PARCC Accommodations and Accessibility April 2015

2 What Topics are Addressed  Fall 2015 and Beyond  PARCC Accessibility Policies – Background  What’s Different from MCAS?  PARCC Accessibility Features for All Students  PARCC Test Administration Considerations  PARCC Accommodations for  Students with Disabilities  ELLs  Personal Needs Profile (PNP) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

3 Board-Approved Transition Plan  Spring 2014: PARCC field test was administered in randomly selected schools.  Spring 2015: MA districts, educational collaboratives, and approved private schools chose to administer either PARCC or MCAS.  Fall 2015: Board will vote on whether to adopt PARCC.  Current Competency Determination (CD) requirements remain in place through class of Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

4  All Grade 10 students will continue to take high school MCAS tests to meet CD requirement through class of  All students in Grades 5, 8, and 9/10 will continue to take MCAS Science and Tech/Eng tests.  All students designated for alternate assessments will continue to take MCAS-Alt. MCAS and MCAS-Alt in 2015 and beyond, if PARCC is adopted 4

5 PARCC Testing Policies  All PARCC member states agreed to align their policies.  test administration  accessibility and accommodations  Member states agreed to:  expand accessibility to more students  adopt use of MA “nonstandard accommodations” (calculator and ELA read-aloud in certain circumstances)  allow use of assistive and other technologies, where possible  collect data on supports used by each student in a Personal Needs Profile (PNP)  MA continues to participate actively in many PARCC working groups, including Accessibility, Accommodations, and Fairness. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

6 Overview of PARCC Accessibility  Many accommodations for MCAS are built into computer-based PARCC tests and are available to all students as Accessibility Features.  Accessibility features are also available on paper- based tests, where appropriate.  Many Test Administration Considerations are available to any student, at discretion of principal.  Accommodations are available only to students with disabilities and English language learners.

7 PARCCMCAS Computer-based, with paper optionPaper-based Timed tests, with extended time for some students Untimed tests for all students. No individualized graphic organizers or reference sheets allowed Individualized graphic organizers and reference sheets allowed, with ESE approval PARCC Emergency Accommodation Form for students with temporary or recently-occurring disability. 504 Plan developed for student with temporary or recently- occurring disability. Expanded accessibility for all students; more accommodations for ELLs Accommodations only available to students with disabilities; limited accommodations for ELLs Differences Between PARCC and MCAS

8 PARCC Accessibility and Accommodations Resources PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual accessibility-features-and- accommodations-manual MA Overview of PARCC Accommodations and Accessibility s.aspx?id= s.aspx?id=12462

9 9 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Accessibility Features for All Students Computer-Based TestingPaper-Based Testing Respond Using KeyboardRespond Using Pencil Audio AmplificationAuditory Aids Blank Paper Eliminate Answer ChoicesVisual Aids External spell-checker Flag Items for ReviewVisual Aids General Administration Directions Read Aloud and Repeated General Administration Directions Clarified Highlight ToolHighlighter Line Reader ToolLine Reader (Straight Edge) Screen Magnification or Zoom ToolMagnification Device Pop-Up GlossaryGlossary in Footnotes Redirect Student to Test Writing Tools (Bold, Italicize, Underline, Bullet) N/A

10 Accessibility Features for All Students 10 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Accessibility Features (require pre-ordering and/or activation prior to testing) Answer Masking Color Contrast Text-to-Speech for the Mathematics Assessments Human Reader or Human Signer for the Mathematics Assessments

11 Accommodations for Students with Disabilities PARCC accommodations for students with disabilities include changes to the: Presentation of the test Method of response to test questions Timing and scheduling of the test 11

12  Untimed testing for all students “Extended time” is available only to students with disabilities and ELLs. Student must complete a test session (“unit”) in one school day.  ELA graphic organizers and individualized Math reference sheets Students will be given generic math reference sheets in grades 5 and higher, and blank paper.  Translations of tests, except for Spanish-language high school Mathematics tests (as with MCAS). PARCC Accommodations Do Not Include… Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

13 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Presentation Accommodations Paper-based Test (for student unfamiliar with or unable to use technology) Large Print (hard copy) Braille (hard copy) Screen Reader for ELA/Literacy or Mathematics (for a student who is blind) Refreshable Braille Display (for use with Screen Reader Version of ELA/Literacy only) Tactile Graphics (hard copy of Braille graphics) Assistive Technology (compatible and external devices) Accommodations for Students with Disabilities

14 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Presentation Accommodations For ELA/Literacy: Human Reader/Human Signer * Text-to-Speech * Screen Reader Version * Embedded ASL Video * For Mathematics: ASL Video (Computer-based) Human Signer Student Reads Assessment Aloud to Him/Herself Accommodations for Students with Disabilities (Continued) *Guidelines similar to MCAS nonstandard accommodations.

15 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Response Accommodations Assistive Technology (e.g., speech-to-text, word prediction) Typed Response (Word Processor) (Paper test) Human Scribe Braille Note-taker Braille Writer Calculation Device (on Non-Calculator Section of Math)* Test Administrator Monitors Placement of Test Responses Accommodations for Students with Disabilities (Continued) *Guidelines similar to MCAS nonstandard accommodations.

16 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Timing and Scheduling Accommodations for Students with Disabilities Extended Time (until the end of school day to complete a test session) Accommodations for Students with Disabilities (Continued) NOTE: Extended time is available in 2015 without amending IEPs, but if MA adopts PARCC, this must be added to IEPs prior to 2016 testing during regularly scheduled team meetings.

17 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Accommodations for English Language Learners ELL Accommodations Extended Time (until the end of school day to complete a test session) Approved Bilingual Word-to-Word Dictionary (Updated list available at Human Scribe (Mathematics only) General Administration Directions Read Aloud, Repeated, and/or Clarified by Test Administrator (in English or Student’s Native Language) Spanish Translation of the Grade 9 or 11 Mathematics

18 Personal Needs Profile (PNP)  What is it? A data file indicating testing supports for individual students. Information is collected only on selected accommodations, accessibility features, and test administration procedures.  Why is the PNP needed?  States need to collect data on which students used which supports.  Test contractor needs information to provide schools with appropriate versions of computer-based tests (e.g., text-to-speech, color contrast)  Who requires a PNP? Any student who will receive accommodations, accessibility features, or test administration considerations listed in the PNP. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

19 PNP Process  When will schools upload their PNP files? In January and February, after Student Registration.  Districts should collect information on supports needed by students with disabilities, ELLs, and non-disabled students.  PNP files include pre-loaded names of pre-registered students and their accommodations information from previous year.  Exception: No accommodations data is pre-loaded for students in grade 3.  Schools review and verify pre-loaded information, adding new student information, as needed.  PNP can be completed one student at a time, or uploaded for multiple students in a CSV (Excel) file. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

20 Online Resources  PARCC Accessibility Features and Accommodations Manual at parcconline.org/parcc-accessibility-features-and- accommodations-manualparcconline.org/parcc-accessibility-features-and- accommodations-manual  PARCC Accommodations and Accessibility (MA policies) at  Paper-based Accessibility Features and Accommodations at accessibility-11-14_1.pdf. accessibility-11-14_1.pdf  Generic PARCC Math Reference Sheets for students in grades 5  8 at  Training modules at  Test preparation (sample items, tutorials) at parcc.pearson.com/parcc.pearson.com/  General PARCC Inquiries at Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education