Smarter Balanced
in Washington
Preparing for the Transition
Webinar #2
February 4, 2014
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Division of Assessment and Student Information
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Organization of Webinars Series

Future webinars are scheduled for 3:30-4:30 PM on:
February 27 March 20 April 9 May 13
June 10
July 15
August 13

PowerPoint and answers to questions raised during the
webinar are posted on OSPI Smarter Balanced web-page;
audio recording of webinar is included

We will minimize repeating previously provided
information, so please check the webpage.
02/04/2014 Slide 1
Improving Teaching & Learning
Common
Core State
Standards
specify
K-12
expectations
for college
and career
readiness
Summative:
College and career
readiness
assessments for
accountability
Teachers and
schools have
information and
tools they need to
improve teaching
and learning
Formative
resources:
Supporting
classroom-based
assessments to
improve instruction
All students
leave
high school
college
and career
ready
Interim:
Flexible and open
assessments, used
for actionable
feedback
2
But first….
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION


We have been getting two overarching questions about
the new state assessment system:
1. What parts of the system will OSPI provide?
Summative, Interim and Formative tools (Digital
Library)
2. Will districts have to pay for the Interim
assessments or Digital Library?
No
The costs of the summative tests are covered by the
state, unless you choose to administer
paper/pencil
02/04/2014 Slide 3
Summative Field Tests
Getting Ready for the Tests
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Field Testing Updates

Still waiting for USED approval on request to
avoid double testing

We have alerted the Department of Ed that due
to the late date, we will not be double-testing.
02/04/2014 Slide55
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Training and Resources

The TIDE Training Module is now available. You can
access the modules on the Smarter Balanced Field Test
portal, or through the OSPI Smarter Balanced webpage.

The TIDE Training Module is a supporting document to
the TIDE User Guide, also available on the Smarter
Balanced Field Test portal and the OSPI Smarter Balanced
Webpage.

Test Administration Manual is also now available – posted
on the OSPI Smarter Balanced webpage.
02/04/2014 Slide 6
Training and Resources, continued
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Six of the 9 Field Test training modules have also been
released – posted on Smarter Balanced Field Test portal at
http://sbac.portal.airast.org/fieldtest/resources/
 What is a Field Test?
 Let’s Talk Universal Tools
 What is a CAT? (Computer Adaptive Test)
 Performance Task Overview
 Student Interface for Online Testing
 Technology Requirements for Online Testing

Three more modules are due out Feb 10th.

If you have questions not addressed in these resources,
contact OSPI’s Assessment Operations office.
02/04/2014 Slide 7
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Training Test Overview

In addition to the online training modules, both Practice
Tests and Training Tests are available for users at
http://sbac.portal.airast.org/practice-test/

Purpose of Training Tests: Provide students with an
opportunity to quickly become familiar with the software
and interface features that will be used in the Field Test

Grade Bands:



3-5
6-8
High school
02/04/2014 Slide 8
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Training Test Overview – Cont.

6-9 items per grade band per content area

Non-PT items only

Includes new item types:
 Matching tables (ELA and math)
 Fill in tables (math)
 Evidence-based selected response (ELA)

Includes all universal tools, designated supports and
accommodations
02/04/2014 Slide 9
Comparison of Training Test and Practice Test
Purpose
Grade Levels
Number and
Types of Items
Training Test
Practice Test
Provide students with an
opportunity to quickly become
familiar with the software and
interface features
Provide students with a grade
specific testing experience that is
similar in structure and format to
the Field Test
3 grade bands
• 3-5
• 6-8
• High school
Each grade
• 3-8, 11
Approximately 15 items per
grade band (6 in ELA and 8-9
in math)
Approximately 30 items in ELA
and 30 items in math per grade
level
No Performance Tasks
Includes 1 ELA PT and 1 math PT
per grade level
Universal Tools, All included on Field Test are
Designated
included (including
Supports, and streamlining)
Accommodations
Most included
Refresh scheduled for late April
Scheduled Downtimes
Administration
Practice Test/Training
Test
Field Test
Downtime
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Saturday, April 26 –
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Thursday, April 10 –
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Thursday, May 8 –
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Updates on Field Testing Windows

There are four test administration blocks:
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION




March 18 – April 4
April 7 – April 25
April 28 – May 16
May 19 – June 6 (not for grades 9-10)

Scheduled system downtime for Field Test: April 10-13
(Block 2) and May 8-11, 2014 (Block 3)

If you must change the testing window, do so by Feb 7, by
contacting the OSPI data analysts.

