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Questions & Answers Session Covering items from Sessions 1 - 4 Session 5

Questions & Answers Session Covering items from Sessions 1 - 4 Session 5. Georgia Alternate Assessment. 2015-2016 GAA Purpose:. The 2015-2016 webinars (Sessions 1-5) explain how to prepare and submit GAA portfolios.

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Questions & Answers Session Covering items from Sessions 1 - 4 Session 5

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  1. Questions & Answers SessionCovering items from Sessions 1 - 4Session 5 Georgia Alternate Assessment

  2. 2015-2016 GAAPurpose: • The 2015-2016 webinars (Sessions 1-5) explain how to prepare and submit GAA portfolios. • http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Assessment/Pages/GAA-Presentations.aspx • Information pertaining to the GAA can also be found in the 2015-2016 GAA Examiner’s Manual. • http://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Assessment/Pages/GAA-Resources.aspx

  3. Overview of This Presentation • This presentation will cover the following topics: • Topics of interest generated by sessions 1 - 4 • Specific questions or comments submitted via the survey link • Questions that may be on the minds of many • It is designed to inform: • Previous session participants who submitted inquiries or comments • Any GAA affiliate

  4. Questions or comments entered through the Survey Platform Q & A

  5. From this year’s Survey I would have preferred having a hard copy of the Examiner’s Manual before taking this training so I could make notes on important sections. The GAA Examiner’s Manual needs an index. Badly. I spend too much time looking for info. Please develop slides regarding hospital homebound students. When the same standard is used for two students, why is one entry scorable and the other entry not scorable? I'd like more information on unpacking standards at a grade level (or at least elementary-middle-HS) presentation.

  6. From this year’s Survey When referring to the 14 days that must separate Collection Period 2Primary Evidence from Collection Period 1 Primary Evidence, what constitutes “days”? Is that 14 school days, not including weekends or holidays? No. There must be at least 14 calendar days between the two pieces of primary evidence. Holidays and weekend days count as calendar days. Be sure both pieces of Collection Period 1 evidence have been collected before any Collection Period 2 evidence is collected. Holidays and weekend days count as calendar days.

  7. From this year’s Survey Does the Characteristic of Science have to be seen in only one piece of evidence? Not all of them? The Characteristic of Science must be exhibited and documented in at least one of the four Science tasks. If it can be seen in more than one task, that is fine. All four Science tasks must align to the content standard and element. If even one task does not align, the entry will receive a nonscorable code whether or not there is evidence of the CoS. Once scorers have determined that all tasks align, they then determine whether there is evidence of the CoS.

  8. General Questions Are answer keys required? No. So long as the task is graded, it is not necessary to include an answer key. If a student answers incorrectly, it can be helpful to the scorers to know what the answer should have been. Teachers can write the correct answers (brightly colored ink helps) directly on the evidence.

  9. General Questions Are annotation pages required? We saw an example of a worksheet that had no annotation page. Why is that evidence acceptable? Student work needs to be annotated, but the annotations do not have to be written on a separate piece of paper. If there is room on the evidence to note the student’s location, interactions, type and frequency of prompting, score (percentage or number of correct responses), and date the task was performed, then that is acceptable.

  10. General Questions If a student has serious behavior problems how can they be accounted in the GAA evidence? They should not be mentioned. All of the information in a GAA portfolio should be relevant to the assessment tasks. Comments about a student’s behavior problems or other challenges faced by the student and teacher in the classroom should not be included in the portfolio. If a student is uncooperative on a day he or she was supposed to be asked to perform an assessment task, it would be best to reschedule the assessment task for another day.

  11. General Questions If a student is non-verbal is it possible for that student to do any Speaking and Listening tasks? Are there any Speaking and Listening standards that can be used for that student? A non-verbal student can still “speak” by using gestures, eye-gaze or an assistive device like a Big Mac. Students should employ whatever method of communication they usually use to “speak” when they are assessed on Speaking and Listening tasks. Be sure to document that the student “spoke” by e.g., eye-gazing to choose words or sentences. A student might also point or nod or press a button or switch on an assistive communication device. Every Speaking and Listening standard which is available to a verbal student is also available to a non-verbal student.

