The Assessment Consortia
An Overview of the Designs of PARCC
and SMARTER Balanced
Updated July 27, 2011
Pascal (Pat) D. Forgione, Jr., Ph.D. and Nancy A. Doorey
Center for K – 12 Assessment & Performance Management at ETS
The Uniqueness of This Moment:
Inflection Point
• Thomas Friedman in “The World is Flat” points out
the importance of “inflection points” in history.
• The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) can become an
“inflection point” for American public education - establishing a
common foundation for building excellence and equity for all students.
CA
PA
CT
FL
Interactive Digital Library
IL
RI
State silos of cost, effort, expertise
13-Apr-15
Shared platform for collaboration, cost and effort
efficiencies, sharing of best practices
Race to the Top Assessment Program
Competitive Grant, Spring 2010
Groups of 15 or more states could apply for a grant to design, develop and
pilot a next generation assessment system that:
•
•
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Builds upon shared standards in mathematics and English language arts (ELA) for
college- and career-readiness;
Measures individual growth as well as proficiency;
Measures the extent to which each student is on track, at each grade level tested,
toward college or career readiness by the time of high school completion and;
Provides information that is useful in informing:

Teaching, learning, and program improvement;

Determinations of school effectiveness;

Determinations of principal and teacher effectiveness for use in evaluations and the provision
of support to teachers and principals; and

Determinations of individual student college and career readiness, such as determinations
made for high school exit decisions, college course placement to credit-bearing classes, or
college entrance.
(US Department of Education, 2009)
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The Comprehensive Assessment
System Proposals
Two Comprehensive Assessment System Proposals Funded:
Partnership for Assessment
of Readiness for College and
Careers (PARCC)
SMARTER Balanced
Assessment Consortium
(SBAC)
 24 states and the District of
Columbia, more than 25
million students in K-12
 29 states, over 23 million
students in K-12
Eight states in both Consortia, six states in neither.
Current as of August 1, 2011
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Assessment Consortia Memberships
Washington, DC
Hawaii
PARCC State
SBAC State
July 26, 2011
Both consortia
Confidential and Proprietary. Copyright © 2009 Educational Testing Service.
Partnership for the Assessment of
Readiness for College and Careers:
PARCC
Revised design as of June 2011, pending USED approval.
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Two Components of the
Summative Assessment
PARCC:
In mathematics and in English language arts (ELA):
PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENT
• Given primarily on computer or other
digital devices
• Composed primarily performance tasks
with emphasis on hard-to-measure
standards
+
END OF YEAR
ASSESSMENT
• Given on computer (most students), with
multiple item types and technological
tools
• Scored entirely by computer for
fast results
• Results returned within 2 weeks
• Scores from the performance assessment and the end-of-year
test will be combined for annual accountability scores.
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PARCC:
Performance Assessment
Final weeks of school year
Over several sessions/class periods, students will
complete a project-like task that draws on a range
of skills.
• ELA/literacy tasks will focus on writing
effectively when analyzing texts, using
evidence drawn from the texts to support
claims
• Math tasks will require students to apply key
mathematical skills, concepts and processes to
solve complex problems of the types
encountered in everyday life, work and
decision-making.
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PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENT
• ELA
• Math
PARCC:
End-of-Year Assessment
• Consisting of a range of item types including innovative
technology-enhanced items to sample the full set of
grade level standards
• Will make major investment in enhanced item types
END OF YEAR
ASSESSMENT
• Will include items across a range of cognitive demand
• Currently planned as a fixed-form test, PARCC will review the precision of scores
for students at the tails of the performance distribution and, if needed, consider
customizing for high- and low-performing students by either lengthening the test
or using “staged” or “block” adaptive delivery.
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PARCC:
Speaking/Listening Assessment
Final weeks of school year
ELA/Literacy
• Speaking
• Listening
Flexible timing
• Required assessment, but not used for accountability
• Administered in the ELA classroom, with flexible window for administration
• Scored by classroom teacher using standardized rubric
• Scores may be used within students’ grades
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PARCC Supports:
Formative Assessments
EARLY ASSESSMENT
Early indicator of
knowledge and skills to
inform instruction,
supports, PD
MID-YEAR ASSESSMENT
Mid-Year PerformanceBased Assessment
• Formative early assessment designed to
provide an indicator of student knowledge
and skills so that instruction, supports and
professional development can be tailored to
student needs
* Over time, states may consider
• Formative mid-year performance tasks
designed to prepare students for Summative
Performance Assessment and to yield
instructionally useful feedback.
Teachers will be given an online scoring
tool to score tasks and improve
understanding of the CCSS expectations.
using scores from these tasks in the
summative/accountability scores.
