Student Learning Assessments

(SLAs)Prepared by the SAPDC Learning Facilitator Team

2014

21st Century Learners

WE NEED TO PREPARE KIDS FOR THEIR FUTURE, NOT OUR PAST.

As you hear about Student Learning Assessments….. Think about the assessments being done in your school Think about the purpose Think about the format Is the assessment you have developed based on content? Does it include a literacy/numeracy component? Have you considered the 10 Competencies in the Ministerial Order? Think about what you need to do as a school to get ready for the

SLAs in September

INSPIRING EDUCATION: THE JOURNEY BEGINS

The Ministerial Order (MO)

Engaged ThinkerCollaborating to create new

knowledge

Entrepreneurial SpiritCreating new opportunities

Ethical CitizenDoing the right thing because it is the right

thing to do

Literacy

Numeracy

Arts

Language Arts

Mathematics

Science

Social Studies

Wellness

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nnov

ate:

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ate,

gen

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e an

d ap

ply

new

idea

s or c

once

pts

( c) I

dent

ify a

nd S

olve

Com

plex

Pro

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s

(a) k

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How

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arn,

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Why the change from PATs to SLAs?

STUDENT LEARNING ASSESSMENTS (SLAs)

• On May 9, 2013 Minister Jeff Johnson announced that Alberta would be giving teachers more tools to help students succeed by introducing assessments that will replace the existing Provincial Achievement Tests (PATs).

• The Student Learning Assessments (SLAs) will be digital and will be administered at the start of Grades 3, 6, and 9.

• A window of approximately 10 days, near the start of the school year, will provide schools with the opportunity to decide when it will be best for students to complete the assessments.

• The outcomes that will be assessed come from the previous year’s Programs of Studies (i.e. grades 2, 5, and 8).

Digital AssessmentsAssessments created for digital formats require different item development processes than paper and pencil formats.

Innovative items are computer-based test items that cannot be easily translated to paper

(Parshall, Davey, and Pashley, 2000)

DIGITALLY-BASED ASSESSMENT• Inspiring Action on Education (June 2010) contemplates a future where

“provincial assessment could also be made available on-demand.”

• Realizing this vision is only possible through digitally-based exam administrations• Digitally-based provincial assessments will enable

o Secure delivery of assistive technologies such as text-to-speecho The use of multi-media in provincial assessments

oInnovative assessment items

o Assessments to be securely delivered across a broad spectrum of devices

• Many existing and legacy systems will need to be replaced or enhanced• Ideally, cloud-based infrastructure will be utilized that can easily respond to rapid spikes

in demand.

Purpose Statements

1. Assessment is a process, and the primary purpose of assessment is to improve student learning. To facilitate this, assessment information can be used by:

a student to be informed about, to reflect upon, and to initiate activities to enhance his or her learning;

parents to have meaningful conversations with their child and their child’s teacher(s); and

a teacher to assist in meeting the learning needs of a student.

Purpose Statements2. Assessment information is also available to enhance instruction for students. To facilitate this, assessment information can be used by:

a teacher to be informed about, to reflect upon, and to initiate activities to enhance his or her instruction;

a principal to strategically support instructional practices and address the organizational needs within a school;

Purpose statement 2 cont.

• a school council to give advice about the learning opportunities, resources, and services provided by the school; • a superintendent to allocate resources appropriately and advocate for effective instructional practices; • trustees to create or amend authority policies and to guide their advocacy work; and • Alberta Education to be informed about the implementation and delivery of curriculum.

Purpose Statements

3. Assessment information also assures Albertans that the education system meets the needs of students and achieves the outcomes of the Ministerial Order on Student Learning.

Provincial assessment programs, including SLAs, are sources of information that must be interpreted, used, and communicated within the context of regular and continuous assessment by classroom teachers.

Student Learning Assessment Timelines

June 2013Last full-cohort administration of the Grade 3 PATs

June 2014Choice administration of Grade 3 PATs

September 2014Choice administration of Grade 3 SLAs

June 2015 Choice administration of the Grade 6 PATs

September 2015Full implementation of the Grade 3 SLAs and piloting of the Grade 6 SLAs

June 2016Choice administration of the Grade 9 PATs

September 2016Full implementation of the Grade 6 SLAs and piloting of the Grade 9 SLAs

September 2017Full implementation of the Grade 9 SLAs

PATs Compared to SLAs• Paper-based, but

also online• Meant to monitor

and improve student learning

• End-of-year• Based on current

year’s outcomes• Mainly multiple-

choice and written-response items

• Option for local scoring, but all tests centrally scored

• Results ready in the following year

• Digital

• Meant to improve student learning and enhance instruction

• Beginning-of-year• Based on previous year’s outcomes• Innovative items, including multiple-

choice, and performance tasks

• Local scoring of performance tasks

• Immediate results for those closest to the student

And how might the digital component look?