  12. General Questions In one of the presentations someone mentioned color coding. Does the evidence in Collection Period 1 have to be color coded? No. Teachers should choose the materials that are best for their students. This could include assignments that have color coding. It is an individual decision in each case. If a student does use color-coded materials in Collection Period 1 but does not need them in Collection Period 2, the removal of the color coding is considered to be an increase in complexity for the student and may lead to a higher Achievement/Progress score.

  13. General Questions Did one of the presenters in Session 4 say that group projects are not acceptable for GAA. Is that true? Portfolios must contain evidence which is the original work of the one student who is being assessed. If your student is working on an activity in a group (say it is a Writing task in which students are working together to come up with sentences to describe what they like best about Thanksgiving) that is fine, but it is essential that the written product which is submitted in the portfolio is the work of the student alone. The student must “write” using picture icons, words, symbols, sentence strips, handwritten text or typewritten text. Other GAA students, if you have them, should do the same. Each student’s writing about Thanksgiving should be unique to that student. It’s also acceptable to have groups working on a collective task, but it must be made clear precisely what the student being assessed was tasked with as part of the group work. The individual student must also be assessed independently.

  14. General Questions In one of the presentations someone said that participation grades are not acceptable in GAA. Is it acceptable to submit a “100% participation” score on a task? No. Evidence which is submitted in a GAA portfolio needs to be scored for accuracy (Correctness of student responses). It must be clear what the student was asked to do and how well the student performed the task. Every assessment task must be aligned to the content standard and element/indicator which was chosen for the entry. If a student is scored only on participation, it is not possible for scorers to tell what the one student who is being assessed was asked to do as an assessment task.

  15. General Questions If a task is labeled “pre-requisite skill” on the annotation, will it automatically be considered a pre-requisite skill? No. Scorers are trained to read everything which is submitted as part of a student’s portfolio. If they read a statement which states the student exhibited a pre-requisite skill, but they cannot find evidence of a pre-requisite skill, they will refer the book to the team leaders and scoring director for review. If the team leaders and scoring director cannot find evidence that the student is exhibiting a pre-requisite skill, and there is no evidence that the student is performing an aligned task, then the entry may be given a nonscorable code.

  16. General Questions In the Alignment session on Wednesday someone said students cannot separate wants and needs in high school Economics entries. Is it not acceptable to use tasks which involve the student identifying wants and needs? If you choose SSEPF1 (element b) for Social Studies Entry 2, it is acceptable to ask a student to identify goods and services as wants or needs. However, the student’s tasks should also incorporate the concept of choices about spending and saving. The student could make a chart of several models of the same item, noting the price and other features of each. The student should use the model to assess whether (or not) to purchase an item based on its price, features, value, etc. If the student is using a wants and needs chart, then the concept of spending and saving choices must be incorporated into the assessment activity.

  17. General Questions Which tasks will align to standard W.5 in Grade 7 for students’ ELA2 entries? The ELA content specialists at the Georgia Department of Education have said that this writing standard requires students to revise, edit and/or rewrite their own writing. It is not acceptable for students to edit something which was written by another person. The essence of this standard is for students to become proficient in polishing their own writing, not to recognize errors in the work of others. Please note that there are similar writing standards (all W.5) in Grades 3-8. In every grade, students whose ELA2 entries use this standard should be revising their own writing, not revising the work of someone else.

  18. General Questions What is meant when the trainers said that internet use does not satisfy the Characteristic of Science – Uses technology? E.g., Google search. All of the Characteristics of Science assume the student will be actively involved in the process of science. Looking for information on the internet does not satisfy the Characteristic of Science (uses technology). However, if a student was using the internet to access accredited search engines or computer databases, this could satisfy the CoS – researches for scientific information.