• For voluntary use, the timing of the
administration is to be locally determined
(Potentially summative*)
Timing of formative components is flexible
PARCC Supports:
The Partnership Resource Center
PARTNERSHIP RESOURCE CENTER: Digital library of released items, formative assessments, model content
frameworks, instructional and formative tools and resources; student and educator tutorials and practice tests,
scoring training modules; professional development materials; and an interactive report generation system
Partnership Resource Center:
•
•
•
•
13-Apr-15
•
•
•
•
Interactive Data Tool for accessing data and creating customized reports
Model lesson plans
Formative assessment items and tasks
Professional development materials regarding test administration,
scoring, and use of data
Online practice tests
Item development portal
Tools and resources developed by Partner states
Optional “ready-to-use” performance tasks for K-2
PARCC Supports:
Supplemental Application Grant
• Transition and Implementation Planning
– State leadership teams
– Educator Leadership Cadres
– Technical Working Groups
• Collaboration on Instructional Tools
–
–
–
–
Framework of priority assets
Prototypes of through-course components
Set of 38 voluntary instructional units
Voluntary college-readiness tools such as model grade 12 bridge
courses for struggling students
• Support for Technology Transitions
• Coordination with SBAC
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The PARCC Assessment System
(July 2011 revision, pending USED approval)
English Language Arts and Mathematics, Grades 3–8 and High School
PARTNERSHIP RESOURCE CENTER: Digital library of released items; formative assessments; model content frameworks;
instructional and formative tools and resources; student and educator tutorials and practice tests; scoring training
modules; professional development materials; and an interactive report generation system.
Component 1
EARLY ASSESSMENT
Early indicator of
knowledge and skills to
inform instruction,
supports, PD
Component 2
MID-YEAR ASSESSMENT
Mid-Year PerformanceBased Assessment
Comp 5
Comp 3
ELA/Literacy
• Speaking
• Listening
PERFORMANCE
ASSESSMENT
• ELA
• Math
(Potentially summative)
Comp 4
END-OF-YEAR
ASSESSMENT
Flexible timing
Timing of formative components is flexible
Formative
Assessment
Summative,
but not used
for accountability
Summative
assessment
for accountability
Developed by The Center for K–12 Assessment & Performance Management at ETS, version 4, July 2011. For detailed information on PARCC, go to http://PARCConline.org.
PARCC Implementation Milestones
2011-2012
Item and task development, piloting of components
Release of Model Content Frameworks and prototype items
and tasks
Development of professional development resources and
online platform
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2012-2014
Field testing
2014-2015
New summative assessments in use
Summer 2015
Setting of common achievement standards
Smarter Balanced Assessment
Consortium
SBAC
13-Apr-15
Two Components of the
Summative Assessment
SBAC:
PERFORMANCE
TASKS
+
COMPUTER
ADAPTIVE
ASSESSMENT
• Measure the ability to integrate
knowledge and skills, as required in
CCSS
• A computer adaptive assessment
given during final 12 weeks of the
school year*
• Each task administered in two hourlong sittings.
• Multiple item types, scored by
Computer, including tasks
• Computer-delivered, during final 12
weeks of the school year*
• Results within 2 weeks
• Students will have the opportunity to
take the summative assessment twice
•
Scores from the performance assessment and the computer adaptive
assessment will be combined for annual accountability scores.
* Time windows may be adjusted based on results from the research agenda and final implementation decisions.
13-Apr-15
SBAC:
Performance Tasks
Last 12 weeks of year*
One reading task, one writing task and 2 math tasks per year.
Examples:
• ELA: Select texts on a given theme, synthesize the
perspectives presented, conduct research, and write a
reflective essay.
PERFORMANCE
TASKS
• Reading
• Writing
• Math
• Math: Review a financial document and read
explanatory text, conduct a series of analyses, develop a
conclusion, and provide evidence for it.
• Roughly half of the performance tasks for grades 9 through 11 will assess
ELA or math within the context of science or social studies.
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* Time windows may be adjusted based on results from the research agenda and final implementation decisions.
SBAC:
End-of-Year Assessment
Last 12 weeks of year*
• Composed of approximately 40 to 65 questions per content
area
• Uses adaptive delivery for more efficient testing and
more accurate measurement of all students, across the
performance spectrum (important in measuring growth)
• Scores from items that can be scored immediately will be
reported, and then updated as scores from those requiring
human scoring or artificial intelligence are completed
COMPUTER
ADAPTIVE
ASSESSMENT
Re-take option
• Students who are approved to do so may take the assessment
a second time, but will see a new set of items
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* Time windows may be adjusted based on results from the research agenda and final implementation decisions.
SBAC:
Summative Components
Last 12 weeks of year*
• Student scores from the performance tasks
and end-of-year adaptive assessment will be
combined for each student’s annual score
for accountability.
• Performance tasks may begin prior to the
final 12 weeks of the year, based on research
studies and final implementation decisions.
13-Apr-15
PERFORMANCE
TASKS
• Reading
• Writing
• Math
COMPUTER
ADAPTIVE
ASSESSMENT
Re-take option
* Time windows may be adjusted based on results from the research agenda and final implementation decisions.
