Public Review of Draft PARCC College-Ready Determination and Performance Level Descriptors Policy

1. Public Review of Draft PARCC College-Ready Determination and Performance Level Descriptors Policy Webinar for Indiana Postsecondary Institutions August 14, 2012, 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM

2. Public Review of Draft Policy How do Indiana postsecondary institutions engage in the public review? • Read and discuss the draft policy • Read and discuss the survey questions • Determine how your institution will provide feedback (3 options) • Provide feedback by deadlines specified

3. Public Review - Online Survey: Indiana • If your institution would like to participate in the Indiana-specific survey that will remain open until September 4, 2012, the link to that survey can be found here: • http://bit.ly/PARCCCRDPLD-IN • All Indiana feedback will be combined into one summary document and provided to Commissioner Lubbers and Superintendent Bennett, so that she and he can actively engage in PARCC governing board meeting discussions and votes. All Indiana feedback will also be submitted to PARCC.

4. Public Review – Online Survey: National • If your institution would like to participate in the national survey, PARCC is seeking feedback from members of the public on both draft policies through September 21, 2012. You can review the draft policy and provide comments via an online survey at www.PARCConline.org/crd-pld-survey . • PARCC will access these responses, not Indiana.

5. Public Review – Indiana: Written Summary of Feedback • If your institution would like to submit a written response to the draft policy, please email it to: wlodarczykt@uindy.edu by September 4, 2012. • One written response per institution

6. College-Ready Determination Policy • Sections of the Policy • Meaning of the Determination • Benefit of Earning the Determination • Criteria Used for Making the Determination • Maintaining the Determination • Setting Cut Scores for the Determination • Criteria for Validating the Determination

7. Meaning of a College-Ready Determination • PARCC intends to make two College-Ready (CR) Determinations • Students who earn a College-Ready Determination in ELA/literacy will have demonstrated the knowledge and skills necessary to enter into and succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing courses in College English Composition and Literature, and introductory courses requiring college-level reading in a range of disciplines, such as history and the social sciences. • Students who earn a College-Ready Determination in Mathematics will have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and practices* necessary to enter into and succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing courses in College Algebra and Introductory Statistics. *The practices referred to here are the Standards for Mathematical Practice included in the Common Core State Standards.

8. Benefit of Earning a College-Ready Determination • Students who earn a CR Determination will be exempt from having to take and pass placement tests designed to determine whether they are academically prepared to enter directly into entry-level, credit-bearing courses in English language arts and mathematics. • The CR Determination is notintended to inform admission decisions or exempt students from taking tests designed to place them into more advanced courses than entry-level.

9. Criteria for Earning a College-Ready Determination • CR Determinations will be awarded to students who achieve Level 4* on the designated PARCC high school assessments in ELA/literacy and mathematics. • In order to achieve Level 4, students will need to demonstrate a solid command of the knowledge and skills embodied by the Common Core State Standards assessed on the designated PARCC high school assessments. • Options for determining the specific PARCC high school assessments that will be used to make CR Determinations will be discussed at the September 2012 Governing Board meeting. *The proposal is to report the results of PARCC assessments using five performance levels, Level 5 being the highest.

10. Maintaining a College-Ready Determination • Policy states that postsecondary institutions/ systems may impose additional requirements for maintenance, such as continuous enrollment through graduation from high school in: • Courses offered through dual/concurrent enrollment; or • High school courses that build on the standards used to make the College-Ready Determination.

11. Purposes of Performance Levels • To report the results of assessment(s) used to make College-Ready Determinations (specific courses) • To report the results of high school end-of-grade ELA/literacy assessments and end-of-course math assessments (grades 9 and 10) • To report the results of end-of-grade assessments for grades 3-8

12. General Definition of Each Level • Level 5: Superior command of the knowledge, skills, and practices embodied by the CCSS assessed at the grade level/ course. • Level 4: Solid command … • Level 3: Partial command … • Level 2: Limited command … • Level 1: Very Limited command …

13. General Content Claims • In ELA/literacy, general content claims at each level describe how well students are able to • Read and comprehend a range of sufficiently complex text independently • Write effectively when using and/or analyzing sources • Build and present knowledge through the integration, comparison, and synthesis of ideas • Use of context to determine the meaning of words and phrases • In Mathematics, the general content claims at each level describe how well students are able to • Solve problems involving the major content with connections to the practices • Solve problems involving the additional and supporting content with connections to the practices • Express mathematical reasoning by constructing viable arguments • Solve real world problems, engaging particularly in the Modeling Practice • Demonstrate fluency (grades 3-6)

14. Standard-Setting/ Validation Studies The following statement will be used to inform standard-setting (determining cut scores for PARCC performance levels) and to conduct future studies to validate the efficacy of the CR Determinations. • At least 75 percent of the students who earn a College-Ready Determination by performing at level 4 in ELA/ literacy should earn college credit by attaining at least a grade of C or its equivalent in College English Composition or Literature, or introductory courses in disciplines requiring college-level reading, such as history and the social sciences. • At least 75 percent of the students who earn a PARCC College-Ready Determination by performing at Level 4 in Mathematics should earn college credit by attaining at least a grade of C or its equivalent in College Algebra or Introductory Statistics.

