Common Themes in the Development of the
College Board’s College Readiness System
NESA Workshop
Sunday, October 26, 2014
9:45am to 1:00pm
Conrad Hotel
Istanbul, Turkey
WORKSHOP INSTRUCTOR
Auditi Chakravarty
Vice President, Curriculum and Instruction
The College Board
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
AGENDA
9.45 – 11.15
The Big Picture
Introductions, Background, Context & Trends
11.15 – 11.30
Coffee and Tea Break
11.30 – 12.45
Practical Application:
How Standards Inform Instruction & Assessment
A Closer Look into Educational Planning Tools and How
to Achieve Content Mastery in the Classroom
12.45 – 1.00
DISCUSSION & QUESTIONS
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Objectives of the Session
1
Explore how research has driven fundamental shifts in how we
approach college readiness.
2
Understand how to integrate key concepts and practices within
a subject area while ensuring students receive the necessary
to master challenging course content areas.
3
Discuss student performance data and gain best
practices for how to use the information to encourage
and inform rigorous classroom instruction.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
STRUCTURE
THE BIG PICTURE
HOW STANDARDS INFORM
INSTRUCTION & ASSESSMENT
DISCUSSION & QUESTIONS
THE BIG PICTURE
College Readiness – Fast Facts
► Twelve of the 20 fastest growing
professions require an associate
degree or higher, and all of the 71
jobs projected to grow by 20
percent or more require some
college, with most requiring one or
more college degrees.
► The United States will need 22 million new college degrees but will fall short of that
number by at least three million postsecondary degrees (i.e., associate degree or
higher).
► The United States will need at least 4.7 million new workers with postsecondary
certificates to meet labor-market demand.
Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2008.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Educational Demand for Jobs
100%
10%
11%
12%
Less Than High
School
32%
80%
34%
30%
24%
60%
40%
18%
Some College/No
Degree
12%
Associate's
Degree
21%
24%
Bachelor's
Degree
Master's Degree
or Higher
17%
19%
40%
10%
8%
20%
12%
High School
Diploma
19%
9%
0%
7%
10%
11%
11%
1973
1992
2010
2020
Source: Recovery: Job Growth and Education Requirements Through 2020, Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce
SAT College Readiness Benchmark
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
SAT College Readiness Benchmark
Entering College Students
>30%
Require remediation
Public 4-Year Institution
Remediation Rate
Public 2-Year Institution
Remediation Rate
26.3%
40.8%
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Shifts/ strands shaping our frameworks
– Evidence-based Reasoning & Argumentation
– Procedural & Skill Fluency
– Conceptual Understanding
– Application of Skills
Assessment & Instruction Must Work Together
Based on a wealth of college-readiness evidence, the
redesigned SAT requires students to:

read, analyze, and use reasoning to comprehend challenging literary and
informational texts, including texts on science and history/social studies
topics, to demonstrate and expand their knowledge and understanding;

revise and edit extended texts across a range of academic and careerrelated subjects for expression of ideas and to show facility with a core set
of grammar, usage, and punctuation conventions;

show command of a focused but powerful set of knowledge, skills, and
understandings in math and apply that ability to solve problems situated in
science, social studies, and career-related contexts;

make careful and considered use of evidence as they read and write;

demonstrate skill in analyzing data, including data represented graphically
in tables, graphs, charts, and the like, in reading, writing, and math
contexts; and

reveal an understanding of relevant words in context and how word choice
helps shape meaning and tone.
SAT Test Features
Reading
• Single and paired
passages
• Cross disciplinary
contexts
• Informational
graphics
• Range of text
complexity
• Words in context,
Command of
evidence
Writing &
Language
• Passage based
• Cross-disciplinary
contexts
• Informational
graphics
• Multiple text types
• Expression of
ideas, Standard
English
conventions,
Words in context,
Command of
evidence
Essay
Math
• Common prompt:
publicly available
• Represents sound
instructional
model
• Emphasis on
analysis of the
argument (not
opinion)
• Expanded time
• Analytic scoring
• Multiple item
types
• Focused
Coverage
• Calculator/No
calculator sections
• Covers
application,
procedural skill
and fluency,
conceptual
understanding
• Rich application
contexts
• Item Sets,
Multistep
problems
Standards for Mathematical Practice
Make sense of
problems &
persevere in
solving them
Reason abstractly
& quantitatively
Construct viable
arguments and
critique the
reasoning of
others.
