Alabama Extended Standards & Body of Evidence for the AAA Spring 2013

1. Alabama Extended Standards& Body of Evidence for the AAA Spring 2013 Dr. Cathy McNeal, Director Research and Development March 13, 2013

2. Purpose of Training • Present training for the administration of the Spring Revised 2013 AAA • Discuss the “alerts” and provide reminders of unique characteristics of the AAA assessment and areas that require special attention.

3. AAA Building Test Coordinators • For each specific test, the Principals and Building Test Coordinators are responsible for following all State Department regulations and guidelines for monitoring assessments. • Building Test Coordinators are responsible for all staff and faculty training involved in testing. • Building Test Coordinators MUST maintain documentation of all staff and faculty attendance at testing workshops.

4. AAA is a SECURE State Assessment • AAA is a secure state assessment. • All state requirements and procedures regarding security, distribution and collection, administration, and storage must be followed. • Portfolio performance assessment • ◦Reading Grades 3-8 and 11 • ◦Mathematics Grades 3-8 and 11 • ◦Science Grades 5, 7, and 11 • Designed for students with significant cognitive disabilities

6. Grade 10 AAA Students must have EVIDENCE submitted on ALL Extended Standards • Grade 3-8 students will either take ARMT+ in Grades 3-8 or the AAA. • Grade 8 students will also have the option of taking AAA or EXPLORE(with option of taking UNIACT). • Grade 9 there is no state assessment but students on the AAA track will continue to work on the Extended Standards. • Grade 10 students will take PLAN or AAA. Evidence for Grade 10 is not submitted for the AAA, but it will be collected and scored locally. • Collect 3 pieces of evidence for each Alabama Extended Standard for Grade 10 – Deadline May 3, 2013, • Score locally, • Keep on file locally to use for educational planning) with option of UNIACT (career interest inventory in PLAN). • Grade 11 students will take the ACT Plus Writing or the AAA. • Grade 12 students will continue to work on the Extended Standards but evidence is not submitted for scoring (as in Grade 9).

8. REMINDERS for Building Test Coordinators Training in each School for Test Administrators • Copy ALERTS and hand out hard copies to all Test Administrators. • Distribute the correct materials used for the assessment and use the correct distribution signature form.

9. Test Security Plan for Each High School for Training Personnel on Test Administration and Test Security VII. Procedures for Training System Personnel on Test Administration and Test Security Training sessions on test administration and test security will be conducted prior to all test administrations. The system-level training will be conducted approximately one to three weeks before testing. The school-level training will be conducted as soon as possible after system-level training by no later than one week prior to testing. All schools will receive a system-level digital copy of the PowerPoint presentation of the system-level training immediately after each test system-level training session to digitally disseminate to all test administrators and proctors. The STC will be trained during the SDE workshops and will conduct training at the system level. Participants in the system-level training will be central office personnel (to include Special Education Coordinator, 504 Coordinator, and ESL Coordinator), monitors, and BTCs. The BTCs will train principals, test administrators and proctors. Documentation of training will be kept for the system-level and school-level trainings. Documentation will include an agenda for each training session, a sign-in sheet signed by all those in attendance, and a signed Test Security Policy for each individual. All documentation of the system-level training and school-level training will be kept in the STC’s office. All documentation of school-level training will be kept by the BTC at each school with a copy sent to the STC’s office.

10. Every time the AAA assessment materials change hands • Counted • Signed for • No extras

12. Alabama Alternate Assessment • Is a portfolio assessment • Is based on the Alabama Extended Standards in reading, mathematics, and science which were developed by a task force made up of special education teachers, regular education teachers, and administrators • Is a collection of evidence of the assessment of the student’s mastery of each extended standard

13. Alabama Alternate Assessment • Alabama Extended Standards are the curriculum for students with significant cognitive disabilities. • All extended standards for the grade-level of enrollment according to STI must be taught and tested. • Each extended standard must have three (3) pieces of evidence to illustrate the student’s performance on that standard. • Each piece of evidence submitted must stand on its own.  Teachers will not have an opportunity to explain or clarify evidence once it is submitted. • The evidence alone will determine the scores on the AAA. • Criteria to consider during the IEP decision-making process regarding which assessment is appropriate • Student’s cognitive functioning • IQ of 55 and below • Student’s taught curriculum • Revised 2006 Alabama Extended Standards

14. Alabama Extended Standards • The Alabama Extended Standards are the courses of study • for students with significant cognitive disabilities • who participate in the Alabama Alternate Assessment.

