Design Treatment PresentationFall 2005 T/TAC Online Project

VA Assessments

February 10, 2005

Matt HumphreyAala’a MashaalPamela Sharpe

Tim SmithMaria Washington

Graduate School of Education George Mason University

Project Background VA Assessments

No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) Individuals with Disabilities

Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA)

Project Problem StatementVA Assessments

Transition to cognitive standards based assessments

Communication skills State mandated assessments New process for teachers

Needs AnalysisSteps Taken

Determine current status Performance Analysis

Analysis of results Teacher expectations Identify discrepancies Determine the goals Set priorities for action

Needs AnalysisCurrent Situation/Actuals

Special Education teachers have not been doing assessments for their students in a standardized format

Special Education teachers’ collaboration outside the classroom is limited

The assessment documents are difficult to locate on the Virginia Department of Education website

The challenge of assessing special education students creates a barrier

Special education teachers of students with severe disabilities have not been required to conduct ASOL based assessments

Teachers spend an inordinate amount of time developing portfolios which are not aligned with ASOL expectations

Needs AnalysisDesired Performance/Optimals

For students designated to be assessed under the VAAP, teachers must begin aligning lesson plans to new Aligned Standards of Learning (ASOL) guidelines, which include cognitive skills.

Cognitive skills will be measured in the four subject areas: Reading, Math, History & Social Science and Science.

Differentiate the ASOL enhanced lesson plans that are currently available on the ASOL Enhanced area of T/TAC Online for their students assessed under VAAP guidelines.

Needs AnalysisDiscrepancies in Teacher

Performance

Teachers do not have experience in aligning their lesson plans to the new standards.

Some of the teachers do not have experience assessing using the former VAAP standards.

The greatest discrepancy in teacher performance is that the cognitive skill assessment process is new to all teachers in Virginia.

Teachers have limited resources to help them with the assessment process.

Teachers have limited time outside the classroom to dedicate to this process.

Needs AnalysisDesired

Performance/Optimals

The solution system should: Assist teachers with assessing their students using the

different assessment procedures outlined in the VAAP, VGLA, and VSEP manuals

Allow teachers to access the documents in one location or a “one stop shop”

Facilitate the sharing of lesson plans with other teachers also involved in the process of creating lesson plans

Facilitate the submission of standardized assessment portfolios with streamlined evidences thereby reducing the amount of time teachers spend compiling evidence of student performance

The documents should be searchable for easy access and downloading

Needs AnalysisPriorities for Action

Analyze lesson plan process Determine potential solution based on

the needs Create prototype of the solution

system

Flowchart 2: Lesson Plan DocumentFlowchart 2: Lesson Plan Document

Solution System Based upon the results of the needs and task analysis phases, our goals for the solution system are to:

1. Provide scaffolding for teachers to develop lesson plans aligned with the new SOLs.

2. Produce a searchable VAAP manual.3. Provide additional resources for

teachers to utilize throughout the assessment process.

Design ApproachEPSS Characteristics

Electronic Performance Support System (EPSS)

Computer software program that improves performance by: Reducing complexity Providing the performance information to

perform a task Providing a decision support system that

enables the user to identify appropriate actions

Design ApproachEPSS Characteristics

Used on the job Controlled by the user Reduce the need for prior training in

order to accomplish the task Supports new constraints on an

existing process

Design ApproachRationale

Supporting an existing process Teachers have created lesson plans New constraints on that process

New standard format for lesson plans is a system requirement

Teacher experience levels vary Just-in-time support in the classroom

Development of Prototype

Users will be able to use the VA Assessments section on T/TAC Online to: Search the VAAP Manual Create lesson plans Search for created lesson plans

Searchable Online VAAP Manual Users should be able to search the

VAAP Manual by: Subject Subject and ASOL code Subject and Skill Group Instructional Strategy

Creating a Lesson Plan

Users will use the system to create lesson plans using a wizard with built in just-in-time supports

Users can also receive assistance if they need help with a particular part of the lesson plan creation process

Searching for Created Lesson Plans

Users will be able to search for previously created lesson plans by: Subject Subject & skill group Subject & ASOL code

Design ApproachPrototype

http://ttaconline.org/staff/assessment/assess.asp

Next Steps Identify supports to be integrated into the

EPSS Interview expert teachers Surveys Resources Collaboration

Continue development of prototype Implement prototype Usability testing Formative evaluation

Thank You for Listening

Are there any questions?