Model with
mathematics
Use appropriate
tools strategically
Attend to
precision
Look for & make
use of structure.
Look for &
express regularity
in repeated
reasoning.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Grades 6-12 Instruction: Goal and Purpose
Our goal is to significantly increase the number of students who are ready
for postsecondary success when they leave high school, and prepared for
success in one or more Advanced Placement exams during high school.
We will do this by articulating an approach to instruction and assessment that
places complex student work at the center of classroom practice for students and
teachers, making core coursework more challenging.
SAT Report on College and Career Readiness 2013
16
College Board’s College Readiness Pathway
PSAT/NMSQT
8/9®
PSAT/NMSQT®
SAT®
An assessment system that measures the reading, writing and mathematical
knowledge and skills that students need to be on track to graduate high school
college-ready.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
College Board’s College Readiness Pathway
PSAT/NMSQT
8/9®
Grades 8-9
Offers early feedback
to help students
identify the skills they
need to be college
ready.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
College Board’s College Readiness Pathway
PSAT/NMSQT®
Grades 10-11
Identifies potential
success in AP and
areas of opportunity for
improved college
readiness.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
College Board’s College Readiness Pathway
PSAT/NMSQT
8/9®
SAT
Grades 11-12
Providing insight into a
student’s level of
college readiness and
potential success upon
completing high
school.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Portrait of Students Who Are
College & Career Ready: ELA
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
NESA 2014 SAT Score Comparison
SAT Mean Scores, 2014
597
561
488
551
504
432
464
499
518
497 513 487
Critical Reading
Mathematics
Writing
NESA Schools
Near East South Asia
Regional Schools
International
Global
Source: NESA Schools & Global indicators are based on the 2014 College Board College-Bound Seniors Report for NESA; Near East Southeast Asia region schools and
International indicators are based on 2014 data from Data Connect. Note: NESA Schools data is inclusive of 87 of the 92 NESA schools with an AI Code as of October 2014.
Near East South Asia Regional Schools excludes Algeria; British Indian Ocean Territory; Iran; Maldives; & Turkmenistan. International excludes U.S., U.S, territories, and
Canada.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
ACTIVITY
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
HOW DO STANDARDS IMPACT
INSTRUCTION?
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
HOW STANDARDS INFORM
INSTRUCTION & ASSESSMENT
Understanding by Design (UbD)
► UbD is a way of thinking purposefully about curricular
planning and school reform. It offers a 3-stage design
process, a set of helpful design tools, and design
standards -- not a rigid program or prescriptive recipe.
► The primary goal of UbD is student understanding: the
ability to make meaning of “big ideas” and transfer their
learning.
► UbD “unpacks” and transforms Content Standards into
the relevant Stage 1 elements and appropriate
assessments in Stage
► Understanding is revealed when students
autonomously transfer their learning through authentic
performance. Six facets of understanding – the
capacity to explain, interpret, apply, shift perspective,
empathize, and self assess – serve as indicators of
understanding.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Grades 6-12 Instruction: Goal and Purpose
Our goal is to significantly increase the number of students who are ready
for postsecondary success when they leave high school, and prepared for
success in one or more Advanced Placement exams during high school.
We will do this by articulating an approach to instruction and assessment that
places complex student work at the center of classroom practice for students and
teachers, making core coursework more challenging.
SAT Report on College and Career Readiness 2013
27
Rigorous Core Courses, Grades 6 – 12
SpringBoard
• Backmapped from AP,
developed to align with
new College Readiness
standards
• Comprehensive program
comprising instructional
materials, PD, district
coaching, and
assessments
• Helps all students access
rigor, but maybe not
suitable for all districts
6-12 Frameworks and
Tasks
• Backmapped from AP,
being developed to align
with empirical backbone
• Instructional guidance and
models, not
comprehensive curriculum
content
• Emphasis on performance
tasks and scoring
• Can fit flexibly with other
curriculum materials, so
potential for broader
reach
6 – 12 Course Frameworks
The Course Frameworks will be back-mapped from AP, aligned to the CB
assessment framework, and informed by leading standards and curriculum
models.
