testing accommodations for students with disabilities educator leader cadres february 2013 tamara...
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Testing Accommodations for Students with Disabilities
Educator Leader CadresFebruary 2013
Tamara Reavis, Senior AdviserPARCC Assessment Accessibility & Equity
Objectives:• Review and understand research and best practices
currently in place in PARCC states • Understand the timeline for public comment on draft
PARCC accommodations policies• Give feedback on the draft policy recommendation • Discuss current policies and implementation strategies
TODAY’S CHARGE
K-12 AND POSTSECONDARY ROLES IN PARCC
K-12 Educators & Education Leaders• Educators will be involved throughout the development of the
PARCC assessments and related instructional and reporting tools to help ensure the system provides the information and resources educators most need
Postsecondary Faculty & Leaders• Nearly 750 institutions and systems covering hundreds of
campuses across PARCC states have committed to help develop the high school assessments and set the college-ready cut score that will indicate a student is ready for credit-bearing courses
1. Create high-quality assessments
2. Build a pathway to college and career readiness for all students
3. Support educators in the classroom
4. Develop 21st century, technology-based assessments
5. Advance accountability at all levels
6. Build an assessment that is sustainable and affordable
THE PARCC GOALS
CREATE HIGH QUALITY ASSESSMENTS
Priority Purposes of PARCC Assessments:
1. Determine whether students are college- and career-ready or on track
2. Assess the full range of the Common Core Standards, including standards that are difficult to measure
3. Measure the full range of student performance, including the performance of high and low performing students
4. Provide data during the academic year to inform instruction, interventions and professional development
5. Provide data for accountability, including measures of growth
6. Incorporate innovative approaches throughout the system
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COHERENT SYSTEM ALIGNED TO COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS
PARCCAssessment
System
Implementation & Transition
Support
Aligned Instructional
Resources
Diagnostic & Informative
Assessments
Summative Assessments
BUILD A PATHWAY TO COLLEGE AND CAREER READINESS FOR ALL STUDENTS
K-2 3-8 High School
K-2 formative assessment
being developed,
aligned to the PARCC system
Timely student achievement data showing students, parents and educators
whether ALL students are on-track to college and career
readiness
ONGOING STUDENT SUPPORTS/INTERVENTIONS
College readiness score to identify who
is ready for college-level coursework
SUCCESS IN FIRST-YEAR,
CREDIT-BEARING, POSTSECONDARY
COURSEWORK
Targeted interventions &
supports:• 12th-grade bridge
courses• PD for
educators
ASSESSMENT DESIGNENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS/LITERACY AND MATHEMATICS, GRADES 3-11
End-of-Year Assessment
• Innovative, computer-based items
• Required
Performance-BasedAssessment (PBA)• Extended tasks• Applications of
concepts and skills• Required
Diagnostic Assessment• Early indicator of
student knowledge and skills to inform instruction, supports, and PD
• Non-summative
2 Optional Assessments/Flexible Administration
Mid-Year Assessment• Performance-based• Emphasis on hard-
to-measure standards
• Potentially summative
Speaking And Listening Assessment• Locally scored• Non-summative, required
ACCESS AND EQUITY
All students will have equitable opportunities to access and respond to
PARCC assessment items and tasks.
ACCESSIBILITY
STRATEGIES FOR INCREASING STUDENT ACCESS
• Provide item developers with clear guidelines for writing items that are free of bias, are sensitive to diverse cultures, are stated clearly, and use consistent formats
• Require item developers to use principals of Universal Design to allow participation of the widest possible range of students, and increase the likelihood that test questions measure only what they are intended to measure
• Conduct bias and sensitivity reviews and statistical procedures that are designed to detect bias as part of the item development/field testing process
• Develop common test accommodation and participation policies for Students with Disabilities (SWD) and English Language Learners (ELL)
• Use technology to provide and increase access to testing accommodations
• Conduct research to determine factors that promote or hinder accessibility
TIMELINE FOR IMPLEMENTING ACCESS STRATEGIES
Summer 2012 Bias and Sensitivity Guidelines
Ongoing Bias and Sensitivity Reviews
Summer 2012 Accessibility Guidelines
Winter 2013 Common Definition ELL
Spring 2013 Common Participation Policies (SWD/ELL)
Spring 2013 Common Accommodation Policies (SWD/ELL)
Summer 2014 Statistical Reviews
Spring 2013, 2014 Research
COMMITTEES ON ACCESSIBILITY
• Operational Working Group: State representatives responsible for the day-to-day aspects of work
• Technical Working Group: National experts who advise on issues of accessibility, accommodations, and fairness. There are three sub-groups: (1) students with disabilities; (2) English learners; (3) equity
Henry BraunBoston College
Bob BrennanUniversity of Iowa
Derek BriggsUniversity of Colorado at Boulder
Wayne CamaraCollege Board
Linda CookRetired, ETS
Ronald HambletonUniversity of Massachusetts, Amherst
Gerunda HughesHoward University
Huynh HuynhUniversity of South Carolina
