WHAT IS THE STATE AND NATIONAL CONTEXT? ALIGNING ASSESSMENT BETWEEN SECONDARY AND POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION

SETTING THE CONTEXT Shifting labor market needs- high school diploma no longer enough for a livable wage Evolution of the blurring the lines between secondary and postsecondary education Issues of developmental education/ remediation in higher education for traditional pipeline Assessment plays a key role in the disconnect between systems…

MINNESOTA’S EVOLVING FRAMEWORK Every Minnesota student will... Graduate from HS- post-secondary and career ready If ready, access college level credit opportunities while in high school If not on track, receive target interventions in foundational skills earlier to assure ready when they graduate Understand the college and career options to match the labor market and their skills and interest academic criterion+ soft skills/ non-cognitive= post- secondary ready/ career ready

THE DISCONNECT 50% of recent high school graduates nationally access college needing a minimum of 1 developmental course, 48% in MN according to the Get Prepared Report 2010 Adding time to degree completion and adding tuition costs College completion rates 2009 Minnesota- 6 year rate for baccalaureate degree 60.2%, 3 year associate degree 29.6% 25% of current jobs require a bachelors degree or higher nationally…many opportunities require 2 year degree or less

ASSESSMENT 101 Norm Referenced ACT SAT Used for admissions purposes at the 4 year college and university level Criterion Referenced Compass (national) Accuplacer (national) Used for course placement in colleges MCA (state) Used for NCLB accountability

CURRENT STATUS OF ACT IN MN 72% of Minnesota graduating high students take ACT- Over 80% take Explore and PLAN 36% of those students pass ACT benchmarks in all areas Mapping of Minnesota State Standards to ACT ELA Standards Grade 8: 2 out of 4 strands Grades 9-10: 2 out of 4 strands Grades 11-12: 3 out of 4 strands Math Grade 8: 4 out of 4 strands High School: 3 out of 3 strands

ACT BENCHMARKS IN MN

ACT FOR ESEA/ NCLB States requiring ACT for ESEA Accountability Illinois Michigan Legislative action was required Cautioned regarding issues with accommodations with ACT for LEP/ ELL and IEP students Costs higher than anticipated- retesting Administrative changes- based on ACT time to give test Limited peer review Questions regarding tiered diplomas

NATIONAL VIEW ON POST-SECONDARY READINESS 11 states mandate high school students take college entrance exam 9 ACT- AL,CO, IL, KY, LA, MI, MS, ND,WY 2 SAT- DE, ME 2 ACT or SAT-ID, TN 16 states have policies mandating/voluntary high school students take college and career assessments 9 ACT products - AL, AK, AR, KY, MN, ND, SC, TN, WV 5 SAT products- GA, IN, ME, MD, SC 2 State Developed- CA and FL

EARLY MODELS OF STATE ALIGNMENT Florida PERT exam-college entrance Developed by college faculty and high school teachers, aligned standards Students not on track required to take college developmental course (taught by high school teacher) while in high school for high school credit aligned to college standards California EAP- offers pathway to be exempt from college placement testing Aligned to California High School Exit Exam Take the exam in 11 th grade to be eligible for early college options If not on track, student is required to take additional high school courses to increase readiness

TEXAS MODEL Establish state definitions of college and career readiness standards End of the course exams in Algebra II and English III aligned to college entrance Development of courses (jointly k-12, public higher ed.) to be given in 12 th grade if student doesn’t pass the end of the course exam Now working with College Board and Accuplacer to customize exams

IMPACT OF COMMON CORE ON ASSESSMENT 45 states adopted Development of 2 consortia to align high school exits exams with college readiness 23 states- Partnership for Assessment of College Career (PARCC) 28 states- SMARTER Balanced Assessment Consortium (SBAC) 16 states when completed plan to adopt and use for both high school exit exams and entrance/placement into college courses

EVOLUTION OF DIAGNOSTIC TESTING Identify skill gaps and tailor/ customize individual student remediation College Board- (Accuplacer Diagnostic) and Pearson- My Foundation Lab ($1.50 a unit) Is tied to software to customize remediation- Pearson ACT Diagnostics (Compass Diagnostic) ($1.61 a unit) Is tied to software to customize remediation- PLATO

POINTS TO PONDER? What aspects of these models could/ should be replicated in Minnesota? Recognizing our students go to many different post- secondary experiences how do we frame being inclusive of these different options? How do we assure we have a mechanism in place to identify early if a student is not on track and provide targeted intervention while in high school? Which options offer the clearest and most transparent options for our varied stakeholders?