ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE
http://www.ode.state.or.us/go/
LocalAssessmentGuidance
ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE
INCLUDING OREGON CRITERIA FOR
HIGH QUALITY ASSESSMENTS
Cristen McLean, Policy Analyst
Brian Putnam, Education Specialist
JUNE 24, 2014
OREGON DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
PURPOSE
Introduce Assessment Guidance, which
was developed to assist districts in the
evaluation of assessment options
(commercial or locally developed).
Developed through collaboration with other
State Departments of Education and
researchers, including Rick Stiggins.
AGENDA
1. Introduce Assessment Guidance
2. Answer, “How can the
Assessment Guidance be
used?”
3. Answer, “What is included in the
Assessment Guidance?”
4. Provide time to review
Assessment Guidance and ask
questions.
ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE
CONTENTS
• Assessment considerations related to
whether to develop or obtain
assessments
• Assessment vocabulary
• Oregon Criteria for High Quality
Assessments
HOW CAN THE
ASSESSMENT
GUIDANCE BE USED?
TWO IMMEDIATE
APPLICATIONS
Educators at all levels of leadership are faced
with many complex decisions around
assessment planning, including two immediate
planning needs:
• Category 2 Assessments for Student
Learning and Growth Goals for
Educator Effectiveness matrix
• Use of funds for Formative and Interim
Common Core Assessments
STUDENT LEARNING AND
GROWTH GOALS
Category 1
• Statewide test
• OAKS
• Smarter Balanced
• Extended Assessment
STUDENT LEARNING AND
GROWTH GOALS
Category 2
• Locally developed test
• Commercially developed test
• Results from proficiency-based
assessment system
• Locally developed collections
of evidence
STUDENT LEARNING AND
GROWTH GOALS
Teachers in Tested Grades
Student Learning and Growth
Goal 1: Category 1
Student Learning and Growth
Goal 2: Category 1 OR
Category 2
STUDENT LEARNING AND
GROWTH GOALS
Teachers in Non-Tested
Grades
Student Learning and Growth
Goal 1: Category 2
Student Learning and Growth
Goal 2: Category 2 OR
Category 1
Types of Measures
1
2
Guidance
 Oregon’s state assessments
o SMARTER Balanced
(formerly OAKS)
o Extended Assessments
 Same assessment and
administration guidelines
are used statewide
 Commercially developed
assessments that include preand post-measures
 Locally developed assessments
that include pre- and postmeasures
 Results from proficiency-based
assessment systems
 Locally-developed collections of
evidence, i.e. portfolios of
student work that include
multiple types of performance
 Same assessment and
administration guidelines
are used district-wide or
school-wide
 Assessments meet state
criteria
CATEGORY 2
Take 5 minutes…
1. Think of an example of how your
district is planning for Category 2
assessments in non-tested
subjects.
2. Discuss at your table.
Then we’ll popcorn around the room and
ask for tables to share out.
COMMON CORE ASSESSMENTS
1. State Board approved Smarter Balanced
Assessment
2. Ways and Means Joint Committee (i.e.,
legislative budget committee) provided
additional funding for assessments, but
divided the budget authority.
1. For the summative assessment, ODE
has the budget authority (in order to
purchase Smarter Balanced).
2. For the formative and interim
assessment, districts have the budget
authority.
INTERIM AND FORMATIVE
COMMON CORE ASSESSMENTS
Monies provided to school districts to
secure formative and interim
assessment tools aligned to the
Common Core State Standards.
Districts received a letter with amount of
funding and assessment tool guidelines.
INTERIM AND FORMATIVE
COMMON CORE ASSESSMENTS
Options for how to spend monies:
• Develop assessments locally
• Obtain assessments from outside
source (commercially developed or
open educational resource)
• Combined approach (develop some
and obtain some; pilot multiple
approaches within a district)
INTERIM AND FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT
To get a sense of what people are
planning, please…
Raise your hand if you will be using
purchasing an assessment.
INTERIM AND FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT
To get a sense of what people are
planning, please…
Raise your hand if you will be using
developing the assessments.
INTERIM AND FORMATIVE
ASSESSMENT
To get a sense of what people are
planning, please…
Raise your hand if you are not yet
sure what you will do for these
assessments.
WHAT IS INCLUDED IN
THE ASSESSMENT
GUIDANCE?
ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE
CONTENTS
• Assessment considerations related to
whether to develop or obtain
assessments
• Assessment vocabulary
• Oregon Criteria for High Quality
Assessments
FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
• Questions for test developers about how
test questions or tasks are created and then
evaluated for quality.
• Questions that educators could ask
themselves across a series of steps as they
locally develop an assessment.
• Information about sources for assessments
(commercial and open education resources)
to support districts in their procurement
decisions.
CONSIDERATIONS:
TRANSPARENT ASSESSMENTS
Transparent assessments means that
educators know:
• Purpose of the assessment
• What is covered on the assessment
(standards)
• How the assessment was
developed (alignment of items to
standards, etc.)
NON-TRANSPARENT
ASSESSMENTS
Example Scenario
•
Assessment was obtained from an outside source
and dropped into the class
•
Training was not provided related to purpose,
contents of assessment (and/or information was
not accessible)
•
Students completed the assessments without
educators knowing anything about the questions
•
Educators have to trust that questions are aligned
to standards but do not have any way to confirm
•
Results came back without them being tied to
standards or useable by educators
NON-TRANSPARENT
ASSESSMENTS
Take 5 minutes…
1. Think of an example of
non-transparent assessment that
you have used in your district.
2. Discuss at your table.
Then we’ll popcorn around the room and
ask for tables to share out.
TRANSPARENT ASSESSMENTS
Example Scenario
•
Assessment was developed locally (or obtained
from outside source) and reflects same standards
that drive local curriculum
•
Training was provided related to purpose, contents
of assessment (and accompanying information is
accessible)
•
Educators are familiar with questions or types of
questions and can confirm the alignment of the
questions to the standards.
•
Results are tied to standards and useable by
educators.
TRANSPARENT ASSESSMENTS
Take 5 minutes…
1. Think of an example of
transparent assessment that you
have used in your district.
2. Discuss at your table.
Then we’ll popcorn around the room and
ask for tables to share out.
TYPE
Summative
Interim
Formative
PURPOSE
TYPES OF DECISIONS TO BE
INFORMED
Used to provide