PARCC TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE
Michael KolenUniversity of Iowa
Suzanne LaneUniversity of Pittsburgh
Richard LuechtUniversity of North Carolina at Greensboro
Jim PellegrinoUniversity of Illinois at Chicago
Barbara PlakeUniversity of Nebraska- Lincoln
Rachel QuenemoenNational Center on Educational Outcomes
Laurie WiseHuman Resources Research Organization, HumRRO
ACCESSIBILITY, ACCOMMODATIONS, & FAIRNESS OPERATIONAL WORKING GROUP
• The AAF Operational Working Group members represent the following states:
Arizona Colorado* Florida Illinois Indiana Louisiana Maryland* Massachusetts New Jersey New Mexico New York Ohio Oklahoma Rhode Island Tennessee
* Co-chairs of the AAF OWG
AAF STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES SUB-TWG
AAF TWG SWD Sub- Group Affiliation
Dave Edyburn University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Claudia Flowers University of North Carolina-Charlotte
Dianne Piche Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
Alba Ortiz The University of Texas at Austin
Diane Spence Region 4 Education Service Center, Braille Services
Martha Thurlow National Center on Educational Outcomes
Daniel Wiener* Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
*Chair of the AAF TWG and liaison to the AAF OWG
AAF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER SUB-TWG
AAF TWG ELL Sub-Group Affiliation
Diane August Center for Applied Linguistics
H. Gary Cook University of Wisconsin-Madison
Kenji Hakuta Stanford University
Alba Ortiz The University of Texas at Austin
Charlene Rivera George Washington University
Daniel Wiener* Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
*Chair of the AAF TWG and liaison to the AAF OWG
AAF EQUITY SUB-TWG
AAF TWG Equity Sub-Group Affiliation
Amy Epstein Leadership Public Schools
Keena Arbuthnot Louisiana State University
Edward Bosso Gallaudet University
Yvette Jackson National Urban Alliance for Effective Education
Carol D. Lee Northwestern University
Teresa L. McCarty Arizona State University
Daniel Wiener* Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Dianne Piche Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
*Chair of the AAF TWG and liaison to the AAF OWG
ACCESSIBILITY AS A PART OF THE DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
• Accessibility guidelines • Design review and feedback• Test blueprint development• Technology development and selection• Passage and media review committee involvement• Item review & bias and sensitivity committee involvement• Testing the efficacy of assessment items with accommodations
with the intended groups of students in pilot and field testing• Including sufficient number of students with identified needs
(across sub-categories) in pilot and field testing• Data review committee involvement• Cognitive labs & item development research
• Screen readers/ text-to-speech/speech-to-text software • Highlighting• Enlargement of text/graphics• Customized colors• Graphic organizers or representations• Customized dictionary or other home language supports/tools• Embedded/pop-up glossary• Reducing visual distractions surrounding written text• Captions for audio• Descriptive audio for students with visual impairments• Option response: adapted keyboards, StickyKeys, MouseKeys, FilterKeys• Braille (tactile/refreshable)• Signing supports (ASL)• Assistive technology
EMBEDDED SUPPORTS BEING DISCUSSED
Selected Key Deliverables
Bias & Sensitivity Guidelines for item development
Accessibility Guidelines for item development
Item & Passage Review Committees; Bias & Sensitivity Review Committees
Common PARCC definition of ELLParticipation guidelines for SWD & ELL
PARCC Common Accommodations ManualResearch & Cross-Consortia Collaboration
DESIGNING ACCESSIBLE ASSESSMENTS: KEY PARCC DELIVERABLES
INCREASING EQUITY AND ACCESSIBILITY FOR ALL STUDENTS
DEVELOPING A COMMON PARCC ACCOMMODATIONS
MANUAL
PARCC has committed to developing a common PARCC Accommodations Manual
by spring 2013.
• A testing accommodation is a change in how a test is presented or how the test taker responds, which may include changes in the presentation format, response format, test setting, timing, or scheduling.
• This term generally refers to changes that do not significantly alter what the test measures.
• It results from a student need; it is not intended to give the student an unfair advantage.
WHAT IS AN ACCOMMODATION?
• One of the primary objectives of PARCC is to report comparable results across all states in the Consortium
• In order to achieve comparability in results, students must have comparable testing experiences, therefore, accommodation policies for SWDs and ELLs, among other factors, must be commonly defined and implemented across PARCC states.
WHY MUST PARCC HAVE COMMON ASSESSMENT ACCOMMODATION POLICIES?
ACCOMMODATIONS COMPARABILITY ISSUE
While PARCC states currently allow for the provision of a range of accommodations that are common among them, there are a few that are not commonly allowed
Reading access accommodationsWriting response accommodationsBraille and signing support accommodationsCalculator use accommodationsTranslations
• Teachers need to know which accommodations will be offered
• Public feedback is essential to state-led policy development • States need to know if PARCC accommodations policy
decisions will impact current state statue / regulation / policy
• Accommodations information is necessary for field testing (& item tryouts)
WHY RELEASE SELECT DRAFT POLICIES NOW?
