
are designed to compare students and dispersing
them along a bell curve
covers a broad range of topics & based upon
national curricula and texts, not district.
offers item-analysis, validity & reliability
6
Definitions of importance
 The national percentile (NP) is most commonly
used and considered the best indicator of student
achievement when compared with students outside
the community; the score is not the number of
correct responses, but an interval scale.
 This means it is not treated arithmetically, as the
difference between the two nps has different
meaning/value at different points of the scale.
7
criterion-referenced tests
A criterion-referenced test compares a student’s
performance to a behavior . . . how well a student
has mastered specific knowledge and skills.
They are given standards or expected criteria prior
to their performance. The standards are used to
create rubrics or scales for use by instructors or
raters in assessing student products or
presentations.
8
Coolidge school scores
9
Limitations of nj ask
 Cannot use scores to compare norms across
country.
 Cannot compare scores from grade to grade
 Test changes each year and cut scores change
 Not considered reliable- one reader per essay
10
DISTRICT FACTOR GROUPS
WERE ESTABLISHED BY THE NJDOE AND
RANKS THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS OF
COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE STATE.
DISTRICTS RANGE FROM A TO J
WYCKOFF IS AN I DISTRICT
OTHER I DISTRICTS INCLUDE CLOSTER, CRESSKILL,
DEMAREST, ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, FRANKLIN LAKES, HAWORTH, MAHWAH,
NORTHERN VALLEY, ORADELL, OAKLAND, OLD TAPPAN, PASCACK
VALLEY, PARK RIDGE, RAMSEY, RIVER DELL, RIVER EDGE, RIVER VALE,
TENAFLY . . .
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Comparison to state and
dfg scores
•Well exceed state average on all
indicators
•Exceed dfg indicators on most
indicators
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Coolidge partially
proficient
Dfg partially proficient
Language arts- grade
3
11.9
17.8
Math- grade 3
1.7
8.9
Language arts- grade
4
22.8
23.8
Math- grade 4
8.8
9.7
0
2.6
Language arts- grade
5
14.8
19.7
Math- grade 5
3.7
6.8
Science- grade 4
13
Coolidge scale score
Dfg scale score
218
215.4
Math- grade 3
258.9
247.9
Language arts- grade
4
214.9
213.6
Math- grade 4
238.3
245.9
249
255.7
Language arts- grade
5
220.7
217.6
Math- grade 5
248.4
251.3
Language arts- grade
3
Science- grade 4
14
Coolidge advanced
proficient
Dfg advanced
proficient
Language arts- grade
3
9.1
8.5
Math- grade 3
68.2
58.4
Language arts- grade
4
4
9.7
Math- grade 4
50
54.8
Science- grade 4
54
67.6
17.4
14.6
50
60.8
Language arts- grade
5
Math- grade 5
15
How is test data used?
principal, reading specialist & math specialist
analyze individual & group results
we seek to identify patterns of strength &
weakness
INFORMATION SHARED WITH STAFF
we look to identify at risk students
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AT RISK
CHILDREN NEAR 200 & 250
GOAL: TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR
CHILDREN WHO ARE PARTIALLY
PROFICIENT
GOAL: TO MOVE MORE CHILDREN
FROM PROFICIENT TO ADVANCED
PROFICIENT (250+)
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•
How do we address
weaknesses?
tie time/Professional learning communities- creation of smart
goals
• Literacy coaches
• TEACHERS WORK WITH TARGETED GROUPS TO MEET
NEEDS OR ADDRESS DEFICIENCIES.
• Identify pockets of students with similar weaknesses- leads to
small group work
• Identify students below or near 200- at risk
• Identify students at or near 25018 at risk
How do we address
weaknesses?- continued
• More in depth analysis of score reports
• Academic support- basic skills instruction (push in and pull
out)
• Differentiated instruction- balanced literacy
• Infusion of test questions into curriculum
• Technology- ipad
19
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
FOCUS UPON ACADEMICS
Model reading, read to your child, encourage
reading
SET HIGH EXPECTATIONS
EXAMINE YOUR CHILD’S WRITING
ENCOURAGE ADDING DETAIL, ELABORATING,
USING TAUGHT SKILLS
20
Common core standards initiative
http://www.corestandards.org/
• State led effort to establish a shared set
of clear educational standards
• Clear and consistent framework to
prepare children for college and the
workforce
• Robust and relevant to the real world.
• Clarity of goals and objectives for each
grade level.
21
Rationale for the ccss
• Expectations designed to ensure students
achieve college and career readiness
• 46 states have adopted the core standards
• Declining u.s. competitiveness with other
developed countries
• High rates of college remediation
• Naep performance is largely flat over the
past 40 years.
22
Language arts shift #1 of the ccss
Building knowledge through content-rich nonfiction
and informational text.
• Balance between nonfiction and narrative text
• Importance of students building knowledge from
information text.
23
Language arts shift #2 of the ccss
Reading, writing and speaking grounded in evidence
from text
• Repsond to evidence based writing (inform/argue)
• Respond to text dependent questions
• Use evidence from text to make a claim, support a theory, etc.
• What is your evidence?
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Language arts shift #3 of the ccss
Regular practice with complex text and its academic vocabulary.
•A “staircase” of increasing text complexity
•Focus on building vocabulary across various types of text.
•Focus on academic vocabulary; words that appear in a variety of
content areas
•Learning vocabulary in context, rather than lists.
25
mathematics shift #1 of the ccss
Focus strongly where the standards focus
• Narrow the scope of content and expand how time and energy
are spent in the math classroom
• Focus only on what is emphasized in the standards so
students gain strong foundations.
• Apply the mathematics they know to solve problems inside
and outside the classroom
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mathematics shift #2 of the ccss
Think across grades and link to major topics within grades
• Mathematics should not be treated as a series of disconnected
topics.
• Connect learning within and across grades so that students can
build new understanding onto foundations built in previous
years.
• Each standard is not a new event, but an extension of previous
learning.
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mathematics shift #3 of the ccss
In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding, procedural skill
and fluency and application
•Teachers teach more than “how to get an answer”
•Students are expected to have speed and accuracy in calculation
•Students apply mathematics concepts in “real world” situations
and cross content areas
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How are these new
standards going to be
assessed?
• PARCC
• THE PARTNERSHIP FOR
ASSESSMENT OF READINESS FOR
COLLEGE AND CAREERS
• http://www.parcconline.org/
29
WHAT IS THE PARCC?
• CONSORTIUM OF 23 STATES WORKING
TOGETHER TO DEVELOP A COMMON SET OF
K-12 ASSESSMENTS
• TIGHTLY ALIGNED TO THE CCSS AND
GROUNDED IN THE KEY SHIFTS AT THE HEART
OF THE COMMON CORE
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ASSESSMENT ADVANCES IN THE PARCC
ASSESSMENT
(BETTER STANDARDS REQUIRE BETTER
TESTS)
• TEXTS WORTH READING
• QUESTIONS WORTH ANSWERING
• PROBLEMS WORTH DOING
• FOCUS
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TIMELINE
• 2012-2013- 1ST YEAR PILOT/ FIELD TESTING
• 2013-2014- 2ND YEAR PILOT/FIELD TESTING
• 2014-2015- FULL OPERATIONAL
ADMINISTRATION OF PARCC ASSESSMENTS
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