AMGEN FOUNDATION
4.
Request Summary
§ Project title, start and end dates Working Title: Creating a Scientifically Literate
Citizenry through Performance Assessment
§ Number of beneficiaries: 20-25 teachers (2000-3000 students/year)
§ Alignment with Amgen Foundation funding priority areas: Community Life, Science
Education
§ Type of support: Program Support, Operating Support, Planning/Evaluation, Research
Support, Capital Support, Endowment
§ Primary geography served: Rhode Island
§ Requested amount
§ Total project budget
§ Total annual organizational operating budget
§ Currency (Europe only)
5.
Project Details
Describe the problem or community need that the project addresses[MB1]
We live in age that requires individuals to be scientifically, mathematically and technologically
literate. In addition, there is increasing demand in the workplace for strong scientific knowledge
and skills, and a shrinking pool of qualified individuals for highest growth industries. There are
two educational challenges:
1) How can science education be organized so students take greater ownership for mastering
the skills, knowledge and dispositions necessary for navigating their lives in the 21 st century?
2) How can science education be designed to capture students’ imagination, passion and
aspirations, which impels to them toward having careers in scientific fields?
In 20xx, the Governor’s Workforce Board (GWB), commissioned by Rhode Island (RI) Governor
Gina Raimondo, identified priority industry sectors (e.g., bioscience, robotics, information
technology); many of these require individuals to have strong scientific background in order to
be successful. Thinking about how RI high school graduation requirements can make science
more explicitly relevant in students’ lives can be used as a high leverage strategy to build a
more scientifically literate citizenry, and potentially increase the numbers of individuals who
career in science.
The RI Board of Regents has established the following minimum graduation requirements:
1) Successful completion of a minimum of 20 courses,
2) Demonstrated proficiency in six core academic areas,
3) Successful completion of two performance assessments; and
4) Demonstrated success on standardized tests (now transitioning from New England Common
Assessment Program (NECAP) to Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and
Careers (PARCC)).
As the state transitions from NECAP to PARCC during the next two years, an opportunity has
been created to examine other ways students demonstrate mastery in their subjects. With the
introduction of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), performance assessments are
seen as strong educational option to cultivate the cross-cutting scientific reasoning skills. CCE
defines performance assessments as multi-step assignments with clear criteria, expectations
and processes that measure how well a student transfers knowledge and applies complex skills
to create or refine an original product. Student mastery of scientific knowledge, skill and
reasoning can be accurately assessed through their performance on tasks. Providing learning
experiences that allow students to demonstrate their understanding makes science more
relevant and compelling. Through their successes, more students may discover a vocation.
Describe your proposed intervention for the problem above
The proposed project will build the high school teacher capacities to create, implement and
score student work of NGSS-based, performance assessments that align with foundational
scientific knowledge, skills and dispositions required by the GWB priority industry sectors.
For this year-long project, CCE will identify and recruit a cohort of 20-25 science teachers from
3-5 Rhode Island high schools who will receive support in building their capacities through:
1. Quarterly professional development sessions in which they learn how to create,
implement and develop scoring norms in assessing student work of NGSS-based, performance
assessments;
2.
Four days of onsite coaching to targeted technical assistance to the participating schools;
3. Individual task validation review for each of 20-25 teacher-developed tasks by
performance assessment development experts (4 hours/task); and
This work will be guided by the research-based and field-tested Quality Performance
Assessment (QPA) model, protocol and tools by CCE, which focuses on three phases of
performance task design and implementation: 1) Quality aligned instruction, 2) Quality task
design, and 3) Quality data analysis. This guide provides a multitude of protocols and tools that
the participating teachers will learn and use as they build capacity as local trainers to work with
their colleagues.
Quality aligned instruction means instruction and assessment practices are interwoven, aligned
to NGSS, and provide all students with ample learning opportunities and access to a rich and
rigorous curriculum. Quality Task Design enables students to demonstrate mastery of
standards, content, and skills in multiple ways. Quality data analysis involves working in teams
and using protocols to examine teacher assignments and score student work to ensure that
assessments are valid, reliable, free of bias, and provide sufficient evidence of learning that
enable educators to make determinations about student competence. Conclusions from these
analyses are used to provide information to educators for planning future instruction and
providing additional instructional support to students who need it.
Describe your proposed intervention for the problem above
We propose a year-long project, where CCE will identify and recruit a cohort of 20-25 science
teachers from 3-5 Rhode Island high schools who will receive support and professional
development in building their assessment literacy and capacity to create, implement and score
student work of NGSS-based, performance assessments that align with foundational scientific
knowledge, skills and dispositions required by the GWB priority industry sectors.
