1. Introduction to GlobalScholar Performance Series for School Implementation Teams Jasper City Schools
Introduce yourself.
Introduce Performance Series:
ALSDE offers Performance Series as an assessment available to all schools.

2. INTRODUCTION Mission Statement
Scantron’s Testing and Assessment Division provides high quality technology-based assessment solutions for the immediate, accurate and reliable capture of student performance data necessary to impact instruction and inform leadership.
*Not in guide.
Very brief read-aloud.
Copyright © 2012 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

3. GlobalScholar Performance Series* Achievement Series**
*Phase One Training; will allow valid, reliable local benchmark testing in reading, language arts, and math
Achievement Series**
**Training to come later; will provide platform for administering local benchmarks in science and social studies (Data Director to be used for these now)
[Skills Connection Online]
for targeted instructional aids where students need intervention
Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

4. Alabama Department of Education Role in GlobalScholar Implementation
Selected GS through rigorous, competitive application process
Gives all Alabama school districts free access to online formative, interim, and benchmark assessment options – announced July 31, 2012
State assistance with implementation issues
GS “on the ground” with full-time support in Alabama
Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

5. Session Goals Understand the computer-adaptive testing model
Identify best practices for testing students on PS
Become acquainted with PS reports
Make plans for PS implementation at the school level
Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

6. Overview of Performance Series
Online computer-adaptive assessment
Reading (grades 2-12)
Reading Foundations (grades K-2)
Math (K-9th/10th grade [Integrated Geometry])
Life Science (grades 3-8)
Language Arts (grades 3-8)
Algebra
Geometry
Identifies individual student instructional level, independent of enrolled grade-level, in a given content area
“Performance Series is an online computer adaptive assessment available in reading, math, and science. PS uses computer adaptive testing to determine an individual student’s instructional level, in a given content area. Meaning: the student will answer questions to determine his/her learning ability level, regardless of grade level.”
“Computer-Adaptive”- i.e., GRE, GMAT
A chosen way to assess students
Four separate assessments (in the three subject areas)
Math assesses all NCTM strands (Algebra, Number and Ops, Geometry, Measurement and Data Analysis and Prob); Reading assesses Vocab and comprehension (fiction, non-fiction and long passage); Language Arts assesses Grammar and Usage; Science assesses Life Science
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

7. How Can Performance Series Be Helpful for My District?
Provides diagnostic information for educators
Identifies specific needs of students
Helps determine professional development needs
Facilitates communication between parents and educators
Provides information on sub-groups of students
Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

8. Performance Series for Informing Instruction
Teacher/ School-based staff
Instructional Learning Teams/ Learning Communities
Determine root causes
Develop action steps
Identify school and grade successes and interventions
Organize data for easy analysis of classroom and students
Identify class and student successes and interventions
Ask critical questions of the data
Develop growth goals
Monitor progress
Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

9.
Navigate back to or performanceseries.com
Staff member log in- use sample login to access site
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

10. Staff ID: LC0183 (not case sensitive)
Log in to PS Site
Site ID: See list
Staff ID: See list
Password: See list OR
Log in to Demo Site
Site ID:
Staff ID: LC0183 (not case sensitive)
Password: alabama1 (case sensitive)
Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

11. REVIEW TRAINING RESOURCES; CLICK ON “DOCUMENTS” (far right)
Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

12. Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

13. Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

14. Organize students by alphabetical or scaled score.
Classroom Profile
Quickly assess which students have not yet completed testing for the current window.
Can be used as new criteria to organize student groups within the classroom.
Organize students by alphabetical or scaled score.
When teachers view the Classroom Report, they will see performance ratings for their students based on a comparison to national averages.
This report is found in PS in the Classroom Area or Classroom tab.

15. Suggested Learning Objectives View
AL Course of Study, and the College Career & Readiness Standards (Common Core)
The Performance Series test is aligned to three standards documents for Alabama – College Career and Readiness Standards (Common Core), ACT standards, and the Alabama Course of Study.
The Performance Series test is aligned to three standards documents for Alabama – College Career and Readiness Standards (Common Core), ACT standards, and the Alabama Course of Study.

16. Classroom Profile View
College, Career, and Readiness Standards and Alabama Course of Study

17. Traditional Assessments
Normal Distribution Curve
“Traditional Assessments give us good information about the majority of our students, about the middle performers, generally our students who are performing on grade level ( reference 68%). However, it’s the students on either end of the distribution- our higher performing students, and our students who are struggling to complete their on-grade tests- that are most difficult to target with supplemental instruction. While PS is a great tool to use with all students, it is of particular usefulness with the lower and higher-performing students in your class because it allows you to see exactly what their performance level is in standards-based language. This way you can create enrichment or remedial activities to keep knowledge growing regardless of enrolled grade level.
Students on either end will be higher performing or lower level performing – where do I go to meet them in the blue areas, bring them forward
When standardized tests are given, the range of student scores can fall anywhere between 0 and 100% (click for line to show).
As we know in education, students can fall anywhere within this range. If we look at the typical distribution of scores, it will fall into what is known as a normal distribution curve (click to show curve) where the majority of students fall within one standard deviation from the mean (click to highlight the 68%). The students that score within this range are typically those students who are functioning at grade level, and those tests tell us whether these students have mastered or not mastered the content/standards that were tested.
However, what about those students who exceed grade level content (click to highlight upper 16%) or who fall below the grade level skills being measured (click to add lower 16%)? These typical grade-level assessments do not provide the detail necessary to know what skills these students actually should be taught.
Performance Series can help determine what skills these students CAN do and what skills they need to work on. Performance Series will adapt to the student’s performance level, regardless of grade level, to help define the skills the student needs to be taught to help them progress within the content area.” 0%
100%
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