15. Survey Questions • Name • Job Title • Primary Role • Institution Name

16. Survey Questions, #1 • PARCC is planning to use five performance levels to report student results on the PARCC assessments. These levels are currently named Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5. Level 5 is the highest performance level. • To what extent do you agree that five levels is the appropriate number for use on the PARCC assessment? • If disagree or strongly disagree, please recommend an alternate number of levels and justify rationale. • If PARCC were to name the levels, what names do you believe would best align with the descriptions contained in the policy-level descriptors?

17. Survey Questions, #2 2. Each PARCC performance level descriptor includes two components: (1) a policy claim, which describes the educational implications for students at a particular performance level; and (2) general content claims, which describe the academic knowledge and skills students performing at a given performance level are able to demonstrate, regardless of grade level. • To what extent do you agree that the language of the policy claims at all grade levels clearly describes a student’s academic preparedness and ability to pursue further study at each performance level? • If disagree or strongly disagree how would you clarify the language?

18. Survey Questions, #2 continued • To what extent do you agree that the language of the policy claims at the high school level clearly describes the academic implications of earning a College-Ready Determination? • If disagree or strongly disagree, how would you clarify the language? • To what extent do you agree that the language of the content claims at all grade levels clearly describes a student’s command of the knowledge and skills assessed? • If disagree or strongly disagree, how would you clarify the language?

19. Survey Questions, #3 3. In order to inform the standard-setting process that will be used to identify the threshold scores students will need to achieve on the PARCC high school assessments to earn a College-Ready Determination, and to conduct future studies to validate the efficacy of those Determinations, the draft policy states that at least 75% of students performing at Level 4 will earn college credit by attaining at least a grade of C or its equivalent in introductory courses in English and mathematics. • To what extent do you agree with these criteria (i.e., 75% will earn at least a C)? • If disagree or strongly disagree, please recommend and justify alternate criteria.

20. Survey Questions, #4 4. To what extent do you agree that College Algebra or Introductory Statistics are the appropriate entry-level, credit-bearing courses to which the mathematics College-Ready Determination should apply? • If disagree or strongly disagree, which course(s) should be added and/or deleted?

21. Survey Questions, #5 & 6 5. To what extent do you agree that College English Composition or Literature and introductory courses that require college-level reading, such as the social sciences and history, are the appropriate entry-level, credit-bearing courses to which the ELA/literacy College-Ready Determination should apply? If disagree or strongly disagree, which course(s) should be added and/or deleted? 6. Please use this space to provide any other comments not addressed by previous questions.

22. Additional Slides for Engagement & Background Information • Definitions of Acronyms • CCSS – Common Core State Standards • PARCC – Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers • CTC – Core to College

23. Indiana adopted the CCSS • The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) Initiative was a state-led effort coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). • The standards are informed by the highest, most effective models from states across the country and provide teachers and parents with a common understanding of what students are expected to learn in order to provide a clear and consistent framework to prepare our children for college and the workforce. • www.corestandards.org

24. Indiana is a PARCC state • The Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) includes 24 states that have joined together with the goal of creating a next-generation assessment system in Mathematics and English. • PARCC includes supporting tools that will help states increase the number of students who graduate high school ready for college. PARCC assessments will be ready for states to administer during the 2014-15 school year. • www.parcconline.org

25. Background Information • Indiana was one of ten states selected to receive a Core to College grant funded by the Lumina Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. • Indiana’s Core to College initiative intends to support the implementation and use of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and one of the corresponding assessments, Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC). • Core to College provides an opportunity for alignment between K-12 and HE.

26. Next Steps for Public Review • Share the draft policy at your institution and engage faculty and administration in a discussion of the policy and survey questions. • Submit feedback through one or all of the feedback options by the respective deadlines.

27. CTC Resources and Contact • CELL has designated a web page for posting CTC materials, including today’s presentation and materials. http://cell.uindy.edu/coretocollege/resources.php • Core to College Alignment Director, Trish Wlodarczyk, wlodarczykt@uindy.edu