CCE will train teams of science teachers from participating schools in the major components of
our research-based and field-tested Quality Performance Assessment (QPA) framework which
focuses on three phases of performance task design and implementation: 1) aligned instruction,
2) task design, and 3) data analysis. Specifically, CCE coaches will provide:
1. One full day of orientation and needs assessment for each participating school[ASR1]
2. Four days of professional development/training where all teams learn the key
components of the CCE QPA framework. Topics covered will include task design, calibration,
validation, creation of rubrics, and scoring of tasks using rubrics how to create, implement and
develop scoring norms in assessing student work of NGSS-based, performance assessments;
3. Four days of onsite coaching of targeted technical assistance for each of the participating
schools; and
4. Three-five hour-long, online discussion/presentation/sharing of participating schools’
“lessons learned”
All participants will receive the CCE QPA Guide and science supplement as their primary
resources. The guide and supplement include a number of tools and protocols that the
participating teachers can use and learn as they build capacity as local trainers to work with
their colleagues.
Quality aligned instruction means instruction and assessment practices are interwoven, aligned
to NGSS, and provide all students with ample learning opportunities and access to a rich and
rigorous curriculum. Quality Task Design enables students to demonstrate mastery of
standards, content, and skills in multiple ways. Quality data analysis involves working in teams
and using protocols to examine teacher assignments and score student work to ensure that
assessments are valid, reliable, free of bias, and provide sufficient evidence of learning that
enable educators to make determinations about student competence. Conclusions from these
analyses are used to provide information to educators for planning future instruction and
providing additional instructional support to students who need it.
Describe what other organizations are doing to address this problem and what makes your
approach unique
There are no other organizations that address this problem the way we do. CCE’s unique
perspective comes from our belief that the most under-utilized assessment resource in the
country is classroom teachers. We believe locally-created performance assessments that are
embedded into existing school curriculum, and guided by state educational standards and
workforce opportunities, make learning more meaningful for students, and create greater
educational coherence in a school’s instructional program. This is time-intensive work that
other organizations are not willing to commit.
Additionally, CCE is in a unique position to help address this problem in the state of Rhode
Island. We are currently engaged in two initiatives with the Rhode Island Department of
Education (RIDE). One, we recently started the third year of a four-year project with RIDE’s
Office of Multiple Pathways to support the implementation of the state’s Proficiency-based
Graduation requirements (PBGR). We are working with sixteen high schools from across the
state. Some schools are receiving training to be demonstration sites for other schools to learn
from their existing performance assessment practices. Others are making a concerted effort to
strengthen their work in meeting PBGR. Two, we are also in the first year of a four-year
contract with RIDE and the Center for Assessment to support state implementation of its
comprehensive assessment systems and its high school diploma system.
We have experience working with state departments of education to facilitate systemic
adoption of locally-created, curriculum-embedded performance assessments. Over the past
several years, CCE has worked with the New Hampshire Department of Education to create a
statewide, teacher-developed task bank of performance assessments, and facilitated trainings
to over 200 K-12 educators to build their capacity to create performance assessments. Our
efforts contributed to the state receiving a waiver from the United States Department of
Education to pilot a first-in-the-nation, accountability strategy that reintegrates assessment and
accountability by using a balance of multiple measures with an emphasis on common
performance assessments rather than only using standardized tests.
Explain how you define success for this project[MB2]
There are four key outcomes that will define success for this project:
1.
The recruitment, participation and commitment of 3-5 high schools and teams of
science teachers to build their capacity in using and implementing performance assessments as
part of their practice.
2.
The establishment of a high school science teacher network that shares lessons learned
and effective practices related to use of performance assessments,
3.
Evidence of participants’ (1) positive reaction and satisfaction with training provided, (2)
learning and (3) use of new skills and knowledge
By developing partnerships with and assisting 3 to 5 client schools in implementing high-quality
performance assessments in service of national standards and state goals, the Center for
Collaborative Education will set the stage for ongoing improvements in teacher quality in
science and student outcomes in science learning and achievement.
[MB1]We may also want to consider how this work connects with RIDE’s strategic plan.
[MB2]This still needs to be fleshed out. These are just my leading thoughts. Look forward to
your feedback.
Budget - First Draft
Service
Cost
Orientation1
$4,500
Needs Assessment2
$3,750
Professional Development Sessions
$36,000
School-specific Technical Assistance
$30,000
Project Management with RIDE and CCE team3
Subtotal (excluding evaluation)
QPA Books w/science supplement
$7,500
$81,750
$750
Travel
$2,500
Total
$85,000
Evaluation4
Total
1
If Scaling Up PBG schools are selected to participant in this project, there will be no need to do
outreach. However, if we do outreach, we’ll need to think about how we charge for this work.
2
Assumption: Scaling Up PBG application questions and/or QPA section of PLN Needs Assessment can
be revised into a Needs Assessment for this project. Development of Needs Assessment and review of
NA account for the prep
3
Built-in assumption that this will take significant time that funder will not pay for.
4
Needs to include travel budget