New England Common Assessment Program

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New England Common Assessment Program
New Hampshire Workshop Transitioning from NHEIAP
to NECAP May/June, 2005
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New England Common Assessment Program

• It started because we need to respond to No
  Child Left Behind

• and it became a shared vision of high standards
  and quality assessment. This is the New Hampshire
  story.

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Workshop Goals

• Prepare schools to administer the NECAP Test
• Be knowledgeable about the NECAP timeline
• Understand how to plan and implement test
  accommodations
• Know how to access available GLE support
  materials
• Know how to access and use available NECAP
  practice tests and resource materials

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Agenda

• Workshop Introduction
• Practice Tests
• NECAP General Information
• Testing Environment
• Timeline of Events
• Student Demographics
• NECAP Accommodations
• GLE Support
• Questions and Answers

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Practice Tests for all grades and Tips for
Students

Practice Test Grade 3
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Policies for Student Support Materials

• Mathematics Policies
• Provide for necessary tools and reference sheets
• Use a calculator when it does not interfere with
  the construct being measured
• Reading Policies
• Allow for note taking while reading the passages
  via margin notes, Post-its, or scratch paper
• Writing Policies
• Provide for necessary materials for students to
  be able to produce first-draft quality writing
  sample

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Prior to Testing

• Prior to testing teachers should familiarize
  themselves and their students with the following
• Practice Test and Test Construction
• Tips for Students Sheet
• Mathematics Reference Sheet
• Calculator Policy
• Scoring Rubric for writing at grades 5 and 8

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Administrative GuidelinesMathematics

• NECAP
• Testing Time Un-timed but not Unlimited
• Accommodations For all students
• Calculator Use 2 Sessions at all grade Levels
• May read a single word at student request

• NHEIAP
• Testing Time Unlimited
• Accommodations For all students
• Calculator Use only at grade 10

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NECAP Operational Test DesignMathematics (Grades
3-4)
Common Score Points 65 Test Sessions Three
45-minute Sessions with 100 additional time
without an accommodation
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NECAP Operational Test DesignMathematics (Grades
5-8)
Common Score Points 66 Test Sessions Three
45-minute Sessions with 100 additional time
without an accommodation
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Administrative GuidelinesReading (Grades 3 8)

• NECAP
• Testing Time Not timed but not Unlimited
• Accommodations For all students

• NHEIAP
• Testing Time Unlimited
• Accommodations For all students

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NECAP Operational Test DesignReading (Grades 3-8)
Test Sessions Three 45-minute Sessions with
100 additional time without an accommodation
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Administrative GuidelinesWriting (Grades 5 and 8)

• NECAP
• Testing Time Un-timed but not Unlimited time
• Accommodations For all students, writing test
  may be read to students (C-4)
• Resources are not allowed will be scored as a
  first draft
• May read a single word at student request

• NHEIAP
• Testing Time Unlimited
• Accommodations For all students
• Resources
• Dictionary/Thesaurus
• allowed

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NECAP Operational Test DesignWriting (Grades 5
and 8)
Test Sessions Two 45-minute Sessions with 100
additional time without an accommodation
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• NECAP Writing Content Clusters
• Structures of Language
• Response to Text
• Literary
• Informational
• Narrative
• Informational
• Reports
• Persuasive
• Conventions

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Planning Box Response to Text
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Reading Sample Item Grade 3

• Read these lines from Ants Journey.
• Scurry now, No time to waste,
  Hurry up, Im making haste.
• What does the word scurry mean?A. rushB. walk
  slowlyC. skipD. climb up

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Alignment to Reading GLEs

• Key AR-2-2.1 (use context)Item Type MC
  related to passage Alignment to GLE R-2-2.1
  Students identify the meaning of unfamiliar
  vocabulary by Using strategies to unlock meaning
  (e.g., knowledge of word structure or context
  clues) Depth of Knowledge Level 2 - Use context
  cues to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words

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Sample Writing C-R Item Grade 5

• W-4-3 Response to Literary Text Passage -
  Knoxville, Tennessee
• Read the poem then write a paragraph describing
  the speakers feelings about summer. Use details
  from the poem in your response.
• End of grade 4 Writing GLEs are used to assess
  students in fall of grade 5.