After Feb 7, no test window changes will be allowed.
02/04/2014 Slide 12
Estimated Testing Times for 2014 Field
Test and 2015 Operational Assessment
Test Type
English
Language
Arts
Mathematics
COMBINED
Grades
CAT
Perf.
Task
Only
3-5
1:30
2:00
3:30
:30
4:00
6-8
1:30
2:00
3:30
:30
4:00
11
2:00
2:00
4:00
:30
4:30
3-5
1:30
1:00
2:30
:30
3:00
6-8
2:00
1:00
3:00
:30
3:30
11
2:00
1:30
3:30
:30
4:00
3-5
3:00
3:00
6:00
1:00
7:00
6-8
3:30
3:00
6:30
1:00
7:30
11
4:00
3:30
7:30
1:00
8:30
Total
Class
Activity
Total
Times are estimates of test length for most students. Smarter Balanced assessments are
designed as untimed tests; some students may need and should be afforded more time than
shown in this table.
Updates on Scheduling the Field Tests

All sessions of all tests are untimed.
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Some outdated time limits are available in test specs on Smarter
Balanced website – the consortium is aware and will be removing to
lessen confusion.

The classroom activity, which is designed to introduce the
Performance Task (PT), must occur prior to the PT.

Smarter Balanced recommends that students take the PT and
the non-PT questions on separate days.

There is no prescribed order to giving students the PT or the
Non-PT component first. However, Smarter Balanced
recommends that students begin with the non-PT questions,
followed by the classroom activity, and then the PT.
02/04/2014 Slide 14
Updates on Scheduling the Field Tests
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Non-Performance Task
Questions
Number and
Duration of
Sessions
Breaks within
Sessions
Total Duration
Additional
Required
Resources
Recommendations:
No fewer than two sessions
(recommended) and no
more than six sessions
(rare/extreme)
 Session durations range
from 40 to 60 minutes
Breaks can be provided
during the testing sessions
using the software’s pause
feature. If the test is paused
for more than 20 minutes,
the student will not be able
to go back to items on the
previous screens.
Once a student has started
the non-PT questions, they
will be available for 45 days.
Recommendation: Student
completes this portion
within five days of starting.
Headphones are required for
the listening portion of the
ELA assessment
Classroom Activity
Performance Task (PT)
Recommendations:
 Administer in one session
 Approximate session duration
15 – 30 minutes
 Should occur one to three days
prior to PT
 Should NOT occur on the same
day as the ELA performance task
NA
The performance task is presented in
two parts.
Recommendations:
 Administer in two sessions
corresponding to parts one and two of
the PT
 Session durations range from 60 to
120 minutes
The performance task is presented in
two parts. Students can take breaks
within parts one and two; however,
once a student moves to part two,
he/she will not be able to review or
revise items in part one.
Recommendation: Students complete
part one in one testing session and
part two the next school day.
Once a student has started the PT, it will
be available for 10 days.
Recommendation: Student completes
each part of the PT within one day
NA
NA
Headphones are required for some
performance tasks
02/04/2014 Slide 15
Pre-ID’ing and Data Topic Updates
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Known TIDE Hiccups:
1. Leading zeroes in district code blocking user access:
RESOLVED! Shouldn’t be an issue for student data
upload
2. Confirmation emails not being sent to some users




typically the issue is on the user (district) end; make sure @airast.org is
‘whitelisted’ at both the district and user level
if you’ve received the confirmation email and logging in didn’t work, contact the
Smarter Balanced help desk
if someone in your district has logged in, they are able to view the user list in
detail, so
 have them check the user list - if you’re on it and didn’t receive a temp
password, delete and retry. If that doesn’t work, call the Smarter Balanced
help desk
 if you are not on it, you can be added by a DA-level user
if nobody in your district has received the confirmation and logged in: email
Lucas.Snider@k12.wa.us – I’ll check on who was uploaded
02/04/2014 Slide 16
Pre-ID’ing and Data Topic Updates
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

User Roles
 Begin assigning user roles based on local needs and tasks
defined in user guide

User roles is typically a DDSM responsibility; tasks
should be coordinated by ‘District Administrator’

Treat user role assignment as if it were a secure
accountability assessment (not a field test) – think of
who should have access at which level based on typical
testing processes
02/04/2014 Slide 17
Pre-ID’ing and Data Topic Updates
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Pre-ID - Big upload 10 Feb
 New and moved files; dates
 District level upload and entry tasks




‘Straggler’ records to be uploaded/entered by district
Instructions in TIDE user guide for template or screen entry
Please add as much optional data as possible
SSID and Confirmation Code



SSID: must be unique statewide – school code plus ssid is unique, so
that’s what we’re using (in case of shared ssid across districts, of which
there are plenty in our test pre-ID file)
Confirmation code: used to confirm student identity, so it’s just
student’s first name
The combination of these two elements
02/04/2014 Slide 18
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Security Reminder

The field tests are secure. All test items and test
materials are secure and must be appropriately handled.

