Working with a Technical Advisory Committee in a MultiState Assessment Collaborative: The New Englan

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Working with a Technical Advisory Committee in a
Multi-State Assessment Collaborative The New
England Common Assessment Programs Mega-TAC
Education Information Management Advisory
Consortium Spring Meeting Tuesday, April 22, 2007
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It started with NCLB, but became a shared vision
of high standards and quality assessment.
The New England Common Assessment Program
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• The NECAP Partners
• New Hampshire Department of Education
• Rhode Island Department of Education
• Vermont Department of Education
• Measured Progress
• National Center on Assessment

The New England Common Assessment Program
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• Who We Are by the Numbers
• In Fall 2008 we tested 233,348 students at grades
  3-8 and 11 in Reading, Writing and Math (Science
  at grades 4, 8 and 11 in May 2008)
• Approximately 45 of the students were from NH,
  35 from RI and 20 from VT
• Approximately 41 of the budget was paid by NH,
  35 by RI and 24 by VT

The New England Common Assessment Program
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• Governance Structure
• All committees have equal representation from
  each state
• When voting is necessary, each states vote is
  equally weighted
• When committees have more than one member from
  each state, one member from each state is
  designated as the voter.

The New England Common Assessment Program
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• The Mega TAC
• TAC members representing all three states meet
  twice each year
• Meeting locations are rotated around the three
  states
• Meetings are generally 3 days, with 1st half day
  reserved for separate state level meetings.
• As needed, subcommittees are formed and meet by
  phone
• State level meetings generally focus on alternate
  assessment, AYP and other policy concerns

The New England Common Assessment Program
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• TAC Members
• Each states national consultants (expertise
  related to psychometrics, operation of
  large-scale assessment systems, students with
  special assessment needs, legal issues)
• Three Superintendents from each state
• Test Directors and other Department Staff
• Measured Progress as needed
• Staff from The National Center for Assessment.

The New England Common Assessment Program
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• The HAFTA Rule
• The Mega TAC can have as many as 25 membersand
  they all have an opinion on just about everything
• TAC discussions are not necessarily governed by
  pragmatism
• Its not their assessment budget
• As result, we try to enforce the Hafta Rule
• Is this just a good idea or do we hafta?

The New England Common Assessment Program
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• The Role of the
  National Center for Assessment
• Meeting Logistics
• Preparation of Agendas and Discussion Materials
• Facilitation
• Documentation and Follow-up
• Serve as TAC members

The New England Common Assessment Program
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Background
Issues
Questions for TAC
The New England Common Assessment Program
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• Setting the Agenda
• Agendas follow the test development process
• Also so take into consideration whatever is
  happening in this fair city
• For example, the first TAC after peer review we
  spent a day on how to respond to peer review
  findings Meeting time dedicated to report
  shells, equating, science inquiry, etc.
• The Agenda is set by the NECAP Management Team
  with input from DOE colleagues

The New England Common Assessment Program