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Alignment to Writing GLEs

• Alignment to GLEs
• W43.1 In response to literary text students
  make and support analytical judgments about text
  by Stating and maintaining a focus (purpose)
  when responding to a given question
• W43.2 In response to literary text students
  make and support analytical judgments about text
  by Making inferences about content, events,
  characters, setting, or common themes
• W43.3 In response to literary text students
  make and support analytical judgments about text
  byUsing specific details and references to text
  to support focus
• Depth of Knowledge Level 2 Developing text
  which may be limited to one paragraph Using
  simple organizational strategies to structure
  written work (e.g., basic paragraph form
  indenting, main idea, supporting details simple

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Depth of Knowledge Levels

• Level 1 Recall
• Level 2 Skill/Concept
• Level 3 Strategic Thinking
• Level 4 Extended Thinking
• From the work of Norman Webb

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Classroom Environment

Students should not be advantaged or
disadvantaged because of materials and/or
information that is in the room in which they are
taking the test.
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Timeline April 2005/May 2005

• April-
• Review the GLE CDs sent to each school
• Select a building coordinator to work with the
  district test coordinator
• Register the building/district coordinator for
  NH-NECAP Workshop
• Consider setting up a Test Accommodation Decision
  Team for students who are not covered under an
  IEP or 504 Plan. This team can build upon your
  existing structures.
• May-
• Locate NECAP Practice Tests and related support
  materials on-line
• Locate NECAP Accommodations Guidelines and
  Procedures document on-line
• School building test coordinator/district
  coordinator should
• Attend NHEIAP to NECAP Transition Workshop
• Present NECAP update at a faculty meeting
  including resource materials available on
  http//www.necompact.org
• Review accommodations with NECAP building level
  Test Accommodation Decision Team

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Timeline June 2005

• June-
• Record accommodation recommendations with
  students records
• Review student demographic data collection plan
• Inform teachers of the September Test
  Administration Workshop dates. (See Schedule)
• Submit anticipated enrollment numbers and special
  needs, per school, such as Braille and large
  print tests to Measured Progress
• Review Alternate Assessment training and
  administration timelines with SPED Directors

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Timeline August/September

• August-
• Confirm school enrollment and request large print
  / Braille tests on iservices.measuredprogress.org
• Register for Test Administration Workshop using
  iregister.measuredprogress.org
• Locate Test Coordinator and Test Administration
  Manuals on line
• Update new faculty on test administration
  policies and procedures
• Attend Test Administration Workshops (See
  Schedule)
• September-
• Test Administration Workshops (See Schedule)
• Meet with teachers that will be administering the
  test to schedule the following
• review of student accommodations
• collection of student demographic data
• administration of the NECAP Practice Test
• discussion about setting up the school/classroom
  for testing
• review of the Test Administration Manual
  including security procedures
• Count materials received and review for
  sufficient numbers

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Timeline - October

• October-
• Distribute materials to teachers using
  established security procedures
• Administer NECAP Tests
• Schedule make-up tests
• Collect and count secure materials prior to
  return to Measured Progress
• Certify (school principal) the accuracy of
  information and all secure materials returned

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Student Demographics

• It is critical to have accurate student
  demographic data. Accountability reports and
  assessment reports are based on the data that you
  provide. To assist you we have provided
• Data Glossary
• NECAP Student Demographic Data Elements
• Worksheet

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Accommodations

• If the NECAP test already incorporates
  Universal
• Design principles do we still need to think
  about
• accommodations?
• What questions guided the policies about NECAP
• accommodations?
• Who is eligible for testing accommodation?
• What does a school need to do to prepare
• teachers?
• What information and guidance will be
  available?

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Accommodations

• NECAP incorporates Universal Design principles.
• Universal design opens the door to ways to
  rethink assessments so that we can find better
  ways to let kids show us what they really know.
  The assessment itself should reveal what kids
  know and not present unnecessary barriers.
• Universal design challenges us to enter into a
  long term process of rethinking and improving the
  ways we create national, state, and district
  assessments so that they give a more accurate
  picture of what all students know and can do.
• New Hampshire has accepted this assessment
  challenge to better support educators to focus on
  the critical target of providing universally
  designed standards-based instruction.

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One reason we need Universal Design

• Original mathematics task, before Universal
  Design
• Amy, Eric, and Kayla decide to share a pie that
  costs 7.50. The 3 friends will split the cost of
  the pie equally. Eric used his calculator to find
  how much each of them should pay.
• The calculator display shows Erics
  answer.4.5 Eric got 4.50 for an answer. Is 4.50
  a reasonable answer? 
• In the box below, explain why you think Erics
  answer is or is not reasonable.

Sample mathematics task, revision without
calculator Three friends buy a pie for 7.50.
They split the cost of the pie equally. Your
classmate says, Each friend should pay
4.50. Should each friend pay 4.50? Explain
why or why not.
Sample mathematics task, revision with
calculator Three friends buy a pie for 7.50.
They split the cost of the pie equally. Using
a calculator, your classmate calculates that each
friend pays 2.5. Is your classmate correct?
Explain why or why not.
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A Better Reason for Universal Design
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Accommodations

• A test developed with Universal Design is the
  start. Some students, however, still need help to
  overcome some individual non-academic limitation
  so that they have a fair chance to take the test.
  Some students need glasses. But glasses are so
  common that we no longer even call them
  accommodations. Some students need
  accommodations we are just beginning to
  understand.

