Race to the Top Assessment Program General & Technical Discussion Lizanne DeStefano University of Illinois

Through Course Summative Assessments Grade level or College/Career Readiness standards/performance levels at the heart of the system, not the assessments;  Higher education representatives and business community involved in standard setting (content and external validity) Clear specification of construct/skills to be assessed allows identification of needed access skills for each assessment (construct validity)  Support teaching of target and access skills across grade levels/subject areas Accessible assessments designed to minimize need for accommodation (e.g. time, print, format, format, reading level, language complexity) (reliability, construct validity);  Special education, ELL and Related Services involved in assessment development

Through Course Assessments (continued) Multiple assessments should be built with the intent of maintaining high precision across the full performance continuum.  Modular or adaptive assessments aligned to grade level standards and performance descriptors Predictive and consequential validity of aggregation rules (by subgroups) are central to a sound system.

System for Certifying the Quality and Rigor of End of Course Exams Once again, rigorous standards that are critical for college or career readiness are central to the validity of any end of course assessment system. Predictive and concurrent validity evidence is central to determining quality of these assessments.

Computer-based test administration Novel item types may differentially disadvantage students with disabilities and other subgroups; Students should have ample experience with technology used in the assessment; CAT algorithms developed with mainstream population may not adequately assess students with alternate patterns of performance

Innovation and Improvement Beyond 4 Year Grant Period Huge barrier to effective implementation of NCLB assessment requirement was the lack of time for R&D. Applicants should submit:  a detailed management plan/timeline including R&D, products, implementation, and use for the four years of funding AND  a second plan describing post-funding activities and benchmarks for full implementation and continued R&D.

Additional, Focused Research Considerable research exists on growth modeling and value-added methodology. Studies of use (or nonuse) and consequential validity of various types of high or mid-stakes assessment are needed. Studies of functioning of the consortia with formative feedback to increase impact of RTT Assessment initiative.