Teachers and administrators will NOT have access to
test items. The same professional practices expected on
all state assessments are expected here and
consequences can be administered for violations.
02/04/2014 Slide 19
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Supports and Accommodations

The Usability, Accessibility and Accommodations
Guidelines are available on OSPI’s website:
http://www.k12.wa.us/SMARTER/default.aspx.

Two accommodations/designated supports planned for the
Operational Test will not be available for the Field Test:
Audio Glossary (designated support) and Closed
Captioning (accommodation).

We’ll highlight one or two accommodations in each
webinar.

Today, we’ll highlight translations, but first…
02/04/2014 Slide 20
Supports and Accommodations for
Visually Impaired Students
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Support for students with visual impairments




We have heard the anxiety some are having over supports and
accommodations for students who are visually impaired or
blind (Braille, large print, etc.).
We are working with Smarter Balanced to try to get answers
to the questions that have been forwarded.
We want as many visually impaired/blind students as possible
to participate in the field test. Districts, OSPI and the
consortium will learn from the experience.
We appreciate your patience as we try to navigate the
special needs of these students.
02/04/2014 Slide 21
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Translation as a Designated Support

Designated supports are those features that are available for
use by any student for whom the need has been indicated by
an educator (or team of educators with parent/guardian and
student).

Assigning a designated support does not require
documentation of need in an IEP or 504 plan. It is
recommended that a consistent process be used to determine
these supports for individual students.

Designated supports need to be identified and assigned in the
Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE) prior to
assessment administration.

Students should be familiar with using the designated supports
assigned to them.
02/04/2014 Slide 22
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Translation as an EMBEDDED Designated
Support
Math
Translated Glossaries: for
construct-irrelevant terms
Spanish,Vietnamese,
Arabic, Tagalog/Filipino,
Ilokano, Cantonese,
Mandarin, Korean, Punjabi,
Russian, Ukrainian
Math
Stacked Translations: full
translation of each math item
“stacked” on top of the original
item in English, in addition to any
item test directions.
Spanish
Note: A shift for Washington students is that translations are written, not oral. A
student using the translation support must be literate in the language of translation.
Since construct-relevant terms will not be glossed, the student must be familiar with
the terms in instruction. The assignment of translations is appropriate for students in
a dual language classroom or for students recently arrived in the US who have been
well-schooled in their country of origin.
02/04/2014 Slide 23
Translation as a NON-EMBEDDED
Designated Support
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
ELA
Bilingual/Dual Language
Word-to-Word Dictionary
Only for the full-write
portion of an ELA
performance task (part 2)
Note: A translated glossary will not be available for the Field Test.
02/04/2014 Slide 24
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Translation as an Accommodation

Accommodations are those features available for use by a
student with a documentation of need in an Individualized
Education Program (IEP) or 504 accommodation plan.

Accommodations need to be identified and assigned in
the Test Information Distribution Engine (TIDE) prior to
assessment administration.

Students should be familiar with using the
accommodations assigned to them.
02/04/2014 Slide 25
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Translation as an EMBEDDED
Accommodation
Content is translated into an ASL video: An
ASL human signer and the signed test content are
Math
Listening (ELA) viewed on the same screen. Students may view
portions of the ASL video as often as needed.
ASL
Note: For many students who are deaf or hard of hearing, viewing signs is the only
way to access information presented orally. The use of this accommodation may
result in the student needing additional overall time to complete the assessment.
Closed Captioning:
not available for the
Field Test
Listening (ELA)
To satisfy students who need this
accommodation for the Field Test, the
closed caption accommodation can be
designated in TIDE. With this designation,
the Listening Portion of the ELA test will
be suppressed for these students,
eliminating the need for closed
captioning.
02/04/2014 Slide 26
Summative Operational
Assessments
Assessment Design: ELA (Writing)
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Writing purposes possible in each grade band:



3-5 narrative, opinion, explanatory/informative;
6-8 narrative, explanatory/informative, argumentative;
11 explanatory/informative, argumentative
02/04/2014 Slide 28
Assessment Design: ELA (Writing)
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Writing prompts in the ELA CAT:



One brief write (opinion, narrative, or explanatory/informational)
item, which should take 5-10 minutes.
Machine-scored revision and word choice items that specify a writing
purpose: opinion, narrative, or explanatory/informative.
There are also editing items in the CAT.
02/04/2014 Slide 29
Assessment Design: ELA (Writing)
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Writing in the ELA Performance Tasks (PT):





In the first part of the PT, the student will read sources and answer
3 research questions.
In the second part, students will be asked to write either an
explanatory/informational, narrative, or opinion extended piece of
writing, using the sources they have read.
Students will not know ahead of time which writing purpose they
will be assigned.
The performance task is untimed.
Smarter Balanced recommends the entire performance task be done
in 2 hours, each part taken on a separate day.

