THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK / ALBANY, NY 12234

 

TO:

The Honorable the Members of the Board of Regents

FROM:

James A. Kadamus

COMMITTEE:

EMSC-VESID

TITLE OF ITEM:

Assessments in the Middle Grades

DATE OF SUBMISSION:

January 31, 2005

PROPOSED HANDLING:

Discussion

RATIONALE FOR ITEM:

Monitoring of Regents Policy

STRATEGIC GOAL:

Goals 1 and 2

AUTHORIZATION(S):

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

            The attached item addresses three issues of concern to the Regents about assessments and data for the middle grades:

 

(1)               Moving one of the grade 8 tests to grade 7.

(2)               Timing of test information provided to schools in order for them to make decisions on public school choice and supplemental educational services.

(3)               Release of test information to the Regents, schools and public.

 

These items are being discussed as part of the Regents review of assessment issues and their consideration of a proposal on middle-level education.

 

Attachment


Assessments in the Middle Grades

 

 

Moving One of the Grade 8 Tests to Grade 7

 

In response to concerns expressed to the Regents regarding the scheduling and timing of middle school tests during the school year, Department staff have completed an analysis of the pros and cons of moving either the middle-level science or middle-level social studies test to grade 7 and the pros and cons for scheduling tests at different times of the school year.  Attachment A summarizes this analysis.  The analysis indicates that we should carefully consider all consequences, including costs, and consult with field representatives before making changes to the current test formats and schedules, including changes to administration dates to different grade levels.  A consultative process could be completed by June 2005

 

Timing of Test Information Provided to Schools in Order For Tem to Make Decisions on Choice and Supplemental Educational Services

 

Department staff has developed a plan for providing timely information to schools related to school choice.  All schools that are in improvement status under Title I must offer public school choice.  That group includes schools in need of improvement (year 1), schools in need of improvement (year 2), schools in corrective action, schools planning for restructuring, and restructuring schools.  To assist districts in planning for public school choice in 2005-06, the Department will send each district with schools that may be in improvement status under Title I the following lists in February 2005:

 

1.         Schools that are in improvement status in 2004-05 and will remain in that status in 2005-06 because, in 2003-04, they failed to make adequate yearly progress on an accountability measure for which they were identified as needing improvement.

2.         Schools that are in improvement status in 2004-05 and may be removed from that status in 2005-06 because, in 2003-04, they made adequate yearly progress in each subject for which they were identified as needing improvement.

3.         Schools that are not in improvement status in 2004-05 but may be placed in that status in 2005-06 because, in 2003-04, they failed to make adequate yearly progress in one or more subjects.

4.         Schools that are not in improvement status in 2004-05 and will remain in good standing in 2005-06 because, in 2003-04, they made adequate yearly progress in every subject.

 

In 2005-06, schools in group 1 must provide public school choice; schools in group 4 will not have to provide public school choice. The 2004-05 performance of schools in groups 2 and 3 will determine whether or not they have to provide public school choice.

 

Providing these lists in February 2005 will allow districts, particularly New York City, to make many of the necessary decisions about school choice and Supplemental Education Services (SES) months earlier than last year.  It must be noted, however, that a number of data elements must be considered in making final accountability status determinations.  For elementary and intermediate schools, student performance on the English language arts and mathematics assessments, the New York State Alternate Assessment, the New York State English as a Second Language Achievement Test and the Elementary and Intermediate Science Tests, must be received from local schools, edited as necessary and analyzed to determine the accountability status of each public school in the State.  For that reason, providing districts with the lists described above will allow them to make many decisions in early 2005, and they only have to make final determinations on the NCLB status on a greatly reduced number of schools in the summer.

 

For 2005, the administration for each of these tests is as follows:

 

Test

Administration Period

Grade 4 ELA

January 31 – February 4, 2005

Grade 8 ELA

January 10 – 14, 2005

Grade 4 Mathematics

May 10-12, 2005

Grade 8 Mathematics

May 10-11, 2005

NYS Alternate Assessment

Datafolio scoring - March 2005

NYS English as a Second Language Achievement Test

April 25 – May 20, 2005

 

 

Release of Test Information to the Regents, Schools and Public

 

In response to concerns regarding the return of testing data from the grades 4 and 8 English Language Arts and Mathematics exams, we are providing the test administration and reporting timelines for this year.  Attachment B shows the length of the testing and analysis cycles.

 

The grades 4 and 8 exams are administered in a way that is specifically designed to give schools every opportunity to test all affected students.  Failure to test 95 percent of their students in each accountability group will result in a school not making Adequate Yearly Progress, so it is critical that the Department design testing windows that allow schools the necessary time to test all students. While the tests have set initial administration dates and times, there is a period afterwards to allow school districts to administer make-up exams to absent students and to provide time to adequately administer the tests to special education students who may have testing accommodations in their Individual Education Plan (IEPs). This testing period is approximately 10 school days. Schools are then required to score these exams and prepare all answer sheets for submission to Regional Information Centers (RICs) and the Big 5 Scanning Centers. This scoring period is approximately 13 days. Within three weeks of submitting their tests to the RICs and Scanning Centers, schools receive their initial score reports that detail district, school, and individual student performance on the exams. 

 

While schools can get this preliminary information regarding test performance within a month after the completion of scoring, there is a substantial amount of work that is required by the vendor and the Department to certify the final test results. These dates are reflected in the timeline in Attachment B.  After CTB sends score reports to the Department, the Department needs to:

 

v     check for reasonability, i.e., consistency with previous years’ results and patterns of performance within need/resource capacity categories;

v     perform a quality control check on their printed summary and student reports to ensure accuracy; and

v     verify the psychometric processes used to scale the tests.

