CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Common Core State Standards Symposium for Special Educators December 2, 2013 Diane Hernandez, Director Assessment Development and Administration Division Assembly Bill 484 Assessment Update

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Transition Milestones SBE adopted Common Core State Standards August 2010 California joined Smarter Balanced June 2011 CDE outreach efforts begin to develop SSPI recommendations for assessment reauthorization March 2012 Smarter Balanced summative assessments to be implemented operationally Spring 2014 Field Test AB 484 (Bonilla) introduced February 19, 2013 Technology Readiness Tool launched March 2012 Technology Strategy Framework and System Requirements Specifications released December 2012 Preliminary test blueprints approved November 2012 SSPI’s recommendations delivered to the Legislature January 8, 2013 Spring 2013 Pilot Test Smarter Balanced awarded four- year RTTT grant September AB 484 signed into law October 2, 2013 Smarter Balanced grant ends September 2014 Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines approved September 2013

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Assembly Bill (AB) 484 Signed into law on October 2, 2013 Establishes California’s new statewide student assessment system, the California Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress (CalMAPP) To review full bill text as enrolled: AB 484 Q&A now available on the California Department of Education (CDE) Web page at 3

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction AB 484 (Cont.) Primary purposes of the CalMAPP system is to assist teachers, administrators, students, and their parents by promoting high-quality teaching and learning through the use of a variety of assessment approaches and item types Allows Local Educational Agencies (LEAs) to focus on transition to Common Core State Standards The full transition to the new assessment system will take place over time. 4

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction AB 484 (Cont.) Outlines assessments in CalMAPP, some of which were used previously as part of the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program Exempts English learners who have been in the United States less than 12 months from taking the English Language Arts (ELA) assessment. 5

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction AB 484 (Cont.) California Alternate Performance Assessment (CAPA) for ELA and math in grades 2 through 11 Science in grades 5, 8, and 10, including California Standards Test (CST), California Modified Assessment (CMA) and CAPA Standards-Based Tests in Spanish (STS) in grades 2–11 −Voluntary for LEAs to administer (State pays for ELA) 6

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction AB 484 (Cont.) CSTs used for Early Assessment Program (EAP) in grade 11: –Voluntary for students, as it has been in previous years –Scores for individuals only–will not produce school, district, or state-level reports from these assessments –Transitions the EAP to the Smarter Balanced grade 11 assessment beginning in 2014–15. 7

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction AB 484 (Cont.) By March 2016, the Superintendent will take to the State Board recommendations to expand CalMAPP to include additional assessments, such as history/social science, technology, and visual and performing arts. Additional assessments in ELA, math, and science may also be recommended. Allows for a variety of item types and assessment modalities (e.g., population sampling, matrix sampling). 8

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction AB 484 (Cont.) Authorizes the Superintendent, with State Board approval, to not produce Academic Performance Index (API) in 2013–14 and 2014–15. Restricts the comparison of certain scores from CalMAPP to STAR Prohibits the display of scores that would identify students or teachers 9

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction AB 484 (Cont.) Calls for independent evaluation of CalMAPP Begins the school year of the first full administration of the consortium computer adaptive assessments, which will be 2014–15 Every three years thereafter For the purpose of continuous improvement of the assessments 10

Smarter Balanced System 11 Common Core State Standards specify K–12 expectations for college and career readiness Common Core State Standards specify K–12 expectations for college and career readiness All students leave high school ready for college and career Teachers and schools have information and tools they need to improve teaching and learning Interim assessments flexible, open, used for actionable feedback Summative assessments benchmarked to college and career readiness Formative assessment tools and practices for teachers to improve instruction

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction AB 484 (Cont.) Smarter Balanced Requires LEAs to participate in the spring 2014 Smarter Balanced Field Test. Establishes the purposes of the field test: –Enable the consortium to gauge the validity and reliability of the items. –Conduct necessary psychometric studies. –Not be used for any other purposes. Provides opportunity to experience the Smarter Balanced assessments: –Low-stakes environment –Gauge own technology readiness 12

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Smarter Balanced (Cont.) Students will have hands-on experience with the functionality of a computer-based assessment. Teachers and administrators will gain valuable exposure to administration logistics during a trial run. LEAs will benefit from having learned where technology gaps may exist, and then can fully prepare for operational assessments. 13

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Smarter Balanced (Cont.) Field test will take place March 18–June 6, Shorter windows within this time frame will be assigned to schools by the CDE and Educational Testing Service (ETS). Will assess students in grades 3 through 11. –Grades 3–8: Students are expected to participate. –Grades 9 and 10: Only students selected for the scientific sample are expected to participate. –Grade 11:* Students selected for the scientific sample are expected to participate; all others are encouraged to participate. * All grade 11 students may participate in the EAP. 14

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Smarter Balanced (cont.) Ninety-five percent of students take a sampling of both ELA and mathematics items plus one performance task for one subject. Five percent of students take either ELA or mathematics items plus one performance task for one subject. Content area will be assigned by the CDE and ETS for each school by grade. Testing time remains the same for both groups at approximately 3.5 hours. 15

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Smarter Balanced (cont.) Field test windows were approved by governing states on September 10, In grades 3–8, 66 percent of a school’s annual instructional days must be completed before testing can begin. In grade 11, 80 percent of a school’s annual instructional days must be completed before testing can begin. 16

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Smarter Balanced (cont.) Practice tests launched May 29, 2013; enhancements added in August 2013 Provide students, parents, teachers, administrators the opportunity to become familiar with the online testing environment Should not be used to guide instructional decisions regarding individual students Available for ELA and math for each of grades 3 through 8 and grade 11 CDE Practice Tests Web page at

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Smarter Balanced (Cont.) Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines 18

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Smarter Balanced (cont.) Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines 1.Universal tools, available to all students. Examples include spell-check, highlighter, embedded ruler, strikethrough, and English dictionary. 2.Designated supports, available to identified students, including English learners, struggling readers, and students with attention deficits. Examples include color-contrast text, the blocking of distracting content, stacked translations, and bilingual dictionary. 19

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction Smarter Balanced (cont.) Usability, Accessibility, and Accommodations Guidelines 3.Accommodations, available to students with an individualized education program or a 504 plan that specifies the need for such an accommodation. Examples include closed captioning, Braille, calculator, and scribe. The Guidelines are available on the CDE Smarter Balanced Accessibility and Accommodations Web page at

California District Support ETS District Outreach Team ETS Technical Assistance Center ETS Technology Support External Partners CDE Smarter Balanced Consortium Field Test Team Test Development System Vendor District Testing Coordinators District Technology Coordinators District Testing Coordinators District Technology Coordinators 2014 Administration of the California Measurement of Academic Performance and Progress Assessment System

TOM TORLAKSON State Superintendent of Public Instruction For Further Information Join the CDE Smarter Balanced Electronic Mailing List CDE Assessment Transition Office Technology Readiness Coordinator CDE Smarter Balanced Web Page Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium Web Site 22