c

“Changing the conversation…”

Instructional Change – Align to standards Set higher expectations Rigorous coursework Assess Data driven intervention

College and Career Readiness System

8th–9th GradeScore Scale: 1—258th–9th GradeScore Scale: 1—25

10th GradeScore Scale: 1—3210th GradeScore Scale: 1—32

11th–12th GradeScore Scale: 1—3611th–12th GradeScore Scale: 1—36

Longitudinal AssessmentsLongitudinal Assessments

9th–12th Grade Instructional Improvement 9th–12th Grade Instructional Improvement

InstructionInstruction

Characteristics of all three assessments• English, math, reading, science, optional Writing Test (ACT only)

• Career and Educational Components• Needs Assessment• Plans and Background Information• Interest Inventory• High School Course Grades Information• EOS

• Educator’s Guide• Course Objectives• Instructional Units • End-of-Course

Assessments• Formative Item

Pools

ResearchThe Foundation of ACT

The ACT National Curriculum Survey

ACT program and solutions

Data systems - a collection of data and managing of the data – our system is intuitive – empirically derived – you may choose to throw other pieces in to

the system of evaluating data - but ACT solutions provide the baseline.

Longitudinal Assessment : Only curriculum-based, research-validated system available Increases readiness for college or a career Provides link between scores and skills Promotes college enrollment, persistence, and success Built on a common score scale to measure academic progress from grades 8 through

postsecondary Familiarizes students with postsecondary options through common career and educational

components

QualityCore Based on empirical research Helps improve college readiness for all students by ensuring high school courses are

focused on high standards aligned with college/career readiness

Example: Mathematics College Readiness Standard

ACT’s College Readiness Standards

Test College Course PLAN The ACT8th Grade 9th Grade

English English Composition 13 14 15 18

Math Algebra 17 18 19 22

Reading Social Sciences 15 16 17 21

Science Biology 20 20 21 24

EXPLORE

ACT’s College Readiness Benchmarks

Aligning Standards to Practice Align Standards in each subject area to practice (by

score range): Identify what is/is not common practice in current

curriculum When are students introduced to standards Expectation of when students should reach standards Score ranges should be seen as stepping stones in

development of curriculum – with goal to have students meet or exceed college readiness standards identified as ‘college ready’ in each subject

Curriculum Alignment Requires: Formulate then connect questions to ‘Program

of Study’ and content. Identify rigorous content: “What does rigor

look like to you?” ACT’s answer to rigor is QualityCore

Developed from ACT research Not every "Algebra II" course teaches Algebra II The quality of all high school core courses matters High grades may not mean a student is college ready All students should have the opportunity to be college and

career ready

Looked for schools that prepared students for success in college (2 straight years)

Prepared traditionally under-represented college students

Worked with 69 teachers in 10 schools

On Course for Success Study

Rigor…

“…coursework that makes students ready for entry level courses in postsecondary education and for entering the workforce.”

The Minnesota Private College Council, Fund and Research Foundation

Rigor…

The rigor of QualityCore is communicated through Educator Resources, not just examining the Course Standards.

…the language of the individual ACT Course Standards do not do all the work of communicating the rigor of QualityCore courses. For that, we would point to the Educator Resources. For example, the Instructional Units not only include the requisite content and skills, but also include research-based teaching behaviors that will actually translate to rigor in the classroom.

College ReadinessStandards

Benchmarks

National Curriculum SurveyPostsecondary expectations

Secondary instruction

High Achieving SchoolsCourses, Practices, Materials

QualityCoreCourse-specific knowledge and skills

Best Practices

Development

Provide professional development resources, tools and opportunities to teachers and leaders – New format! http://www.act.org/qualitycore/development.html

Customize instruction to the needs of specific classrooms, schools, and districts

QualityCore

Preparation for the ACT

Limited to “college prep” students

A replacement for Advanced Placement® courses

Designed to be a full curriculum

QualityCore is not…

English 9, 10, 11, 12 Algebra I Geometry Algebra II Pre-Calculus

Biology Chemistry Physics U.S. History

Available Courses

Course-specific college readiness skills End-of-Course assessments A live formative item pool for benchmark

assessments Instructional resources Implementation support

QualityCore consists of…

Educator’s Resources

• Provide conceptual view of rigor

• Provide ways to inject rigor into courses

• Assist in planning

Educator’s Resources include:

• Course Objectives/Standards

• Course Descriptions/Syllabus

• Course Outline and Instructional Plan

• Model Instructional Unit

• Guidelines for Developing Units

• Test Blueprint

Student Report