Science Assessment Updates

1. Science Assessment Updates WSTA October 20, 2017 Pasco, WA

2. Welcome! • Who is with us today?

3. Science Assessment Office Staff • General e-mail account • science@k12.wa.us • Dawn Cope — Science Assessment Lead • dawn.cope@k12.wa.us • Amy Viveiros—Science Assessment Specialist • amy.viveiros@k12.wa.us • Jessica Cole—Administrative Assistant • jessica.cole@k12.wa.us • Anton Jackson-Director of Assessment Development • anton.jackson@k12.wa.us

4. Today’s Topics • Current Exams: WCAS Questions and Answers • WCAS Development • NGSS 101 • WCAS Design and Features • Item Specifications • Training Tests • Science Assessment Webpage

5. Current Exams:WCAS Questions and Answers

6. Providing flexibility in high school graduation requirements and supporting student success during the transition to a federal Every Student Succeeds Act-compliant accountability system • Revises high school graduation assessment requirements in science, english language arts, mathematics, and provisions governing alternative assessment options • Discontinues the Collection of Evidence alternative assessment options • Establishes an appeals process for waiving requirements for Certificates of Academic Achievement or Certificates of Individual Achievement for certain students (ELA and Math only) • Addresses student interventions and academic supports • Establishes new provisions for High School and Beyond plans. Revises or repeals certain accountability-related duties of the State Board of Education House Bill 2224

7. Delays the high school graduation requirement until the class of 2021 • Biology EOC is discontinued • Graduation alternatives • Biology Collection of Evidence is discontinued • Other graduation alternatives are delayed until the class of 2021 • ACT science score • AP, IB test scores • GPA Comparison • New graduation alternatives for the class of 2021? • Locally Administered Assessment For High School Science…

8. High School Science Assessment 2018+ The MSPs and the Biology EOC will no longer be administered.

9. Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS)

10. 2018 Science Test Windows Required for federal and state accountability

11. WCAS Development

12. Goals for WCAS • Design an assessment that reflects how science content is taught and tested in the classroom. • Use WA educators in assessment development. • Develop high quality item clusters and standalone items that achieve alignment to the SEPs, DCIs, CCCs represented in a PE or PE bundle. • Design an assessment that allows for valid and reliable inferences to be drawn from the results. • Design an assessment that ensures the fair and accurate assessment of students in special populations.

13. Science Assessment Development Cycle

14. Educator Work Group Descriptions • (2) Cluster Development Workgroup: Teams of 2-3 educators write stimuli, items, and rubrics designed to validly measure student understanding of the NGSS. • (4) Content Review Work Group: Educators review the products of the cluster development workshop to ensure every stimulus, item, and rubric is scientifically accurate and gathers appropriate evidence about student mastery of the NGSS. At the same time, a separate committee of community members reviews the items and stimuli for bias and sensitivity issues. Recommendations from the Bias and Sensitivity review are considered by the Content Review work group. • (6) Pilot Rangefinding and Rubric Validation: Educators look at a range of student responses to short answer and technology enhanced items and decide how to score responses. Scoring rubrics are refined and materials that will be used to score the field test item are finalized. • (8) Content Review with Data: Educators use field test data as well as science content knowledge, to decide whether the items should advance into the item bank.

15. Science test scores will be released slightly later than usual in fall 2018 due to Achievement Level Setting.

16. Stay informed and get involved • Sign up for GovDelivery messages • Go to the Subscribe page for GovDelivery. Enter your email address. On the Subscriptions page, select Content Areas > Science, then select the grade band(s) for which you would like to receive information. • Check calendar posted at: Professional Development calendar

17. NGSS 101

18. NGSS Resources • Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) • NGSS Appendices • The K–12 Framework for Science Education

19. Total PEs per grade Performance Expectations per Grade Band Each Performance Expectation (PE) includes a Science and Engineering Practice, a Disciplinary Core Idea, and a Cross-cutting Concept

20. NGSS Performance Expectation

21. Cluster Map

22. PE Bundle Phenomenon Observation that needs an explanation Context Idea/setting/background/situation related to the phenomenon that can be further developed into a stimulus Stimulus Includes data sets, graphs, tables, descriptive observations, models, and/or descriptions of investigations that can be interspersed among items to add information as needed.