18. Computer-Adaptive Assessments
Add whole numbers without regrouping
Determine the probability of a simple event
Add 3-digit numbers with regrouping
Determine the graphs of functions
Solve problems using compound loci
Identify squares, rectangles, and circles
ACT PSD.3
Determine area of prisms, cylinders, and cones
Compare fractions using <, >, or =
IL /ACT XEI.3
How do CATs work?
PS has collected skills (click to see sample set), based on a National knowledge base of what students need to know, across the country.
Once those skills are collected, they are then aligned by level of difficulty (click to align). This aligns the skills with least difficult at the bottom and most difficult at the top.
After the skills are ordered, they are aligned to the PS scale: (click to show scale).
Next, each skill is aligned according to scale item difficulty, and will match closely to a number on our scale (click to show specific skills). From there, we are able to identity the skills to match the State standards (click to show standard coding).
Therefore, when the student goes on to take an assessment, the student will answer questions based on how these skills, and move up and down the scale depending on how he/she is answering the questions. When the student begins to answer consistently on the same level, the computer can confidently give the student a Scaled Score (represented by the green line; click for it): Below green line is what student is expected to know and do correctly, above green line is what student needs to work towards.
Determine conversions within the metric system
Determine mean, median and mode of a given set of numbers
Compare and order numbers to 100
ILAF
*Visual representation not drawn to scale
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved. 18

19. Page 8 Scaled Score ranges from 1300 to 3700
Student begins test one grade level below enrolled grade-level
Future tests begin where last test ended
This slide shows a sample path for a 4th grade student as she would go through the assessment. You will see the Scaled Score listed on the left, and a number of questions along the bottom.
“The student logs in, and enters the SITE ID, telling the program where they go to school; the STUDENT ID is entered telling the program who is assessing. The first time the student take the test, it will begin below their enrolled grade level. As the student answers questions correctly and incorrectly, this is when the actual assessment is being created. Notice this student entered the assessment, got the first few questions incorrect, then answered one correctly. This is because the program is using all of the prior testing information to determine which question to show next. The program is adjusting to her ability. the test is trying to identify a level where the student will answer consistently on one level (as shown on the right side of the screen). This is the point where the computer will stop the assessment, and give the students a Scaled Score (represented by the green line and a 4-digit number).”
Typically, it takes the student minutes to complete an assessment. However, this will vary from student to student. Because the students are seeing different questions, based on how they answer, it may take a shorter or longer amount of time for the students to finish the test.
If it is the case that the student is answering questions longer than a class period, or the teacher runs out of class time, the student may start and stop the test as many times as needed within two weeks. After two weeks, it will erase and “spoil” (delete), and the student will start again from the beginning.
Amount of questions dependent on how student is answering (SEM reference)
Mention that the assessment goes through all strands of content areas (i.e., Algebra, Numbers and Ops)
Wholistic Diagnostic (entire content area- not specific to sub-units)
Different for every student
Page 8
Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved. 19

20. Proctoring Performance Series Assessments
Schedule the computer lab
Determine assessment populations
Block sufficient time & computers
Secure Site ID & Student IDs
Prepare the computers for assessing
Turn off screen savers and pop-up blockers
Ensure the mouse and monitor on each machine are functioning properly
Print proctoring scripts
Ensure headphones are available at each computer
Copyright © 2008 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

21. Performance Series Scores
How Performance Series scores can help gauge student achievement
Scaled Score
Unit Score Ranges (USR)
National Percentile Ranking (NPR)
After student takes assessment you will get a number of scores. The three scores a student will receive for every assessment in PS are: SS, USR, Lexile
These scores will help you gauge how student is achieving
There are additional scores that we will discuss once we log in to the system and view reports.
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

22. Scaled Score
PQ: How does the Scaled Score compare to other scoring systems you have used?
Scaled Score is our “educational yardstick”,
As the student “grows” throughout the year and over years, this is the score to look to monitor longitudinal progress.
Scale stays the same throughout the program so the teacher can track growth and progress over an extended period of time.
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

23. Scaled Score Scaled Score = Student to Content
Here is a sample of the SS will look like on the student profile. The SS is in bold, and circled in red. The four digit number can be interpreted using the Placement Indicators. Use Placement Indicators to interpret the four-digit number, based on the student’s grade-level and time of year.
*At this point, you can have the participants remember the SS; leave the ppt and open the Placement Indicators doc. to navigate. This would also be a good time to hand out the Placement Indicators to the participants.
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved. 23

24. USR = Student to Unit Content
The USRs are below the SS.
The USR is an independent estimate of ability that is based on responses from each unit within a subject, with a confidence interval (range) based upon 1 SEM (+/-). The USR represents the possible range that a student may score, within each unit, if he or she was to take the test over again. It is a direct measure of student performance that will allow educators to measure unit-based growth.
Page 9
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved. 24

25. Why is there an N/A in my report?
No NPR indicates a test taken outside of the testing window.
No test taken OR
Pending test (paused or in progress)
Completed only vocabulary portion of Reading test
Just want to note what N/A means

26. SUPPORT
Contact
Issue
Contact Information
Performance Series Technical Support
Browser Issues
Site functionality
Issues with delivering
assessment/data source systems or
District Location Controllers
Initial Login Support
Training support
Interpretation of scores
Locating reports
General PS information and/or questions
Return to this screen (ppt) after reviewing teacher reports and targeted instruction.
Alabama Regional Training team contact info to be coming soon…
Contact administrator (i.e., principal) for site id/ log in
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.

27. THANK YOU!
Copyright © 2010 Scantron Corporation. All rights reserved.