  19. General Questions Should student work be chosen for the GAA only if the student earned 100% on the assignment? • - NO • Accuracy is one of three components of a student’s Achievement/Progress score (the others are Complexity and Independence). • Accuracy is measured from Collection Period 1 to Collection Period 2. • Scores on both pieces of Collection Period 1 evidence are averaged. • Scores on both pieces of Collection Period 2 evidence are averaged. • Scorers assess how much, if at all, the average accuracy changes. • If average accuracy is 100% in both Collection Periods, the student has missed one of three ways to show Achievement/Progress.

  20. Session Questions During my training of the teachers, we go over the majority of the manual. Especially if you have any new teachers to administer the GAA. Do teachers need to read the entire Examiner’s Manual? It is imperative that teachers read the entire 2015-16 Examiner's Manual prior to collecting evidence for students! Most cases of invalidated evidence, resulting in students not receiving scores in one or more subjects, can be avoided if the examiner is fully informed about guidance, procedures, and protocols as documented in the Examiner’s Manual.

  21. Session Questions Are there any changes to the requirement of a student required to be on GAA in middle school to obtain a general diploma since the GAA passing requirement has been changed? At this time, all other requirements are still in place in the graduation rule for students with significant cognitive disabilities.

  22. Session Questions I have attended all of the GAA training live webinars. However, I have not received an e-mail with the confirmation of attendance for my files. Should I expect confirmation e-mails to arrive after today? In GoToMeeting, participants who pre-register and login with the link GoToMeeting sends, will be sent a confirmation email and a link to the recording when the session concludes. In schools and systems where one person pre-registers and logs-in for the group, the follow-up emails will be sent to the person logged in. The School Test Coordinator should initiate and retain a sign-in sheet when group viewing occurs.

  23. Session Questions Do we need to provide the original photo or can we have a copied photo for evidence? Only original evidence shall be submitted in the GAA portfolio. A photocopy of original evidence is not acceptable. With advancements in technology, digital photographs can be printed from computers, personal digital assistants, and other such devices. With that said, original evidence that has been completed on the computer, a tablet, or on an iPad, etc. is acceptable. The original printout, less alterations, shall be submitted as assessment evidence. Finally, any electronic record of students’ evidence shall be deleted from hard drives, etc. once the evidence is submitted in the GAA portfolio.

  24. Session Questions Are there materials/curriculum available outside of the resource board through the state for GAA purposes? The Resource Board contains materials for instructional tasks, which can be utilized to teach skills that will be assessed through GAA. This is the only website where GaDOE provides materials at this time. These are tasks developed by teachers for use by other Georgia teachers. We are in the process of having these moved to the SLDS teacher resources webpage and will communicate this when this step occurs.

  25. Session Questions If you do not have Adapted Curriculum on your GA Educator Certificate can you administer the GAA? A valid, in-force certificate issued by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (PSC) shall be held by the examiner who is administering state assessments, including the GAA. The “type” of certificate is not defined for this purpose (Clear Renewable, Provisional, Leadership, etc.). State Board of Education rule 160-3-1-.07 simply states this: “All assessments shall be administered by Georgia-certified educators.” In addition to holding a Georgia PSC certification, the examiner, shall be trained, annually, to administer the specific assessment.

  26. Characteristics of Science Please visit the following links for supporting information on Science standards and the Characteristics of Science. K-5 https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/BrowseStandards/ScienceStandardsK-5.aspx Grades 6-8 https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/BrowseStandards/ScienceStandards6-8.aspx Grades 9-12 https://www.georgiastandards.org/Standards/Pages/BrowseStandards/ScienceStandards9-12.aspx

  27. Contact Information Questions About Test Administration Call:GaDOE Assessment Administration Division Toll free (800) 634-4106 Contact: Deborah Houston, Assessment Specialist (404) 657-0251 Email: dhouston@doe.k12.ga.us

  28. Contact Information For information about access to the state-mandated content standards for students with significant cognitive disabilities Contact: Kayse Harshaw Division for Special Education Services Call: (404) 463-5281 E-Mail:Sharshaw@doe.k12.ga.us or Kharshaw@doe.k12.ga.us

  29. Contact Information Questions About Materials, Distribution, or Collection Call: Questar’s GAA Customer Service Toll free (866) 997-0698 Email: Questar’s GAA Customer Service GA@QuestarAI.com

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