Message: [Administrators] End-of-Course Tests

[Administrators] End-of-Course Tests
FromAdministratorsDate  Monday, October 2, 2017 10:18 AM
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Subject[Administrators] End-of-Course Tests
Administrative Memo--LS-17-002.pdfAdministrative Memo--LS-17-002.pdf (225 Kb ) ATT00001.txtATT00001.txt (1 Kb )

Dear Colleagues:

 

Thank you for your patience as we work through the Algebra I and English II End-of-Course (EOC) situation. Shortly after I send this email, the Department will post an administrative memo (attached) containing important information on the district/charter LEA Annual Performance Report, a Sunshine Law request received by the Department, and next steps for EOC test administration for school year 2017-2018.

 

I want you to know that we have taken this situation very seriously, and – with the help of your feedback – believe we have addressed each of the above-noted components in the best manner possible. While all aspects of the administrative memo are important, I would ask you to pay particular attention to Section V. Moving Forward. Ensuring that we are able to move forward confident in the administration of the Missouri Assessment Program and its results is essential. In reading the memo, you will note that for the remainder of the contract year, additional psychometric services and oversight will be provided, bandwidth requirements will be verified, the state will be compensated, and districts and charter LEAs will not be billed for 2017-2018 EOCs in Algebra I and English II up to the amount paid for those assessments in 2016-2017.

 

As I have stated before, our students and teachers work hard every day and are counting on us to get this right. We look forward to launching new assessments aligned to our revised Missouri Learning Standards. Additional oversight in the test development and administration processes are being put into place to ensure the issue we experienced this year is not repeated.

 

I thank you for your continued dedication to serving Missouri students.

 

Margie

 

Margie Vandeven, Ph.D. | Commissioner of Education | dese.mo.gov | 573.751.4446

 