23. WCAS Design and Features

24. Structure and Test Length • Structure • 5-6 Clusters and 6-10 Standalones • Embedded field test items • All items either 2 or 3 dimensional • Test Length • Grade 5 90 minutes • Grade 8 110 minutes • Grade 11 120 minutes • Administration • Can be administered in multiple sessions like the Smarter Balanced ELA and Math assessments. • 1 to 3 sessions recommended.

25. WCAS Features • All online • For clusters, one or more stimuli on left side of screen, items on the right side • Item Types: • Selected Response—multiple choice, multiple select • Constructed Response—short answer • Technology enhanced—ex: drag and drop, drop-down choices, simulations • Multi-part items • Parts labeled with letters A, B, and C. • May have a mix of item types. Parts work together. May ask for evidence to support answer in previous part of the item.

26. Sample Screenshot from the WA Smarter Balanced ELA 6-8 Training Test

27. New WCAS Features • Collapsing stimuli • First stimulus is hidden when second stimulus is provided. • Both stimuli are available to the student. • Locking items • Student can answer the question only once. • Allows subsequent questions to update with correct information. • An “attention” box warns student that they won’t be able to change their answer.

28. Standalone Items • Allow more PEs to be assessed on a test • Must be 2 or 3 dimensional • Can have multiple parts • Computer scored item types only

29. Item Specifications

30. Item Specifications • Washington Comprehensive Assessment of Science (WCAS) Item Specifications are currently in development, and will be published for each grade level 5, 8, 11. • Front matter:Describes the structure and development of the WCAS, including information about item types and NGSS alignment. • Item specifications for individual PEs:Describe how the dimensions of each PE are combined and assessed in WCAS items.

31. Item Specifications Release • The front matter and a subset of 18 individual PE item specifications will be released in late fall. • Grade 5 Front matter + 6 G5 PEs • Grade 8 Front matter + 6 G8 PEs • Grade 11 Front matter + 6 G11 PEs • The PEs will be distributed across domains and grade bands for each grade level. • An additional 55-60 individual PE item specifications will be released this winter, distributed across grade levels and domains. • The remainder of the PEs will be released in school year 2018-2019. • The Item Specifications will be updated annually based on WA educator feedback.

32. Training Tests

33. Training Tests • Will be available in late fall • Will include clusters and standalones • Will include grades 5, 8, and 11 • Should be used across grade levels to show the range of item types

34. Science Assessment Webpage

35. Science Assessment Webpage • Main page • Science Assessment webpage • Item Specifications-late fall • Lessons Learned from Scoring Student Work-late fall • WCAP Portal • WCAP Portal training tests • Sciencetraining tests-late fall

36. Formative Assessment Resources • Formative assessment resources are available that can help you and your students measure progress toward learning the Science K-12 Learning Standards as assessed on the WCAS • STEM Teaching Tools website • Includes tools that can help teach science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) and is currently focused on supporting the teaching of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Each tool is focused on a specific issue and leverages the best knowledge from research and practice. • Recommended tools: • Prompts for Integrating Crosscutting Concepts Into Assessment and Instruction • Integrating Science Practices Into Assessment Tasks • How can formative assessment support culturally responsive argumentation in a classroom community? • How can assessments be designed to engage students in the range of science and engineering practices? • Steps to Designing a Three Dimensional Assessment

37. Learning and Teaching Science • Ellen Ebert, Director • Ellen.Ebert@k12.wa.us • Amber McCullough, K-12 Science Specialist • Amber.McCullough@k12.wa.us • Rochelle Gandoor-Rood, Program Supervisor Environmental and Sustainability Education • Rochelle.GandoorRood@k12.wa.us

38. Thank you!