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Accommodations
These questions guided the decisions about
accommodations

• What accommodations should be available to
  students so that test items can be accessed
  without providing an advantage?
• What guidance can be provided to teachers so that
  accommodations are understood and effectively
  implemented?

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Accommodations
Who is eligible for testing accommodation? Al
l students.

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Accommodations

• The criteria for a testing accommodations is that
  the student will not be able to demonstrate what
  he/she knows without this accommodation.
• Accommodations do not change what we expect
  students to know and be able to do.
• Test accommodations are an individual student
  decision they are not for the use of an entire
  classroom or category of students.
• They should not give students unfair advantages,
  rather they are meant to remove barriers that may
  exist due to a students learning style or
  disability.

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Accommodations

• A school NEEDS to
• Support classroom teachers through the
  accommodations decision-making process.
• Establish Accommodation Decision Teams to make
  appropriate accommodation choices for students
  and understand what consequences, if any, are
  attached to their decisions. Many schools
  already have these teams.
• Standardize the accommodation administration
  process and plan the resources necessary for
  large-scale implementation.
• Ensure that the students records include the
  decisions made to inform both current instruction
  and future educational planning.

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Accommodations

• To begin, teachers should ask themselves
• What will keep my student from demonstrating
  what he/she can do? My student does well in
  mathematics, but struggles with reading. In the
  classroom we use a study-buddy to read to
  him/her.
• A read-aloud accommodation might be useful
• The teacher discusses this with an Accommodation
  Decision Team to determine if this is
  appropriate.
• The team decides that what, if any, accommodation
  is appropriate and the recommendation is noted in
  the students records.

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Accommodations

• Accommodation plans should be evaluated in light
• of the students performance in the classroom.
• Students IEPs and 504 plans should also be
  reviewed.
• Example
• The IEP states that all tests will be read out
  loud to the student. The student has demonstrated
  that he/she is able to read some materials
  independently. The Accommodation Decision Team
  decides that because reading the reading section
  is a non-comparable accommodation and will result
  in a minimum score, they will recommend that the
  student try to read the reading section on
  his/her own. The parents agree.

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Accommodations

• Schools should begin this school year to
  systematically
• develop a process for recommending appropriate
• accommodations for all students who need them.
• New This Year Expanded information and guidance
  on planning, choosing and using accommodations is
  available on the Department Website in the form
  of a printable manual called NECAP
  Accommodations, Guidelines and Procedures
  Administrator Training Guide
• Also New This Year Tips for Students
• A one page printable document Tips for Students
  available to assist all students and teachers,
  whether or not they use accommodations, to show
  their best performance on the NECAP test.
• Visit www.ed.state.nh.us

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GLE Support

Teacher Support Materials for Grade Level
Expectations Welcome to the New England
Compacts Professional Development site. The goal
of this site is to provide teachers in New
Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont with support
materials for using grade level expectations
(GLEs) in the classroom. The GLEs can guide
teachers in order to better understand what
material students can expect to see on the NECAP
state assessment. Please remember that the GLEs
are not a full curriculum each state also has
grade level expectations that are assessed at the
local level, and teachers must be sure that the
curriculum they use covers all areas. Reading
and Writing GLEs and Support Materials Mathematic
s GLEs and Support Materials
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GLEs and Curriculum

• New Hampshire Proficiency Standards played a
  central role in the development of the GLEs.
• GLEs will be serving as an assessment framework
  not a curriculum framework.
• Keep in mind that the GLEs are not rich enough in
  content to serve as a curriculum framework.
• It is best if your district includes the local
  GLEs when developing your curriculum.
• The GLEs will allow you to clearly see
  expectations for all students at the end of each
  of grades 2 - 8.
• The GLEs will provide the basis for developing
  test blueprints for the 2005 - 2006 state
  assessment.

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GLEs and Curriculum
State Frameworks
District Curriculum
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Resources

• Websites
• New Hampshire Department of Education
• www.ed.state.nh.us
• Educators and Administrators
• Curriculum and Assessment
• NECAP
• Iservices.measuredprogress.org
• for enrollment numbers
• Iregister.measuredprogress.org
• to register for workshops
• http//www.necompact.org
• for GLE support
• www.gmpdc.org
• Greater Manchester Professional Development
  Center

Department Staff Tim Kurtz tkurtz_at_ed.state.nh.us
Gaye Fedorchak gfedorchak_at_ed.state.nh.us Rich
Andrusiak randrusiak_at_ed.state.nh.us Linda
Stimson lstimson_at_ed.state.nh.us