Maryland Assessment Group Conference November 21, 2013

NCSC Core State Partners 2

NCSC Organization Partners

Implementation in Maryland is

Maryland’s Community of Practice Regional Community of Practice (CoP) Teams –Six Regional CoP Implement Model Curricula; provide feedback prior to the assessment implementation for refinement Assist with providing professional development to support teachers 6

Maryland Community of Practice Teams – Northern* Baltimore City Baltimore County Harford – Central* Anne Arundel Howard Montgomery Prince George’s – Upper Eastern Shore* Caroline Cecil Kent Queen Anne’s Talbot – Lower Eastern Shore Dorchester Somerset Wicomico Worchester – Western* Allegany Carroll Frederick Garrett Washington – Southern* Calvert Charles St. Mary’s 7

Alt-MSA Facilitators will Co-Chair a Region Up to 23 CoP Team Members Administrators, Special Educators, General Educators and Related Service Providers –Speech Pathologist –Assistive Technology Specialist –OT, PT specialists –Teacher of Visually Impaired and Deaf/Hard of Hearing –Content Specialist – Reading/ELA, Mathematics –Regular and Special Education Teacher –Autism Specialist –Principal/AP – Comprehensive School and Special School –Non-public School Representative Community of Practice Teams 8

NCSC Professional Development Framework

NCSC Assessment Delivery Technology-based – Flexibility for presentation on devices/ platforms – Universal Design for Learning (UDL) – Accommodations built-in – Adaptive and multi-tiered Four Complexity Tiers: Each tier is based on student performance. As students answer questions, their performance will determine which tier of questions they answer next.

Item Types Types of test items (up to 30 Items per content) – multiple choice – Short constructed response – Performance tasks Line drawings vs. illustrations 13

Administration of NCSC Assessment Testing window of approximately two months Approximately 1.5 to 2 hours per content area, divided between at least two sessions with flexibility to stop and resume Some students will qualify to take a shorter assessment based on evidence collected before and during the assessment A trained testing administrator familiar to the student (e.g., the student’s teacher)

Four levels of complexity for test items

Assessment Outcomes Total score and performance level for each content, mathematics and ELA, which will combine reading and writing. Separate information for writing will be provided, such as a raw score and/or narrative description of student performance. At the total score level for each content area, scores will be comparable within a year and across years.

Let’s Review The Alt-MSA and NCSC Comparison Crosswalk Document!

Maryland’s Transition Timeline to NCSC NCSC Produces Classroom Curriculum, Content Support, and Begins Sample Field Testing Maryland Establishes CoP NCSC Develops Final Test Items/Reporting System, Completes Sample Field Testing, Sets Cut Scores, Begins Validation Studies and Development of Technical Report Maryland Provides Professional Development to CoP on Curriculum Resource Materials Maryland Develops Communication Initiative Maryland Shares Parent Resources on NCSC NCSC Completes Validation Studies and Development of Technical Report/Alternate Assessment System is Pilot-Field tested/NCSC Standard Setting is held (Summer 2015) Maryland Provides Professional Development with Support from CoP on NCSC Curriculum Resources Maryland Provide Professional Development on Participation Guidelines and Resource Tools Maryland Continues to Provide Professional Development on NCSC Curriculum Resources Maryland Fully Implements NCSC Assessment

What can teachers do now to prepare for the new assessment?

Communicative and Instructional Practices 1.Embed the use of technology during instruction and assessment. 2.Provide access to communication within content-based instruction for every student. 3.Provide multiple means of research-based presentation, representation and action, and expression (UDL). 4.Provide daily, appropriate, and individualized accommodations.

Thank You! The contents of this presentation were developed under a grant from the Department of Education (PR/Award #: H373X100002, Project Officer, However, the contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education and no assumption of endorsement by the Federal government should be made.