READING ACCESS ACCOMMODATION POLICY
• Providing reading access accommodations, specifically for reading aloud the passages, items, and response options on the ELA/literacy summative assessments for SWD who meet eligibility criteria
• The reading access accommodation may be delivered through human read-aloud, recorded voice presented via an audio file, and other text-to-speech technologies.
READING ACCESS
Two populations:• Student with a specific disability that severely limits or prevents him/her from accessing
printed text even after varied and repeated attempts to teach the student to do so. The student must be a virtual non-reader;
OR• Student with visual impairments who has not yet learned braille; Student must also:• Receive ongoing, research-based interventions to access printed text or learn braille, as
deemed appropriate by the IEP team AND
• Has access to written text in instruction only through the use of reading access accommodations, outside time spent in direct reading or braille instruction
AND• The accommodation is listed in an approved IEP with the disability documented by
objective, measurable data points and evaluation summaries from locally-administered, research-based diagnostic assessments
READING ACCESS
CALCULATOR ACCOMMODATION POLICY
• Provide calculator accommodations on the non-calculator test sessions of the mathematics summative assessments for SWD who meet the eligibility criteria
CALCULATOR
Population:• Student has a specific disability that severely limits or prevents him/her from
calculating, even after varied and repeated attempts to teach the student to do so. The student must be unable to calculate single-digit numbers (i.e., 0-9) without a calculation device, using the four basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division;
Student must also:• Receive ongoing, research-based intervention strategies in learning to calculate, as
deemed appropriate by the IEP team AND
• Has access to mathematical calculation in instruction only through the use of a calculation device, outside time spent in direct instruction on calculation
AND• The accommodation is listed in an approved IEP with the disability documented by
objective, measurable data points and evaluation summaries from locally-administered, research-based diagnostic assessments
CALCULATOR
• PARCC states will monitor the number and percentage of students using these accommodations at the school, district, and state level
• Summative assessment scores for students who receive this accommodation will be aggregated with the scores of all students and those of relevant subgroups
• Scores will be included for accountability purposes
• Confidential parent/guardian reports, non-public rosters of school- and district-level results, and other non-public reports will include notations in cases where these accommodations were provided. District and school reports available to the public will not include the notations in cases where these accommodations were used
SCORING & REPORTING
WRITING ACCESS ACCOMMODATION POLICY
• Scribe• Word prediction
WRITING ACCESS POLICY
Definition• A scribe is a human or device that records verbatim what a student
dictates Human scribe; recording device, augmentative communications
device; speech to text software, communication interpretation/transliteration, or by gesturing pointing or eye-gazing
Who Requires the Accommodation?• Student with a physical disability that impedes motor process for writing
OR• Student with a specific disability that significantly impacts the area of
written expression
SCRIBE
• Word prediction is recommended to be used as an accommodation for eligible students
• Proposed Definition: Word prediction software provides a student with a selection of word options based on spelling or frequent/recent use by the student, given partial input of words (i.e., letter characters)
• Proposed Eligibility Criteria: Students who have difficulty producing text due to the speed with which they are able to enter keystrokes
AND/OR
Students who have difficulty with language recall
WORD PREDICTION
• Where Do I Find the Information? http://parcconline.org/open-policies-public-comment
• What Should I Read? PARCC Draft Writing Access Accommodations Public Comment Document
• How Do I Provide Feedback? Fill out the survey online.
• When Is Feedback Due? February 20, 2013
WE WANT YOUR FEEDBACK!
TIMELINE FOR ADOPTINGCOMMON ACCOMMODATIONS POLICIES
Public Comment Date
Reading access and calculator accommodation policy for students with disabilities
Jan.-Feb., 2013
Writing access accommodation policy for students with disabilities
Feb.-Mar., 2013
Draft PARCC Accommodations Manual, including accommodations for English learners and students with disabilities
Apr.-May, 2013
Governing Board vote on the approval of the PARCC Accommodations Manual
June 2013
PUBLIC COMMENT ON READING ACCESS &
CALCULATOR POLICIES
• Provide reading access accommodations, specifically for reading aloud the passages, items, and response options on the ELA/literacy summative assessments for SWD who meet eligibility criteria
• Provide calculator accommodations on the non-calculator test sessions of the mathematics summative assessments for SWD who meet the eligibility criteria
DRAFT POLICIES FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
• Policies were released for public comment on Wednesday, January 16, 2013
• National Stakeholder Meeting held on Friday, January 18, 2013 at Achieve (Approximately 40 participants)
• States engage stakeholders and solicit public comment
• Public comment due Monday, February 4, 2013
PUBLIC COMMENT PROCESS
• 2,615 responses have been recorded.
• All Governing Board states have submitted surveys
• 48 out of 50 states, plus the District of Columbia responded
• Role of Respondents:18% of respondents – K-12 Instructors37% of respondents – Special Educators12% of respondents - Parents22% of respondents – Other
PRELIMINARY FEEDBACK
TAMARA REAVIS [email protected]
FEBRUARY 2013
www.PARCConline.org
THE PARTNERSHIP FOR ASSESSMENT OF READINESS FOR COLLEGE AND CAREERS