State Board of Education Topic Summary s19

STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION – TOPIC SUMMARY Topic: Diploma: Assessment: ACT and College Board Presentations Date: February 15, 2007 Staff/Office: Kosty/Assessment and Information Services Action Requested: Information only Policy Adoption Policy Adoption/Consent Calendar

ISSUE BEFORE THE BOARD: The assessment subcommittee members reviewed this docket item to assist in preparation for the upcoming discussion with the State Board relative to potential uses of ACT and College Board products by Oregon schools and districts.

BACKGROUND: The following matrix represents the various products from ACT and College Board as presented to Oregon’s State Board of Education and the House Education Committee on Innovation in Education during January 2007.

ACT College Board Product Description - Audience Product Description - Audience Explore Baseline Assessment – 8 and 9th AP Advanced Placement Curriculum-based/grade norms Courses (37) and Tests – 10, 11th and 12th Plan Mid-point College Readiness PSAT/NMS Practice Test and Predictor assessment QT for SAT – 10, 11th and for AP Predictor for ACT – 10th Courses – 10th, 11th and 12th Curriculum-based/grade norms Entry vehicle for National Merit Society ACT College Readiness/Entrance – SAT College Entrance Exam – 11, 11, 12th 12th Curriculum-based/grade norms College Entrance and Placement – 10th, 11th and 12th (21 end of course tests in English, Math, Science, History and Foreign Language) WorkKeys Workplace skills assessment College Advanced Placement Ed Courses (37) and Tests – 10, 11th and 12th UNIACT EXPLORE-PLAN-ACT career SpringBoa 6-12 instruction and Interest planning (grades 8-12) rd assessment Inventory ACT Online EXPLORE-PLAN-ACT test prep MyRoad College/Career Planning - All Prep and diagnostics (grades 8-12)

After reviewing materials and presentations, the following list of characteristics of each vendor is presented below for discussion.

Attribute ACT College Board 1 Nationally Norm Yes Yes Referenced Diagnostics Package Needs independent study Needs independent study Counseling Package Yes Yes Program Evaluation Yes Yes Aligned to State Needs independent study Needs independent study Standards* Oregon State Standards Match completed in Jan 2006 Complies with NCLB for Would require technical Would require technical Oregon work work Workforce Test Yes Yes Used for College Entrance Yes Yes Subject Areas Math, Reading, Writing, Math, Reading, Writing Science Accommodations Needs independent study Needs independent study Web Based Products ACT Online Prep AP Chinese and DISCOVER (college/career Japanese search) SAT Readiness PSAT/NMSQT course MyRoad and My College Quick Start * May require augmenting tests to cover state’s content standards.

Both ACT and College Board are working with the following states to leverage their products to be used for multiple purposes including use in Accountability Reports in compliance with federal requirements. The following table outlines how each of these states are using these national assessment products. Only those states using a product for accountability are listed for brevity. Please note that it is not clear where the following states are with respect to approval from the US Department of Education to use these assessments for NCLB/AYP.

State Product Accountability Use Illinois ACT Augmented, WorkKeys, ACT NCLB/AYP Writing Colorado ACT State Accountability Michigan ACT Augmented, WorkKeys, ACT NCLB/AYP Writing Kentucky ACT NCLB/AYP Maine SAT NCLB/AYP

POLICY QUESTIONS: To address the question of whether Oregon would or could use this assessment for accountability, Dr. Ed Roeber, Michigan Director of Assessment has agreed to come to the March State Board of Education meeting to discuss what it took to bring the ACT into the Michigan accountability system and answer questions of Board members to better inform their decisions. Ideally, we should develop questions in advance to prepare Dr. Roeber and Board for this discussion. Following are some suggestions.  Describe your experiences on a state level with student motivation  What does it take to align this new assessment to your existing content standards?  Describe the partnership with the University community and their level of involvement  What studies and work were required to get federal approval?

2  How are tests at lower grade levels linked to the ACT?  What issues have you found relative to linking results of assessments prior to ACT?  Is a growth model possible in this scenario?  How long is the testing window and are re-takes or make-ups allowed?  How long is the test for students = number of questions and time allowed.  What was the approximate cost to get the test approved for USED?  What is the annual cost per student to administer?  Others?

If the Board feels they would like to pursue administration of one or more products outside of the accountability system, the following questions may be useful as a starting point for discussions.  What purpose would the test serve? – Inform instruction, career planning, dual credit, proficiency in subject areas, etc.  Would the test be offered to all students?  Could the current Oregon Assessment be used as a minimum qualification for getting the test paid for by state? For example if student passed 10th grade assessment, a credit for taking the ACT or SAT could be given.  Others?