SBAC Supports:
Interim Assessment System
INTERIM
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INTERIM
INTERIM
•
Optional system of computer adaptive interim assessments
•
Includes multiple item types, similar to the end-of-year summative
assessment, including performance tasks (delayed scoring)
•
The number, timing, and standards assessed (full grade level or
smaller clusters) can be customized based on the local curriculum
•
Non-secure and fully accessible -- teachers will be able to see how
their students responded to each item
•
Reports of student results will link teachers to related student
resources and teacher professional development resources
SBAC Supports:
The Digital Clearinghouse
Last 12 weeks of year*
DIGITAL CLEARINGHOUSE of formative tools, processes and exemplars, released items and
tasks, model curriculum units, educator training; professional development tools and resources,
interactive reporting system; scoring training modules, and teacher collaboration tools.
The system portal for information about the CCSS, SBAC, and assessment results:
• Reporting suite with differentiated tools available to students, educators,
parents, and policymakers with visualization tools
• Vetted curriculum units and formative tools, processes and exemplars
• Research-based instructional strategies and interventions
• Issue-focused chat rooms
• Released performance tasks and rubrics
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• Professional development modules and videos
• Item
development/scoring
training
modules
and
* Time
windows
may be adjusted based on results
from the research
agenda
andtools
final implementation decisions.
SBAC Supports:
Supplemental Application Grant
• Support to States and Districts for Transition to CCSS
– Membership in CCSSO’s “Implementing the Common Core System”
– Instructional materials – identification, adaptation, development
– Formative processes and tools/Professional development
– Communications
• Alignment of Assessments to College and Career Readiness
– Validity studies to connect SBAC college-readiness determinations to
evidence of success in college or careers
– Enhancement of Interim system to support high school EOC exams
aligned to CCSS
• Support for Technology Transitions
• Coordination with PARCC
13-Apr-15
The SBAC Assessment System
English Language Arts and Mathematics, Grades 3 – 8 and High School
Last 12 weeks of year*
DIGITAL CLEARINGHOUSE of formative tools, processes and exemplars; released items and tasks;
model curriculum units; educator training; professional development tools and resources; an
interactive reporting system; scorer training modules; and teacher collaboration tools.
INTERIM ASSESSMENT
Computer Adaptive
Assessment and
Performance Tasks
INTERIM ASSESSMENT
Computer Adaptive
Assessment and
Performance Tasks
Scope, sequence, number, and timing of interim
assessments locally determined
PERFORMANCE
TASKS
• Reading
• Writing
• Math
COMPUTER
ADAPTIVE
ASSESSMENT
Re-take option
Optional Interim
assessment system —
no stakes
Summative assessment
for accountability
* Time windows may be adjusted based on results from the research agenda and final implementation decisions.
SBAC Implementation Milestones
2011 - 2012
Develop, procure and review materials to populate the digital
library
Develop test specifications and test blueprints for summative
assessments; vet state-submitted items and tasks and determine
procurement needs
Develop sample item/task sets and initial achievement level
descriptors
2012 - 2013
Develop exemplar modules of formative assessment tasks and
tools and PD modules; Conduct teacher training
Pilot test items and tasks
13-Apr-15
2013 – 2014
Conduct field test of items and tasks
2015
Administer summative assessments; verify and adopt final
achievement level standards
Will This Become an Inflection Point?
Benefits:
• Fewer, clearer, next-generation standards
• Systems of high quality, aligned summative and
formative assessments, with rapid results to teachers
• Online digital libraries for sharing of instructional
resources, professional development modules, student
support materials, identification of effective practices,
etc.
• Leveraging of human and financial capital across states
13-Apr-15
Will This Become an Inflection Point?
Challenges
•
Measurement challenges:
» Measuring individual growth and “on track” to college/career readiness
» Use of individual student growth in determinations of teacher and principal
effectiveness
» Aggregation and weighting of scores from multiple assessments
•
ESEA Reauthorization:
» Will the re-authorized ESEA accountability framework align with the RTTT
Assessment Program requirements?
•
Political Will:
» Will states continue their membership in Consortia over time?
•
Information System:
» Will it be possible to mine the data to identify “what works” and “what has
worked for similar students”?
13-Apr-15
Visit www.k12center.org for periodic updates on the
development of these assessment systems
GUIDE TO THE ASSESSMENT CONSORTIA:
Coming Together to Raise Achievement: New
Assessments for the Common Core State
Standards
Download this free guide at www.k12center.org
Contact:
Pascal (Pat) D. Forgione, Jr., Ph.D.
Distinguished Presidential Scholar and Executive Director
Center for K-12 Assessment and Performance Management at ETS
Educational Testing Service
823 Congress Avenue, Suite 816
Austin, TX 78701
E-Mail: pdforgione@k12center.org
Nancy Doorey
Director of Programs
ndoorey@k12center.org
www.k12center.org