CB
Assessment
Framework
AP Curriculum Frameworks
Grade 6-12 Course Frameworks
Articulates essential content knowledge, skills, and practices
across grade 6-12 continuum
Key Standards and Curriculum
Frameworks/Models
29
6 – 12 Program Pilot
Start with Grade 10/11 ELA and Math:
Culminating Course for SAT Readiness
ELA course
prepares students
to take AP Lang or
Lit, while Math
course prepares
students for AP
Stat or Pre-Calc
Clusters of 2 – 3
schools* in each
of three states –
NY, CA, and TX
Summer 2015 PD
for courses to be
offered SY 201516 with ongoing
PD during year
* Selection criteria include: SAT participation and % meeting benchmark; core course taking; AP test taking
Pilot 6 – 12 Program Elements and Targeted Student
Outcomes
Interventions
1)Grade-level course frameworks
2)Model instructional units
3)Classroom assessment tasks and scoring rubrics
4)District- and building-level administrator training to
onboard and support pilot districts
5)Sustained teacher professional development focused
on collaboration during implementation of modules and
scoring of assessments
Student Outcomes
•Increased student achievement on standardized tests
•Increased student preparation for AP / college level work
•Increased student understanding of grade-level appropriate student work that
will be reflected on SAT and on-track for AP
•Increased motivation and confidence
Question
Which of the following program elements will be
most important for improving student outcomes?
A. Course frameworks
B. Professional development
C. Model instructional units
D. Assessment tasks with scoring rubrics
E. Other
32
Other Questions We Need to Answer
 Will districts/schools/teachers find enough value
in using the 6-12 course frameworks and
classroom assessments? Why will they care?
 What will make this instructional program
“sticky”?
 Do we have the right program elements?
What’s missing, what’s unnecessary?
 Will it work?
33
Advancements in AP
As part of our commitment to continually enhance alignment with current best
practices in college-level learning, the AP® Program is evaluating and
redesigning courses and exams.
Hallmarks of the redesigned courses and exams
• A greater emphasis on 21st-century skills, including critical thinking, inquiry,
reasoning, and communication
• Curricula, modeled upon introductory college courses, that strike a balance between
breadth of content coverage and depth of understanding
• Standards informed by:
• Recommendations of national disciplinary organizations
• Results of curriculum studies conducted at four-year institutions
• Leading pedagogical and measurement practices
• Detailed curriculum frameworks, which tie the concepts, themes, and skills relevant
within each discipline to a set of key learning objectives
• Exams that tie each question to the evidence required to demonstrate student
achievement of each specific learning objective
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Advancements in AP
The Curriculum
Process:
Collaborating on the Redesign
The curriculum framework
incorporates input from college
faculty and discipline chairs,
academic organizations, cognitive
scientists, and AP teachers.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Advancements in AP
Methodology:
Beginning with Outcomes
Curriculum development for the new
AP courses adopts the methodology
of Understanding by Design,
which proposes that curriculum
design should begin with clearly
defined learning objectives and then
articulate the evidence needed to
confirm that the learning objectives
have been met.
The process begins by asking two questions about
learning outcomes:
1. What do students
need to know and be
able to do at the end of
the course?
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
2. What evidence is
needed to show that
students have
developed the
knowledge and skills?
Advancements in AP
An Example:
Creating Enduring
Understanding
Enduring understandings are
core concepts that students
should retain from AP
learning experiences. These
enduring understandings
are supported by learning
objectives.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Advancements in AP
The Exam
THE PROCESS: ALIGNING
OUTCOMES TO
EXPECTATIONS
The alignment of AP Exam
outcomes with college faculty
expectations is ensured by
vital contributions from higher
education faculty members
throughout the exam
development and scoresetting processes..
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Advancements in AP
Methodology:
Assessing Evidence
Like current AP Exams, the revised AP
Exams are a mix of multiple-choice and
free response questions. All questions
are constructed to measure skills and
knowledge, using Evidence Centered
Design, which parallels the curriculums
Understanding by Design methodology.
The process begins by asking two questions about
learning outcomes:
1. What do students
need to know and be
able to do at the end of
the course?
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
2. What evidence is
needed to show that
students have
developed the
knowledge and skills?
Advancements in AP
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
AP Insight: Focused support to help
all students succeed
• AP Insight focuses on “challenge areas” that are foundational to
college-level achievement, yet hard to teach and hard to learn.