15. How to Access the Extended Standards • www.alsde.edu • Click on “Sections” and scroll down to select “Special Education” • Click on “Standards” • Scroll down and select: • Extended Standards MATH • Extended Standards READING • Extended Standards SCIENCE

16. Alabama Alternate Assessment • Is a portfolio assessment • Is based on the Alabama Extended Standards in reading, mathematics, and science which were developed by a task force made up of special education teachers, regular education teachers, and administrators • Is a collection of evidence of the assessment of the student’s mastery of each extended standard

17. Organization of the Extended Standards

18. Alert 1 – Primary Contact Dr. Cathy McNeal, Director, Research and Development with Huntsville City Schools is your primary contact for AAA at 256 428 6966. For additional materials and/or shipping, contact Dr. Cathy McNeal at 428 6966.

19. Alert 2 Alabama Alternate Assessment – K-12 • CTB/McGraw-Hill (CTB) is the vendor responsible for revising and scoring the Alabama Alternate Assessment (AAA).

20. Alert 3Alabama Alternate Assessment • A student’s participation in the Alabama Alternate Assessment is an IEP Team decision.

21. Developing Standards-Based IEPs • Access to the general curriculum means providing opportunities to learn important content reflected in the content standards. • The IEP is the cornerstone of access to the general curriculum.

22. Alert 4SDE Participation Guidelines for AAA • All students with disabilities in Grades 3-8 receiving special education services must participate in the Alabama Reading and Mathematics Test+(ARMT+) or in the AAA. • For students participating in the AAA, evidence must be submitted to document achievement of the Alabama Extended Standards in reading(Grades 3-8), mathematics (Grades 3-8) and science (Grades 5 and 7) for their grade-level of enrollment.

23. Alert 4SDE Participation Guidelines for AAA • All students with disabilities in Grade 11 receiving special education services must participate in the Alabama High School Graduation Exam (AHSGE)or the AAA. • Evidence must be submitted to document achievement of the 11th grade Alabama Extended Standards in reading, mathematics, and science.

24. Alabama Alternate Assessment – K-12 • The AAA is not a measure of a student’s progress on Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals and benchmarks.

25. ALERT 5The AAA measures a student’s proficiency of state content standards(REVISED 2006 Alabama Extended Standards in reading, mathematics, and science). • The AAA measures a student’s proficiency of state content standards (REVISED 2006 Alabama Extended Standards in reading, mathematics and science). • Teachers MUST teach ALL extended standards in reading, mathematics, and science. • The highest level of complexity the student could possibly be expected to achieve should be selected. • Teachers will collect a Body of evidence (BOE) representing the student’s proficiency of each extended standard for his/her grade level of enrollment.

26. Alert 6DESTORY OLD AAA materials • •All previous AAA materials (Spring 2012 and earlier, except the Revised 2011 TAMs) should have been returned to Lowry or destroyed according to the Local Education Agency (LEA) Test Security Plan.

27. Alert 7April 15 – May 3, 2013 Schedule for AAA Test Administration • The dates for administration of the AAA are • April 15 – May 3, 2013. • The test administration for the AAA at the time for Test Administrators are to select the evidence most representative of student performance for inclusion in the Body of Evidence. • The evidence may be dated any time during the school year (2012-13); however, • PACKAGING, LABELING, AND SHIPPING the BOE for scoring MUST occur within the administration window (April 15 – May 3, 2013

29. Alert 8AAA Test Administration Requirements • •All teachers administering the AAA must have been trained on the information included in the “AAA Overview Podcast” located on the Student Assessment Webpage under “Links.” • Any Test Administrator who is new to administering the AAA must be trained by the LEA on the material provided by the SDE. • Additional training materials are available in the Student Assessment Webpage of the SDE Website under AAA Powerpoints and Information.

