It is a beautiful, sunny October day, far better than the last time all the PARCC Education Leaders got together here in the February snowstorm!
Here is what I took away from Day 1 of our meeting:
The Math and ELA assessment development is on track and they will be ready to go for the Spring Field Tests and for implementation in 2014-2015.
Teachers who have served as item reviewers, content experts who have helped to develop evidence tables and performance level descriptors, item developers, and members of the PARCC working groups focusing on technology and accommodations have all done their part to create a new kind of assessment unlike any prior assessment designed to align to state standards. It is now time to do our part as PARCC ELCs to ramp up our communication across our states about the importance of our new state standards and new assessments. There are 3 key messages to share.
Key Message 1 : PARCC is a consortium of education leaders leveraging the collective knowledge from multiple partner states to help develop assessments that align to the rigor and high quality coursework detailed in our new standards for English and math. In Ohio, these assessments will be part of our Next Generation Assessments, which will also include assessments in Science and Social Studies.
Key Message 2: We support tests worth giving that reward quality instruction aligned to the new standards in ELA and Math and serve as a useful tool to guide instruction and chart student learning growth rather than serving as a distraction from focused instruction.
Key Message 3: Technology is allowing us to develop interactive, engaging assessments that will allow all students access to the test by building in multiple layers of accommodations. Just as many teachers know that "we teach what is assessed", we also then must acknowledge that students must regularly have access to a variety of technology tools to build knowledge, collaborate with others and assess what they know. Here is a page of places to go to find free, web based tools to begin to embed more technology into daily lessons.
Here is what I took away from Day 1 of our meeting:
The Math and ELA assessment development is on track and they will be ready to go for the Spring Field Tests and for implementation in 2014-2015.
Teachers who have served as item reviewers, content experts who have helped to develop evidence tables and performance level descriptors, item developers, and members of the PARCC working groups focusing on technology and accommodations have all done their part to create a new kind of assessment unlike any prior assessment designed to align to state standards. It is now time to do our part as PARCC ELCs to ramp up our communication across our states about the importance of our new state standards and new assessments. There are 3 key messages to share.
Key Message 1 : PARCC is a consortium of education leaders leveraging the collective knowledge from multiple partner states to help develop assessments that align to the rigor and high quality coursework detailed in our new standards for English and math. In Ohio, these assessments will be part of our Next Generation Assessments, which will also include assessments in Science and Social Studies.
Key Message 2: We support tests worth giving that reward quality instruction aligned to the new standards in ELA and Math and serve as a useful tool to guide instruction and chart student learning growth rather than serving as a distraction from focused instruction.
Key Message 3: Technology is allowing us to develop interactive, engaging assessments that will allow all students access to the test by building in multiple layers of accommodations. Just as many teachers know that "we teach what is assessed", we also then must acknowledge that students must regularly have access to a variety of technology tools to build knowledge, collaborate with others and assess what they know. Here is a page of places to go to find free, web based tools to begin to embed more technology into daily lessons.