culminating evidence
of performance

against a defined
learning target

Mid-cycle
Results can be
meaningfully
aggregated and
reported alongside
summative


Used to identify how 
teachers can adjust
instruction to increase 
learning
What standards has each student
mastered?
What grade does each student
receive?
Predictive: What performance can
be anticipated on the summative
assessment?
Evaluative: Is the curricular program
or strategy effective?
Instructional: How should the
instruction and curriculum be
adapted to better meet student
needs?
Where can we improve instruction
right away?
Which students need specific help?
ASSESSMENT CRITERIA USE
Flexibly developed so that it can be
used to evaluate specific
assessments, including:
• Locally developed assessments
• Commercially developed assessments
• Assessments from outside resources,
including open educational resources
CRITERIA
Criteria
1. Clear Purpose
Why am I assessing?
2. Clear Learning Target(s)
What am I assessing?
3. Quality Assessment
How can I assess it well?
4. Proper Test Administration
How will I ensure test
conditions do not interfere
with a student’s ability to
perform well on a test?
5. Effective Communication of
Results
How will I share results for
maximum impact?
HOW TO READ THE CRITERIA
TABLES
ASSESSMENT GUIDANCE
REVIEW
• Page through the Assessment
Guidance document and discuss it at
your table.
• Write down any questions or feedback
you have, then we’ll go around the
room to answer questions.
FEEDBACK
Feedback on the Assessment Guidance is
welcomed and will be collected through the
Summer Assessment Institute:
http://www.cosa.k12.or.us/events/2014-oregonsummer-assessment-institute
Please send suggestions to Cristen McLean
(cristen.mclean@state.or.us).