• AP Insight was developed by and piloted with educators to improve
student achievement with a new level of support:
1. Instructional
resources
2. Assessments
for learning
focus on
challenge areas
provide insight on
misunderstandings
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
1. Instructional Resources
•
•
Target challenge areas within your own syllabus, anticipate and address
stumbling blocks
Students monitor their own learning
For students:
•
Progress tool
•
Performance tasks
•
Instructional feedback
For teachers:
•
Strategic resources, modules
•
Expert classroom videos
•
Virtual PLC sessions
•
Collaboration space
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
2. Assessments for Learning
•
Early insight and resources help students address misunderstandings. Give
quizzes online or offline according to any scope and sequence
For students:
•
Areas of success and
misunderstandings
•
Individual progress
•
Resources to improve
For teachers:
•
Class and student success areas and
misunderstandings
•
Class and student progress
•
Guide to help students reflect and
close gaps
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Overcome challenge areas to increase
overall course mastery
AP
Exam
Roadmap to AP Success
• Challenge Areas
• Building Blocks
►Misunderstandings
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Are all of the enduring understandings
created equal?
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
“Applying math to genetics” is
one of twelve Challenge Areas in AP Biology
Evolution
Cellular Processes: Energy & Communication
1.2 Evaluate Hardy-Weinberg data
2.3 Predict free energy
1.5 Impact of environment on evolution
2.5 Explain energy storage, use and capture
3.24 Predict impact of change in genotype
2.9 Represent and model matter exchange
Genetics & Information Transfer
Interactions
3.4 Represent genetic information
4.7 Represent mechanisms of specialization
3.11 Evaluate DNA transmission data
4.9 Predict effects of changes on biological
systems
3.14 Apply math to genetics
4.12 Apply math to community interactions
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
AP Insight – Example
A couple has three boys and plans to have two more children.
Assuming there are no external factors that might influence the
gender of the offspring, what is the probability that the two
additional children would also be boys?
A. 1/32
B. 1/8
C. 1/4
D. 1/2
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Answer A - Incorrect
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Answer B - Incorrect
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Answer D - Incorrect
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Answer C - Correct
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Introducing - AP Capstone™
Research, Distinction, Academic Rigor
is an innovative, new diploma program that gives students an opportunity to apply critical
thinking, collaborative problem-solving, and research skills in a cross-curricular context.
Develops transferable key academic skills (thinking, research, and
communication) -- in response to feedback from higher education.
Builds on the foundation of a new, two-year high school course
sequence—AP Seminar and AP Research—and is designed to
complement and enhance the in-depth discipline-specific study provided
through AP® courses.
Cultivates curious, independent and collaborative scholars and prepares
them to make logical and evidence based decisions.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Hallmarks of the AP Capstone Program
Complements the in-depth subjectmatter study in AP courses and exams.






Critical and Creative Thinking
Research
Problem Solving
Communication
Collaboration
Interdisciplinary Perspectives
Emphasizes Core Skills
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
AP Capstone Learning Goals
Complement AP Courses & Exams through scholarly practice and academic intensity
1
Thinking critically and creatively to construct meaning
or gain understanding
2
Planning and conducting a study or investigation
3
Problem finding and problem solving
4
Planning and producing communication in various
forms
5
Collaborating to solve a problem or accomplish a goal
6
Synthesizing and making cross-curricular connections
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Pedagogical Framework - QUEST
The AP Capstone program provides students with a
process model that promotes critical and creative thinking.
Students practice, develop, and hone their critical and
creative thinking skills as they make connections between
issues and their own lives.
Question and Explore
Understand
Evaluate
Synthesize
Transfer and Apply
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
AP Capstone Program Model
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
AP Capstone Program Model
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
AP Capstone – AP Seminar Course
AP Seminar
This foundational course provides students
with opportunities to think critically and
creatively, research, explore, pose solutions,
develop arguments, collaborate, and
communicate using various media.
Students explore real-world issues through a
cross curricular lens, consider multiple
points of view to develop deep
understanding of complex issues, and
connect these issues to their own lives.
Teachers typically select 2-4 topics for the course.