A DRAFT SAMPLE

Item Development

Item Development

Progress to Date

Adoption of purposes Proof-of-concept testing Assessment linkages document is close to finalizing A model for the Grade 3 SLAs has been approved

a digitally scored literacy component a literacy performance task a digitally scored numeracy component a numeracy performance task

What’s Next?

Building reporting information Blueprinting Item development Field testing SLA construction and validation System development

Field Testing

The SLA field tests will be delivered in a digital format and include the following field test types: Literacy, machine-scored Literacy, performance task Numeracy, machine-scored Numeracy, performance task Teachers can select which field test types they wish

to administer.

Since the SLAs will be administered at the beginning of grade 3, this year’s field tests will be administered to end-of-year grade 2 students.

The field test request system will be open for SLA field test requests between March 3 and 21.  Information on how to request field tests can be found by clicking this link:  Field Test Request Guide. 

The SLA field testing period will take place between April 22 and May 30.  Instructions on how to administer digital format SLA field tests will be distributed prior to this period. 

Alberta Education will attempt to fulfill as many SLA field test requests as possible.

Field testing is not a mandatory activity.

To find the most up to date information n the Alberta Education website, search for SLA

Literacy and Numeracy

Until new Programs of Study are available after March 2016, students will be assessed on the draft Literacy and Numeracy Components (Awareness, Knowledge and Understanding and Strategies) referenced to the Grades 2,5 and 8 Learning Outcomes in Mathematics, Arts, Science, Social Studies, Wellness and Language Arts.

Literacy and Numeracy are foundational to all student learning. Literacy is more than just the ability to read and write, and numeracy is more than the ability to solve number problems. They are a means of discovering and making sense of the world

Literacy Literacy is acquiring, creating,

connecting and communicating meaning in a wide variety of contexts.

Numeracy Numeracy is the confidence and habits

of mind to engage with, critically assess, reflect upon and apply quantitative and spatial information when making judgements and decisions or taking action in all aspects of daily living.

Numeracy

Literacy/Numeracy Benchmarks

Literacy

Numeracy

Literacy/Numeracy Benchmarks

Literacy

• create and express meaning

• communicate what we know, can do and want to learn

• communicate about concepts, ideas and understandings

• use language tools to communicate meaning

• connect prior knowledge and experiences to create new understandings

• use effective literacy/problem solving strategies to acquire knowledge

• use diverse texts and media to communicate

• use effective strategies to respond to knowledge

• use effective strategies to generate and share information

• use qualitative and spatial concepts to communicate meaning

• use effective mental calculations and estimation strategies to manage information

• analyze and evaluate information

• Expectations and behaviours at developmentally appropriate age groups

• Inclusive • Applied in diverse contexts and for a variety of purposes• The responsibility of all educators • Lifelong processes

LITERACY AND NUMERACY BENCHMARKS ARE:

The Lack of Pirates is Causing Global Warming

Being Numerate Matters

LOOKING AT A PROBLEM FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF NUMERACY

Greg and his family are helping their friends move from Edmonton to Calgary, a distance of 300 km. They are using his father’s truck to transport the furniture. If they travel at a speed of 100 km per hour, how long will it take to return to Edmonton?

•

How long will it take to unload the furniture?Will they stop to eat?Will they need to stop for gas?

What answers would be reasonable?

Ever felt like this……….?

SAMPLE LEARNING EXPERIENCE

http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/balancedliteracydiet/Recipe/50143/

Integrating Numeracy and Literacy for an authentic purpose

Some Answers

Scheduling flexibility – no timed tests, more than one session Formats- multiple choice, numerical response, and short answer,

drag-and-drop, rearrangement, and highlighting Results-24 hours for teachers, 1 month schools/authorities, annually provincially

More info:http://education.alberta.ca/media/8225512/sla_update_winter2014.pdf

SLAs Are:

• SLAs are assessments intended to screen to identify general areas of strength and improvement in terms of literacy and numeracy

• SLAs provide those closest to the student with results very quickly in order to allow for individual programming

• SLAs are digital assessments that allow for timely reporting• SLAs be accessible by all students, including ESL students and students with

learning disabilities

SLAs Are Not:

• Diagnostic– They are screening tests

• Summative– They are not meant for grading or ranking of students

• Tests that students should need to be excused from– Information about all students should be informative

• Meant to be used for evaluating teachers or schools

How does this match with what your school is currently doing?

Prepared by the SAPDC Learning Facilitator Team 2014