30. Alert 9AAA Test Administration Requirements • Teachers administering the AAA will also be required to participate in training on the actual administration of the assessment • (i.e., labeling, packaging, etc.) • that will be provided by Dr. Cathy McNeal, System Test Coordinator on March 13, 2013 and the PowerPoint will be posted on the HCS website under Research and Development. • You may supplement your training by using the “AAA Assembling the Materials” podcast located on the Student Assessment Webpage under “Links.”

31. Alert 10Signed Confidentiality Statement • Test Administrators MUST read and sign a Test Security Policy before administering the AAA. • Maintains evidence that personnel have signed the confidentiality Statement for the Administering and Report of Student Data on the Web site.

34. Alert 11The AAA will be administered in Reading 3-8 and 11, Mathematics 3-8 and 11, and Science 5,7, and 11. ALL TESTS ARE ADMINISTERED IN ENGLISHEach AAA extended standard must have three (3) pieces of evidence to illustrate the student’s performance on that standard.

35. Alert 12 • The AAA materials will be delivered to each LEA by Lowry beginning March 25-28, 2013, during the delivery of the spring ARMT+ materials. • See LEA Spring 2013 Alabama Alternate Assessment Materials Delivery Schedule on pages AAA-34-36.

36. Alert 13Deliver Date and Inventory of AAA assessment materials • All AAA materials MUST be inventoried when received for accuracy when received. • Check to verify that the information on the • group Information Sheets • (School Header Sheets) and • Master List are accurate. • If any information is inaccurate, missing, or you need additional materials you must call Dr. Cathy McNeal at 256 428 6966.

37. Alert 14Revised 2011 Test Administrator’s Manual • For Test Administrator (TA) • Test Administrators will use the new Revised 2011 Test Administrator's Manual.

38. Alert 15SPRING 2013 AAA ANSWER DOCUMENT • Each Student will use • ONE (1) answer document • (Spring 2013 AAA Answer Document).

39. Alert 16 Each student must have two (2) labels. One (1) Student Identification Bar Code Label for student identification for use on the answer document and One (1) Master Student Box Label without a bar code for use on the student’s Body of Evidence Box.

41. Alert 17 A Pre-Coded Student Identification Bar Code Label must be attached to each answer document. Students whose IEP in STISETS as of Dec. 1, 2012, identifies the student as taking the AAA will be provided Pre-Coded Student Identification Bar Code Label. Students without a Pre-Coded Identification Bar Code Label will use a Generic Student Identification Bar Code Label.

42. Alert 18 Pre-Coded Student Identification Bar Code Labels contain student and school specific information. . Please ensure that the correct label is placed for each student on the answer document. The use of a Pre-Coded Student Identification Bar Code Label will eliminate the need to hand-grid the demographic information. DO NOT use any data that does not MATCH I-Now.

43. Alert 19 For students without a Pre-Coded Student Identification Bar Code Label, a Generic Student Identification Bar Code Label MUST be placed on the Spring 2013 AAA Answer Document and the demographic information on the must be hand-gridded including the name, state student ID number (SSID), grade, gender, data of birth, and ethnic group found on the font page of the answer document.

44. Alert 20SPRING 2013 AAA Pre-Coded Bar Codes DO NOT Transfer • If a student transfers from one school to another within the system or transfers from one school system to another school system, the Pre-Coded Student Identification Bar Code Label CANNOT be transferred with the student. • A Generic Student Identification Bar Code Label should be used an all demographic information on the answer document MUST be hand-gridded.

45. Hand Gridded Answer Document Fill in the front page only. The other pages are for scorer use only.

46. ALERT 21Special Code Section on the Answer Document MUST be filled in completely for ALL students

50. Alert 22 Generic Student Identification Bar Code Label • The student’s name and SSID should be filled in on the provided spaces of each Generic Student Identification Bar Code Label.