Science Assessment Update
WSTA Conference, October 2015, Shorecrest High School
Agenda

Development of the next generation of science assessments

State testing in the mean time
Science Assessment Staff
• Dawn
•
dawn.cope@k12.wa.us
• Kara
•
Todd—Elementary Assessment Specialist
kara.todd@k12.wa.us
• Cinda
•
Cope—Secondary Assessment Specialist (Lead)
Parton—Director of Assessment Development
cinda.parton@k12.wa.us
• Jessica
•
Cole—Administrative Assistant
jessica.cole@k12.wa.us
Science Teaching & Learning Staff
• Ellen
•
Ebert—Science Director
ellen.ebert@k12.wa.us
• Amber
•
McCulloch—K-12 Science Specialist
amber.mcculloch@k12.wa.us
• Rochelle
Gandour-Rood—Environmental and
Sustainability Education, Program Supervisor
•
rochelle.gandourrood@k12.wa.us
• Sultana
•
Shah—Administrative Assistant
sultana.shah@k12.wa.us
General Science email account:
 science@k12.wa.us
Stay informed and get involved

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 Go
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
Check calendar posted at:
http://www.k12.wa.us/Science/ProfDevelopment.aspx
Next Generation of Science Assessment
Development and Implementation
New Learning Standards = New Assessment

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) adopted as our
state science learning standards in October of 2013

Official name:
Washington State 2013 K-12 Science Learning Standards
Current assessment timeline—At the
earliest…
 Fall
2015: begin development of assessment
 Spring
2016: limited pilot test
 Spring
2017: full pilot test
 Spring
2018: operational test for entire state
Major assessment shifts…

All the tested grade levels (5, 8, and high school) will
be tested online

Science and Engineering Practices (SEPs) embedded
throughout

Comprehensive for high school:
 all

of the domains—PS, LS, ESS, ETS—will be tested
Grade 5 test to assess 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade standards
Steps to building a new assessment:

Develop item specifications from standards

Determine the test map/blueprint

Develop test items

Develop Achievement Level Descriptors (ALDs) from
standards

Administer an operational test

Set achievement levels (Standard Setting)
Science Assessment Item Collaborative
SAIC—January 2014

Led by CCSSO, Achieve, and WestEd

Membership includes 14 states and the Virgin Islands
 Arkansas
 Massachusetts
 California
 Michigan
 Connecticut
 Nevada
 Delaware
 Oregon
 Hawaii
 Washington
 Illinois
 West Virginia
 Kentucky
 Virgin Islands
 Maryland
SAIC Products

Assessment Framework document

Item Specification Guidelines document

Prototype items
Item Specifications—began spring 2015
What can be asked on a statewide assessment?
 What types of items will be used?


Contributing documents:
A Framework for K-12 Science Education
 NRC Report: Developing Assessments for the NGSS
 Washington State 2013 K-12 Science Learning Standards (NGSS)
 Evidence Statements (from Achieve)
 Assessment Framework (from Science Assessment Item Collaborative—SAIC)
 Item Specifications Guidelines (from SAIC)


Washington Item Specifications

Will be revised through stages of the assessment development cycle

First published in fall 2017, revised annually
Test map/blueprint—begin fall 2015
What percent of the test will be about what part of the
standards?
 How many items will be on the test?
 What item types will be used?
 What information will be reported?

Resources and processes:

Assessment Framework (SAIC)

Educator/public input via web surveys—Sept/Oct 2015

Meeting with teachers to make recommendations—Summer 2016?
Test Item Development

Cluster Development*—October 2015, March 2016

Content Review*—December 2015, July 2016

Bias/Sensitivity Review—December 2015, July 2016

Pilot Testing—Spring 2016, Spring 2017

Pilot Range Finding*—Summer 2016, Summer 2017

Content Review with Data*—Fall 2016, Fall 2017

Achievement Level Descriptors*—2016

First Operational Exams—Spring 2018

Achievement Level Setting*—Summer 2018
*Educator Committees
Piloting


Spring 2016: limited pilot test

Grades 5 and 8

Pilot items embedded in online operational MSP
Spring 2017: full pilot test

Grades 5 and 8, embedded in online operational MSP

High School, separate online pilot test
Operational Test

Alignment Study (teachers)—winter 2018

Test administered in spring 2018
 5th
grade
 8th
grade
 High

school
Scores not available until fall 2018 because of
Achievement Level Setting meeting in summer 2018
Decisions pending:

At what grade level will high school students be tested?

Which cohort will have to pass the new high school
assessment in order to graduate?

Will the Biology EOC continue to be available as a
graduation option? If so, for how long?
What about the graduation requirement?


Legislative intent regarding high school science assessment
 2013
Engrossed House Bill 1450
 2015
Senate Bill 6145
Classes of 2017 and beyond must pass the science exam to
graduate
 Biology
EOC until a comprehensive NGSS Test is
administered (Spring 2018)
 Transition
period where either the biology EOC or the high
school NGSS assessment could be used for graduation
purposes, much like math’s transition to Smarter Balanced
assessments.
Questions?
State testing in the mean time…
Federal assessment requirements:

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) requires that our state’s
science standards must be assessed:
Once in elementary school (we give Measurements of Student
Progress in 5th grade)
 Once in middle school (we give MSP in 8th grade)
 Once in high school (we give Biology End-of-Course exam)


We will continue to give these assessments through spring
2017 at least
 Items
are written to the 2009 science standards
 Scored and equated the same way as we have since 2011 (MSP)
and 2012 (Bio EOC)
Scores—percent passing
5th MSP
8th MSP
Bio EOC-10th
2011
55.6
61.6
—
2012
66.2
66.3
61.3
2013
66.6
64.8
71.5
2014
66.8
67.2
77.7
2015
63.4
60.7
72.5
Measurements of Student Progress
Online testing encouraged, same engine as ELA/Math
assessments
 Paper/pencil testing still available
 Resources available:





Teacher Resource page:
http://www.k12.wa.us/Science/EducatorResources.aspx
Updates documents—practice questions
Scoring Training videos—how some short-answer questions are
scored
Online Training test
Biology EOC

Paper/pencil

Resources available:

Teacher Resource page:
http://www.k12.wa.us/Science/EducatorResources.aspx

Updates documents—practice questions

Scoring Training videos—how some short-answer questions are
scored
Alternatives for ELL and Spec Ed

MSP and EOC available in 6 translation languages

Spanish, Russian, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Somali

IEP can designate Level 2 (Basic) to meet graduation
requirement

DAPE is now the “Off-Grade Level” assessment


Online in November and March
WA-Access to Instruction & Measurement (WA-AIM)
 More
info: Toni Wheeler, Alternate Assessment Coordinator
Toni.Wheeler@k12.wa.us
Who Takes the Biology EOC?

Current Graduation Requirement: Class of 2017 and beyond

Winter (January/February) 2016


Students (class of 2017+) who took EOC previously and did not meet
standard

Students (class of 2017+) completing a biology course mid-year
Spring 2016

Any student (class of 2017+) enrolled in a high school level biology
course

All 10th graders who have not yet met standard

Meets the high school science testing requirement of NCLB
CAA Options Available for Biology EOC

GPA comparison

ACT—

Advanced Placement (AP) score of 3 or higher:


Biology, Physics, Chemistry, or Environmental Sciences
International Baccalaureate(IB) score of 4 or higher:


A score of 16 or higher on the science portion of the ACT.
Biology, Physics, Chemistry
Biology Collection of Evidence (COE)—next submission in
June 2016 for the class of 2017

For more information:

http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/CAAoptions/default.aspx
Questions?