PARCC Fall 2015 Update Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Sections in this PowerPoint Context Test-driving a new assessment What are our students and educators saying about PARCC? Reporting PARCC results from spring 2015 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Context

Education Reform in Massachusetts 1993 McDuffy v. Secretary of Education Education is a constitutional right It is the state’s responsibility The McDuffy case prompted the state legislature to pass the 1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

1993 Massachusetts Education Reform Act Equitable school funding High learning standards School/ teacher accountability Rigorous student assessments The 1993 Education Reform Act set the stage for statewide assessments as one way to ensure all students are receiving an adequate education. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Student Assessment Results: Uses Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Progress and Challenges Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Increasing Expectations Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The Need for a Next-Generation Assessment Greater alignment to updated 2010 ELA & math frameworks More emphasis on critical thinking and reasoning Better feedback on readiness for next level Richer data to inform instruction Online platform Efficiencies More options for accommodations Increasing use of technology Pathway to entry level college credit Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Test-driving a new assessment

The 2-Year PARCC “Test Drive” 2013 BESE votes on 2-year “test drive” Spring 2014 PARCC Field testing Fall 2014 Districts choose PARCC or MCAS Spring 2015 Operational PARCC and MCAS testing Fall 2015 BESE votes on November 17th whether to adopt PARCC Spring 2016 PARCC is implemented or transition begins to another “next-gen” assessment Today Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

MCAS and PARCC—Basic Differences Subjects ELA, math, science, alternative ELA and math Grades tested 3-8, 10 ELA 3-11 Math 3-11 Format Paper only Online and paper versions Testing time Untimed Timed Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Which tests were taken in Spring 2015? Grades Total Districts MCAS PARCC # % Students Grades 3–8 362 165 46% 207,500 194 54% 227,000 Grade 9 and/or 11 295 n/a 69 23% 22,500 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Spring 2015 PARCC: Computers or Paper? Grades Districts PARCC Paper-Based PARCC Computer-Based Mix of PARCC Computer- and Paper-Based # % Grades 3–8 194 61 31% 97 50% 36 19% Grade 9 and/or 11 69 19 27% 44 64% 6 9% Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

The PARCC/MCAS Choice in November 3. With all this information (and more) on hand, the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education will make a decision on November 17th based on what’s in the best interests of the children of Massachusetts.

What are our students and educators saying about PARCC? Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

MA Educators Helped Design PARCC Develop Test Design ESE staff involved in the initial test design and subsequent revisions. Item Review Approximately 50 Massachusetts educators and ESE staff participated in item reviews In addition, 13 Massachusetts educators and ESE staff participated in PARCC’s Bias and Sensitivity Committees Test Construction After a bank of items is developed and field-tested, ESE staff participate in analysis of the data and test construction. Scoring and Reporting 21 Massachusetts educators from elementary through higher education, along with ESE staff, attended PARCC performance level setting meetings in summer 2015. ESE staff work closely with PARCC Inc./contractor on scoring and reporting processes Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Principals think that PARCC will be similar to or better than MCAS 71% think that PARCC will be more demanding; 1% think it will be less demanding 40% think it will better assess students’ ability to think critically; 30% “about the same” 40% think it will present test material in a format relevant to today’s students; 25% “about the same” Many reported “unsure” (~25% to 40% of respondents) Note: from October 2014 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Teachers think the quality of PARCC is higher than MCAS 72% of MA teachers think that PARCC is a higher quality assessment than MCAS 67% of MA teachers think that PARCC does extremely or very well at measuring critical thinking skills Similar results in other states Source: TeachPlus teacher survey Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Administrators reported that students had sufficient time to finish Percent reporting that students completed very early or on time Computer test Paper test Performance-based assessment 86% 75% End-of-year assessment 93% 81% Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Students reported that the content is familiar, and they had sufficient time to finish Students report that few or none of the questions ask about things they had not learned in school this year (82% ELA, 79% math) Many say that the test was easier than or the same as their school work (62% ELA, 52% math) Almost all say they finished very early or on time (92% ELA, 92% math) A quarter said they had a technology problem during the test (24% ELA, 25% math) Recall, student survey questions were asked only of those students taking the computer-based test. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Studies Included Study Data collection date Sample Stand for Children principal survey (by MassInc) October 2014 285 principals TeachPlus teacher survey Fall 2014 1,014 teachers, including 351 Massachusetts teachers PARCC student operational computer-based test surveys Spring 2015 ELA: 127,410 students Math: 127,621 students PARCC test administrator operational test survey PBA EOY Computer 693 752 Paper 662 449 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Reporting the PARCC Results from Spring 2015

When will PARCC results be available? October 19th Overall state results Week of October 26th District preview of embargoed student, school, and district results Week of November 9th Public release of school and district level results December Parent/guardian reports (Individual student reports) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

How will results be delivered? Press release Files in Dropbox Central Rosters in Edwin Analytics Link to Excel report on ESE website (not built into Profiles) Printed and mailed to districts Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

PARCC has five achievement levels Exceeded expectations Level 4 Met expectations Level 3 Approached expectations Level 2 Partially met expectations Level 1 Did not yet meet expectations Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Our district’s PARCC data [Use this format to plug in your data, or use print-outs/projection of the PARCC data report released publicly on ESE’s website.] Achievement Levels Achievement Summary Growth Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 Level 5 Level 4/5 CPI SGP Your District State Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

MCAS/PARCC reporting: similarities and differences There is no achievement level called “Proficient” on PARCC, but level 4 represents the point at which students have “met expectations” For comparing the difficulty of MCAS versus the difficulty of PARCC, we advocate comparing “Proficient” to “Levels 4 and 5” For comparing results across years, use transitional CPI For measuring growth, use the PARCC SGP. It can be interpreted the same way as MCAS SGP You can compare to other schools in MA, and to other states in the PARCC consortium Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

How can I use the PARCC results? Use the district, school, and student level results to identify strengths and weaknesses Identify interventions for students Use them as you’ve typically used MCAS scores, to the extent possible: as one piece of valuable information among many others Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Instructional Resources to Improve Teaching and Learning PARCC’s “Partnership Resource Center” includes: Released items Student work Annotations from scorers on rubrics Formative Instructional tasks (K-2) Speaking and listening tools Technology readiness tool Professional learning modules Digital library parccresources.org Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Will PARCC results be used for 2015 accountability? Accountability levels for those districts and schools that took PARCC cannot decline (they are held harmless) Progress and Performance Index scores (PPI) will be calculated this year for the sake of continuity and for accountability determinations in future years Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

Will PARCC results be used for Educator Impact Ratings? Median Student Growth Percentiles for PARCC can be interpreted in the same way as median SGPs for MCAS If an educator’s PARCC SGP is less than last year’s MCAS SGP, then the evaluator will not count the PARCC SGP Always remember that SGPs, whether they are from PARCC or MCAS, are just one data point among many in the educator impact rating Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education