02/04/2014 Slide 30
Interim Assessments
We are all life long learners… patiently learning
a little each month about interim assessments
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Interim Assessment Design Principles

Administered through the same system as Summative

Can be administered at various points in the year

Optional for districts
Online administration
Adaptive as appropriate
Adhere to Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations
Guidelines
Items drawn from same pool as Summative; full array of
item types
Not intended for accountability decisions





Slide 32
Page 02/04/2014
32
Interim Assessment Components
Interim
Assessment
Interim
Comprehensive
Assessment (ICA)
Interim Assessment
Blocks
(IAB)
Page 33
Interim Comprehensive Assessments
(ICA): Sample Use Cases
•
Mid-year (e.g., February), a teacher might want to know
how students are doing in preparation for the
summative test, to better know what areas to focus
more efforts/attention on.
•
Beginning of the year, students entered a class from
another state, and the teacher did not have data for
them. A teacher decides to give these students the
previous year’s ICA to complete the data for the class.
Page 34
Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs)
Sample Use Cases
•
•
A teacher is providing focused instruction on opinion in
grades 3-5 writing (argumentative in the higher grades).
Teacher could use a block focused on opinion writing to
determine degree of students’ understanding before or
after the instruction.
An 8th grade math team of teachers wants to be
informed about how their students are doing in
geometry after teaching a geometry unit.
Page 35
IABs for ELA
Current Thinking on Coverage
Proposed Interim Assessment Blocks (IAB)
1
Read Literary Texts
2
Read Informational/Explanatory Texts
3
Write Brief Narrative Text
4
Narrative Performance Task
5
Write Brief Informational/Explanatory Texts
6
Informational Performance Task
7
Write Brief Opinion** Texts
8
Opinion** Performance Task
9
Revise/Edit (across Narrative, Informational/Explanatory, and Opinion texts)
10
Listen/Interpret
11*
Speaking
12
Research
*Placeholder until items are developed
**”Opinion” is “Argumentative” for grades 6-8 and 11
Page 36
IABs for math
Current Thinking on Coverage
Proposed Interim Assessment Blocks (IAB)
Grades 3-5
1
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
2
Numbers and Operations in Base Ten
3
Fractions
4
Geometry
5
Measurement
Proposed Interim Assessment Blocks (IAB)
Grades 6-7
1
Ratios and Proportional Relationships
2
Number System
3
Expressions and Equations
4
Geometry
5
Statistics and Probability
Proposed Interim Assessment Blocks (IAB)
Grade 8
1
Expressions and Equations - I
2
Expressions and Equations - II
3
Functions
4
Geometry
Page 37
IABs for math
Current Thinking on Coverage
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Proposed Interim Assessment Blocks (IAB)
High School
Algebra and Functions
Linear Functions
Quadratics
Exponentials
Polynomials
Radicals
Rationals
Trigonometric
Geometry
Transformations
Right Triangle Ratios
Three-Dimensional Geometry
Proofs
Circles
Applications
Other
Statistics and Probability
Page 38
•
•
Interim Assessment User Interface,
Scoring and Reporting
User interface
– Details for accessing items are not yet determined.
Interim test engine is still in development.
Scoring
– Interim assessments will have various item types, most of
which will be machine scored
– Hand scoring will be a local (school/classroom)
responsibility
– Rubrics and training will be provided
Page 39
•
Interim Assessment User Interface,
Scoring and Reporting, continued
Reporting
– Interim Comprehensive Assessment (ICA)
• Report same information as Summative Assessment
– Overall composite scale score
– Achievement levels
– Claim level information
– Interim Assessment Blocks (IABs)
• Report information consistent with claim level information
– Item level reporting is a future feature (not on current
work plan)
Page 40
Interim Assessments Timeline
OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION

Interim Assessments will be available in late fall of 2014


Initial release will include a fixed form Interim
Comprehensive Assessment (ICA) for each grade level
and content area


Items have to get through field testing, scoring, and standard
setting
Adaptive forms will be available as the item pool allows
Initial release will also include a fixed form Interim
Assessment Block (IAB) for most blocks


Adaptive IABs will be available as the item pool allows
All blocks will have adaptive IABs after 2014-15
02/04/2014 Slide 41
Resources For You!

For the latest news and developments on
Smarter Balanced in Washington:
http://www.k12.wa.us/smarter/default.aspx

For questions about Smarter Balanced or the
assessment system transitions, contact:
Assessment@k12.wa.us 360-725-6348
Thank you!
2007 WASL: Preparing Students to Live, Learn and Work in the 21st Century
8.30.2007 | Slide 43