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE 58
READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Possible Topics:
Discovery
Diversity
Education
Government
Identity
Immigration
Liberty
Myth
Networks
Perception
Place
Power
Revolution
Selection
Sustainability
Transformation
Wealth and Poverty
Making Connections with AP
The AP Seminar
course topics can
be viewed through
different disciplinary
lenses which relate
to courses in the AP
Program
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Seminar Course – Draft Performance Task Model
Component
Weight
Scoring
Performance Assessment Task #1: Team Project, Presentation &
Defense
• Individual Research and Reflection (approximately 2000 words)
• Written Team Report (approximately 3000 words)
• Team Multimedia Presentation (8-10 minutes)
20% of Score
Internally Scored; Externally Validated
Internally Scored; Externally Validated
Internally Scored
Performance Assessment Task #2: Individual Written Essay &
Presentation Cross curricular Stimulus Material Provided
• Research-based Argumentative Essay (approximately 2000
words)
• Individual Multimedia Presentation (6-8 minutes)
• Oral Defense of Presentation (two questions from the teacher)
30% of Score
Internally Scored; Externally Validated
Internally Scored
Internally Scored
Assessment Task #3: Written Exam (3 Hours)
Four Short Answer Questions (Comprehension and Analysis of
Argument)
Two Essay Questions
50% of Score
Externally scored
• Comparative analysis and evaluation of arguments
• Synthesis / Development of Argument
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
BREAKOUTS
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Defining Instructional Rigor
Research can help us define what it looks
like in the classroom . . . .
Teachers provide effective rigorous instruction when
they establish and are transparent about the essential
knowledge and skills that students must acquire, and
develop students’ ability to apply this knowledge
strategically as they engage in complex tasks. Rigorous
instruction is characterized by effective questioning and
feedback cycles that move all students toward
increasingly challenging and engaging work.
Question
Which element of rigor is most important for the
College Board to promote/support in order to
transform student outcomes?
A. Focus on essential knowledge and skills
B. Good questions and effective feedback
C. Complex tasks that require strategic thinking
D. Meeting all students where they are
E. Other
Redesigned SAT Sample Item: Math
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
Released FRQ from 2014 Calc A/B Exam
65
Redesigned SAT Sample Item:
Command of Evidence (Writing & Language Test)
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014
2014 AP English Lang & Comp Synthesis Question
AP Biology Practice Test Question
Questions
1. What skills and content should be areas of
focus in Grades 6 – 12 courses in order for
students to be prepared for the kinds of work
shown in these examples?
2. What guidance, tools, and supports do Grades
6 – 12 teachers need in order to prepare
students for the kinds of tasks shown in these
examples?
3. What info or resources would help you guide
students to make the right academic decisions?
Draft Big Ideas for Pilot Mathematics Course (Algebra 2)
Big Ideas
Big Idea 1: The structure of the real number system
connects arithmetic to the purposeful manipulation
fundamental to algebra.
Big Idea 2: Functions are mathematical ways of relating
different quantities.
Big Idea 3: Rate and proportionality are powerful ways to
analyze relationships.
Big idea 4: Mathematical modeling is a universal practice
that allows opportunities to construct and analyze structures
in order to draw conclusions and predict future quantities.
Draft Big Ideas for Pilot ELA (Grade 10 or 11) Course
Big Ideas
Big Idea 1: Engaging with texts
Big Idea 2 : Constructing an argument
Big Idea 3: Focusing on language
Big idea 4: Investigating through research
Big Idea 5: Entering the conversation
ELA Proposed Instructional Modules and Tasks
Component
Module 1
Module 2
Module 3
Module 4
Performanc
e Task
Analyzing an
Argument
(most similar to
rSAT)
Writing a
Literary
Analysis
(most similar to
AP Lit)
Researching
and
Presenting a
Position
(most similar to
SB and some
elements of
SBAC)
Writing a
Synthesis
Argument
(most similar to
AP Lang)
Primary
Emphases
Close reading
and critical
analysis of
argument;
writing an
evidence-based
analysis
Close reading
and critical
analysis of
literary text;
writing an
evidence-based
literary analysis
Research;
Academic
Discourse; Oral
Presentation;
Critical analysis
of visual text
Close reading
and critical
analysis of
multiple
sources;
selecting and
citing evidence;
writing an
evidence-based
argument
Questions
1. Do you see where your school’s standards
might fit within the draft Big Ideas for each
course?
2. Do you believe that courses and tasks that are
backmapped from AP and aligned with SAT will
align with your school’s standards and
assessments?
3. Do you believe that a course focused on these
Big Ideas and (for ELA) task types shown will
prepare students for assessments in your
school?
Questions (continued)
1. Can a sequence of challenging courses backmapped from AP and aligned with the SAT
empirical backbone be right for all students?
2. What parent or student-facing resources or
tools would be valuable?
3. What other guidance or advice do you have for
ensuring a successful pilot for participating
schools?
DISCUSSION & QUESTIONS
COMMON THEMES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COLLEGE BOARD’S COLLEGE READINESS SYSTEM | NESA 2014