 

After final certification of test results, CTB packages and sends reports to districts; this takes approximately two weeks. During this time, the Department prepares district and school-level summaries of student performance.  We also prepare a PowerPoint presentation showing summaries by need/resource category, race/ethnicity performance, and the Big 5.

 

It is essential to impose an embargo on public release of the data during this period so that all parties who have access to any of the data can have time to study and understand the results.  The National Assessment Governing Board, composed of governors, legislators, state and local officials, and educators, has an agreement to embargo the annual results of the National Assessment of Educational Progress, and all parties strictly adhere to it.  The embargo is necessary because all assessment data is complex and must be explained in detail; it does a disservice to the truth to have aspects of the information appear in pieces, frequently distorted.  Daily newspapers favor the use of the embargo so they can review the data and prepare more informed reports, and, with isolated exceptions, they have abided by the embargo; those who do not abide by the embargo do not receive the data in advance.  That same model, with a strict agreement to respect an embargo prior to the time of public release, can work in New York for the Board of Regents and anyone else who has access to the data in advance.  The data can then be released at one set time in a press conference during and after which the media can ask questions.

 

As we move forward with implementation of our grades 3-8 testing program, the need to provide timely and accurate results to schools and policy makers will be a cornerstone of our planning efforts.  We will develop a timeline for the 2005-06 school year.

                                                                                                                                 

 


                                                                                                                                                                                    Attachment A

 

 

Pros

Cons

 

Administering Science or Social Studies Test in 7th Grade Rather Than in 8th Grade or Changing the Administration Month

·        Would provide a better balance in the number of tests administered in each grade

·        Might reduce some of the perceived stress on teachers and students

·        Might facilitate accurate recordkeeping, since students would likely still be in the same school building when test results are available

·        Might facilitate provision of needed AIS, for reasons above

·        In social studies the scope and sequence is grade-by-grade, with grades 7 and 8 being two years of study in United States and New York State history.  By moving the test to grade 7 or early in grade 8, only half of the two-year course of study would be tested.

·        In science the core curriculum is grouped from grades 5-8 and does not provide grade-by-grade curriculum alignment.  The intermediate-level benchmark for measuring student achievement in science is at grade 8.

·        If the science test was moved to grade 7 or early in grade 8, a new benchmark for assessing science at the intermediate level would need to be established.

·        The shift in content coverage necessitated by moving either the science or social studies test to grade 7 or early in grade 8 would require major changes on what can be tested and the need both to pre-test items and field-test items on the intended student population.  We already have test forms for 2006 and 2007 in development.

·        It would take three years to develop and implement new curriculum and assessment.

·        The necessary curriculum realignment would have cost implications for districts, especially in the area of science, given changes in textbooks, staff development costs, etc.

 


Attachment B

Timelines from Test Administration to Score Reporting

2005 Grade 4 and 8 Program

Elementary- and Intermediate-Level English Language Arts (ELA)

 

ELA 4

 

January 31-February 4                           Test Administration of Book 1 and Book 2

February 7–11                                         Make-up Testing of Book 1 and Book 2

February 11–March 4                             Scoring

February 14                                             Item Map Posted on SED's OSA Web Site

March 9                                                    Papers to Scanning Centers

March 25                                                  SED provides necessary information for each district to compute its own student test scores

April 19                                                     Final Date for RICs/Big 5 to Submit Data to CTB

April 27                                                     CTB sends test score file to SED

May 4–9                                                   SED sends test performance summary to Regents

May 24-26                                                Commissioner’s Press Conference

 

ELA 8

 

January 10–14                                        Test Administration of Book 1 and Book 2

January 18–21                                        Make-up Testing of Book 1 and Book 2

January 21–February 7                          Scoring

January 24                                               Item Map Posted on SED's OSA Web Site

February 10                                             Papers to Scanning Centers

February 28                                             SED provides necessary information for each district to compute its own student test scores

March 22                                                  Final Date for RICs/Big 5 to Submit Data to CTB

April 15                                                     CTB sends test score file to SED

May 4–May 9                                           SED sends test performance summary to Regents

May 24-26                                                Commissioner’s Press Conference


 

Timelines from Test Administration to Score Reporting

2005 – Grade 4 and 8 Program

Elementary- and Intermediate-Level Mathematics Tests

 

Math 4

 

May 10–12                                               Test Administration of Book 1 and Book 2

May 13–17                                               Make-up Testing of Book 1 and Book 2

May 17–27                                               Scoring

May 18                                                     Item Map Posted on SED's OSA Web Site

June 2                                                       Papers to Scanning Centers

June 3                                                       SED provides necessary information for each district to compute its own student test scores

July 18                                                      Final Date for RICs/Big 5 to Submit Data to CTB

August 3                                                   CTB sends test score file to SED

August 15–19                                          SED sends test performance summary to Regents

September 20-22                                   Commissioner’s Press Conference

 

Math 8

 

May 10–11                                               Test Administration of Book 1 and Book 2

May 12–16                                               Make-up Testing of Book 1 and Book 2

May 16–27                                               Scoring

May 18                                                     Item Map Posted on SED's OSA Web Site

May 27                                                     Papers to Scanning Centers

June 3                                                       SED provides necessary information for each district to compute its own student test scores

July 14                                                      Final Date for RICs/Big 5 to Submit Data to CTB

August 2                                                   CTB sends test score file to SED

August 15–19                                          SED sends test performance summary to Regents

September 20-22                                   Commissioner’s Press Conference