Higher Education & Massachusetts' Next-Generation Assessment

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment

Board of Higher Education Meeting | December 8,2015

Susan Lane, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner for P16 Access & Alignment Policy, DHEJeff Wulfson, Deputy Commissioner, DESE

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Review BESE Decision on Next-Generation Assessment for Massachusetts Task Timeline Higher Education Collaboration

Review Higher Education’s Continuing Role Faculty Participation College Readiness, Assessment and

Placement Research

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation AssessmentPresentation Goals

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Endorsed Common Core Standards in support of college and career readiness

Partnered on development and adoption of MA Definition of College and Career Readiness—a clear set of knowledge and skills anchored in Common Core Standards

Worked with K-12 teachers to develop PARCC as a college and career readiness measure

Adopted a 4-year high school math requirement effective for students entering college in fall 2016, and a 3-year science requirement effective fall 2017

Undertaken comprehensive integration of new standards in all educator preparation programs to ensure a strong foundation for all aspiring educators

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation AssessmentHigher Education Leadership in

MA

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Collaborating on the development of a next-generation assessment:

To effectively measure readiness for college and career, and

To use to place students into entry-level, credit-bearing college courses without the need for remediation.

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation AssessmentCollege Readiness Goal in MA

Massachusetts Partners Higher education

faculty Elementary &

secondary teachers

Campus, district, community & business leaders

Department staff

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On November 17, 2015, BESE voted to begin work on a next-generation, computer-based assessment program that: Will build on the best elements of both PARCC and

MCAS Will allow MA to retain final control over the test

content, testing policies, and test administration procedures

Will be administered in all schools beginning in spring 2017

Will be developed with technical advisory committees representing Massachusetts K-12 teachers, higher education faculty, and assessment experts to advise on content and test administration policies

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation AssessmentNovember 2015 BESE Decision

Key Higher Education Role

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Convene review panels of K-12 teachers and higher education faculty to: Review current ELA & mathematics curriculum

frameworks Identify needed modifications or additions to ensure that

the Commonwealth’s standards match those of the most aspirational education systems in the world, thus representing a course of study that best prepares students for the 21st century

Offer MCAS grade 10 tests until spring 2019 Consult with technical advisory committees

to propose a broader range of high school testing options beginning in spring 2017

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation AssessmentDESE Next Steps

Higher Education Involvement in Development of PARCC and Foundation for Next-Generation Assessment

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MA Campus and Faculty InvolvementHigher Education & MA’s Next-Generation

Assessment

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MA New K-12 Standards—2008–2010 21 MA faculty participated in Educator Expert Panels

Faculty Judgment Study—Spring 2015 35 MA faculty representing all campuses were among

190 faculty from all PARCC States Standard Setting—Summer 2015

26 MA Faculty and K-12 Teachers participated on Standard Setting Panels during Summer 2015

Faculty Liaisons for Assessment—Fall 2015 52 MA faculty in English and Math met with campus

faculty colleagues to review college readiness research and PARCC assessment

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation AssessmentMassachusetts Faculty

Participation

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Jen Berg, Fitchburg State University Professor, Mathematics Department,

Fitchburg State University Loretta Holloway, Framingham State

University Professor, English Department Interim Vice President, Division of Enrollment and

Student Development

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation AssessmentFaculty Comments

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Executive Office of Education Commissioned study to analyze the extent to which MCAS

and PARCC test scores can accurately assess whether students will succeed in college

866 college freshmen attending 11 MA public institutions were administered 10th-grade MCAS or PARCC assessment in English or Math

Key Findings: PARCC and MCAS scores have a similar ability to predict

college grades and need for developmental/remedial education, comparable to the predictive ability of SAT scores

Assessments differed in the degree that their respective performance standards predicted college grades and the need for remedial math, with PARCC outperforming MCAS

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation AssessmentAssessment Studies/Reports

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(cont’d)Campus Assessment Faculty Liaisons Campus conversations with English and Math faculty,

placement staffCampus Summaries: Described wide range in faculty support for standardized

assessment Described range of P–16 alignment work, from general to

extensive Identified home-grown assessment as very aligned with

campuses courses but not with high school curriculumCommon Themes: Rigorous assessment, focus on college readiness standards

and application of knowledge Equity concerns due to lack of technology to support online

assessment Many questions and great interest in more information and

ability to pilot use in placement practice

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(cont’d)Campus Assessment Faculty Liaisons

(cont’d) Questions: Would students scoring 4/5 be “ready” for more advanced

courses? Could GPA be used in combination with scores less than 4/5

for placement into entry-level credit courses? Would a score of 3 indicate “college ready”?

How long would score be valid? How can this readiness assessment support dual

enrollment and other early college work? How will higher education participate in reliability and

validity studies as student scores begin to be used in placement in MA and across the country?

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Continue work with DESE on MA’s Next-Generation Assessment as outlined in Commissioner Chester’s November recommendation

Continue DHE participation in national college readiness assessment work with PARCC coalition, SHEEO and state & institutional research groups

Continue to work with campuses to examine pilot assessments and student score data to inform further assessment development and use in campus placement policy and practice

Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation AssessmentDHE Next Steps

Discussion