Administrative Memo Date: October 2, 2017 To: School Administrators From: Stacey Preis, Deputy Commissioner, Division of Learning Services Blaine Henningsen, Assistant Commissioner, Office of College and Career Readiness Chris Neale, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Quality Schools Subjects: LS -17-002  Modifications to the 2017 Annual Performance Report (APR)  APR Release Schedule  Sunshine Law Request  Algebra I and English II Verification Process  Moving Forward Thank you for your patience as we have worked to reach a resolution regarding 2016-17 assessments in Algebra I and English II. We have included several pieces of information in this update. I. Modifications to the 2017 APR The adjustments outlined below will be incorporated into the 2017 APR. Due to the removal of the Algebra I and English II data, Standard 1 Academic Achievement, Standard 2 Subgroup Achievement and Standard 3 High School Readiness will be calculated in the following manner: A. English Language Arts and Mathematics Assessment Hold Harmless Standards Applicable – Standards 1 and 2 – English language arts (ELA) and Mathematics Updated Policy due to exclusion of Algebra I and English II data – The 2017 APR will be calculated using existing 2015 and 2016 data plus 2017 data with Algebra I and English II removed. The points earned in Standards 1 and 2 will be compared to the points earned in 2016 using this methodology. The district or charter local education agency (LEA) will receive the higher of 2016 or 2017 points for the APR. The same calculation process will be followed for Standard 1 Academic Achievement and Standard 2 Subgroup Achievement. Example – A district or charter LEA receives 12 points in Standard 1 ELA in 2016, but earns 16 points in 2017 (with Algebra I and English II data excluded). The 16 points for 2017 would be used in the APR calculation. The opposite is also true: If a district or charter LEA earned 16 points in 2016, but only 12 in 2017, 16 points from 2016 would be used for the APR calculation. 2 Participation in Algebra I and English II during the 2017 administration window satisfies the participation rate requirement. Districts and charter LEAs will not receive a level not determined (LND) for students who took Algebra I and English II assessments in the 2016-17 school year. B. High School Readiness – Removal of Algebra I Scores Standard Applicable – Standard 3 High School Readiness Updated Policy – The results from the 2017 End-of-Course (EOC) assessments in Algebra I and English II do not produce year-to-year comparable results. For purposes of the 2017 APR, if a student was assessed on the Algebra I EOC, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) will substitute a student’s qualifying proficient score on the prior year 7 th grade mathematics assessment. (After analysis of the 2017 assessment data, it was determined that K-8 districts did not administer the English II EOC). II. APR Release Schedule Date Description Notes October 4 Public hearing – changes to the Comprehensive Guide for the Missouri School Improvement Program Governor’s Office Building Room 450 Jefferson City, MO 8:30-10:30 a.m. October 6 (5:00 p.m.) Data freeze for preliminary APR Secure Mode October 20 APR preview (excluding Algebra I and English II) Secure Mode October 20 - October 27 Appeals window Standards 3-5 only October 27 (5:00 p.m.) Data freeze for final APR Freeze November 8 Final APR (excluding Algebra I and English II) behind secure login Secure Mode November 13 Embargoed data available to press Embargoed November 15 Final APR release (excluding Algebra I and English II) Public The following data were available for school districts and charter LEAs beginning September 22, 2017:  MAP Student Achievement Level  MAP Participation Invalidation  MAP Scale Score Summary  MAP Student Demographics 3 III. Sunshine Law Request DESE has received a Sunshine Law request regarding the 2017 EOC results in Algebra I and English II. We must honor this request. The data will be provided with the following caveats: A. The Missouri Assessment Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), made up of nationally recognized assessment experts, recommended that the data not be reported. B. DESE agreed with the TAC recommendation and will not publish the data on our website for these two tests. C. Districts and charter LEAs are provided time to verify data sets (i.e., to make any needed corrections to the data and to appeal test scores). Since these data were not to be reported by DESE, districts and charter LEAs may not have certified the data for these two tests. This means that, aside from the year-to-year comparability issues, the data could inaccurately reflect the performance of a particular district or charter LEA in other capacities as well. In short, we believe that it would be irresponsible to publicly report data obtained by DESE in its current form. Should someone contact you about these data, please refer to the above caveats. IV. Algebra I and English II Verification Process Consistent with past practice, prior to producing public reports based on accountability data, districts and charter LEAs have the opportunity to verify and/or correct the related data. In light of the Sunshine Law request, information related to the administration of Algebra I and English II will be provided to school districts and charter LEAs for review. Districts and charter LEAs will have an opportunity to make corrections to the 2017 Algebra I and English II data. Please remember that Algebra I and English II data will not be used in the calculations of the 2017 APR. DESE does not believe that the public release of these data is advisable. V. Moving Forward Once again, we want to convey that we share your frustration around spring 2017 assessments in Algebra I and English II. We expect more from our assessment vendors. The EOC vendor, Questar, has recently been purchased by and is now a subsidiary of Educational Testing Service (ETS), and we are able to share with you key elements of the resolution we reached. In addition to state compensation, districts and charter LEAs will not be billed for 2017-18 EOCs in Algebra I and English II, up to the amount paid for those assessments in 2016-17. Second, for the remainder of the contract year, DESE will require the following additional assurances regarding the 2017-18 EOCs, and Questar has agreed to fulfill these obligations: A. Engage the psychometrics services of its parent company, ETS, to review the preliminary aggregate analysis, provide consultative services to the Missouri Assessment TAC on the program status, and perform a psychometric quality audit of the overall program 4 B. Establish a process to verify bandwidth requirements and the allocation of bandwidth for as many as 50,000 users prior to the beginning of each assessment window C. Provide daily reports to DESE during each assessment window which include the number of students tested that day in each course, cumulative test totals, cumulative percent of the number of students anticipated during the test window, a brief narrative summary of test issues encountered during the day, and available test administration analytics D. Provide preliminary reports to DESE regarding test completion throughout each assessment window The fall American Government and American History EOC operational test window opens on Thursday, October 5, for districts that have submitted precode files. These files will appear in Nextera by Wednesday, October 4. For additional questions regarding accountability and APR production, please contact staff in our School Improvement section: Jocelyn Strand jocelyn.strand@dese.mo.gov 573-751-4104 Kevin Freeman kevin.freeman@dese.mo.gov 573-751-4426 Amanda Cash amanda.cash@dese.mo.gov 573-526-4886 For additional questions regarding 2017-18 assessments, please contact staff in our Assessment section: Lisa Sireno or Shaun Bates assessment@dese.mo.gov 573-751-3545
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