Implementing Assessments Aligned to College- and Career-Readiness (CCR) Standards

Presented by Gloria Zyskowski, Ph. D.Director, Student Assessment Division

Texas Education Agency

NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON STUDENT ASSESSMENTJUNE 22-24, 2015

Brief Timeline of STAAR Development

Executive Order RP-53 calls on the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) to work together to enhance college-readiness standards and programs for Texas public schools

2005

House Bill 1 calls for an increase in the number of students graduating high school as college and career ready; requires TEA and the THECB to establish vertical teams to develop College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) in the areas of English/language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies

2006

TEA and THECB establish vertical teams to develop CCRS; State Board of Education (SBOE) incorporates the CCRS into the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS)

2008

2

Vertically Aligning STAARConnecting the Curriculum and the Assessment

Align CCRS to high school standards

Identify Readiness and Supporting standards

Vertically align down to elementary assessments

Connecting the Performance Standards

Inform postsecondary-readiness standards with empirical evidence from external validity studies for the STAAR English III and Algebra II assessments

Vertically align down to elementary assessments

English III

English II

English I

Grade 8

Grade 7

Grade 6

Grade 5

Grade 4

Grade 3

Start

3

STAAR Performance Labels and Policy Definitions

4

Level II: Satisfactory Academic Performance Students in this category are reasonably likely (with at least a 60% probability) to succeed (with a grade of C or higher) in an entry-level, credit-bearing course in that content area …

Level III: Advanced Academic Performance Students in this category are highly likely (with at least a 75% probability) to succeed (with a grade of C or higher) in an entry-level, credit-bearing course in that content area…

Overview of Standard-Setting Process

1) Validity Studies

2) Performance Labels/Policy

Definitions

3) Grade/Course Specific Performance Level Descriptors

4) Policy Committee

5) Standard-Setting

Committees

6) Reasonableness

Review

7) Approve Performance

Standards

8) Implement Performance

Standards

9) Review Performance

Standards

5

Policy Committee

6

Neighborhood for Level III cut

100% Meeting Standard 0% Meeting Standard

STAAR Assessment

Neighborhood for Level II cut

Level I

Unsatisfactory Academic

Performance

Level II

Satisfactory Academic

Performance

Level II Cut Level III Cut

Level III

Advanced Academic

Performance

Established Neighborhoods for

Level II and Level III

Standard-Setting Committee: Recommended Level II and Level III cuts within neighborhoods

7

Empirical Studies Considerations

Norm-referenced assessments (e.g., Iowa Tests of Basic Skills)

Assessments linked to college and career readiness (e.g., EXPLORE, which links to ACT; ReadiStep, which links to SAT)

National and international comparative assessments (e.g., NAEP, PISA, TIMSS, and PIRLS)

Internal linkage between STAAR assessments (e.g., 3-8 to EOC, vertical scale studies)

Comparison to the prior Texas assessment (STAAR-TAKS)

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Uses of the Empirical Studies

To establish neighborhoods for setting performance standards,

Support the committees’ recommended performance standards through feedback data, and

Review the recommended performance standards for reasonableness.

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Study Profile Example: STAAR

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Data Quality Summary Example: STAAR

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Empirical Number Lines Example: STAAR

40% STAAR test questions correct

2009 NAEP 12th grade Proficient or higher

ACCUPLACER TSI cut

THEA TSI cut

College: 75% prob. of C or better

College: 60% prob. of C or better

High school course grade A

High school course grade B or better

60% STAAR test questions correct

SAT: 75% probability of C or better

ACT CR benchmark

SAT: 60% probability of C or better

TAKS HERC

100% Meeting Standard 0% Meeting Standard

12

100% Meeting Standard 0% Meeting Standard

STAAR Algebra II Studies

Level II

AbbreviationsCR = College ReadinessTSI = Texas Success InitiativeHERC = Higher Education Readiness Component

55%

40% STAAR test questions correct

26%

2009 NAEP 12th grade math Proficient or

higher

47%

ACCUPLACER Algebra TSI cut

63%

THEA math TSI cut

21%

College: 75% prob. of C or better

32%

College: 60% prob. of C or better

9%

High school course grade A

64%

High school course grade B or better

25%

60% STAAR test questions correct

SAT: 75% probability of C or better

27%

ACT math CR benchmark

94%

SAT: 60% probability of C or better

TAKS grade 11 math HERC

78%

Level III

2%25%

Level II

47%

13

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"The funny thing is, the state got exactly what it wanted – a tougher test that would better give educators a sense of where kids really stood in relation to the rest of the nation and the world. But that has caused everybody to freak out.“

Celeste, Eric. "Do Flat STAAR Tests Mean DISD Was Better Under Hinojosa? Of Course Not."

LearningCurve. Web. 11 June 2015.

Parting Words