Skills Iowa, RtI , and State Assessments

1. Skills Iowa, RtI, and State Assessments Webinar March 19, 2013 9 AM

2. Agenda • Introductions • Response to Intervention (RtI) • District-Wide Assessment Systems • Skills Iowa • Waterloo Study • Questions

3. What is Response to Intervention?(RtI) It is a process for teachers/building teams to produce the most efficient and effective outcomes for student learning. Teachers will use research-based reading programs to ensure that every child has access to a high-quality universal curriculum. Teachers will assess all students at least three times a year, using a valid screener, to determine which students need more targeted instruction. Teachers then provide that instruction through evidence-based interventions. Iowa Department of Education Website http://educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2562&Itemid=2683

4. Why is the Iowa DE committed to RTI? • 61% of Iowa schools have not reached the point where 80% of students are proficient in reading at the levels. • 35% of our children in grades 4 and 8 have not made at least one year's worth of progress in reading in a year's time. • All students who did not make a year's worth of growth should receive targeted intervention, but we lack a way to verify that students received the support they needed. • To that end, Iowa will move to Response to Intervention (RtI) statewide, with the goal of it being in every Iowa classroom. • Iowa Department of Education, http://educateiowa.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2562&Itemid=2683

5. More about why… • It is an unfortunate reality that even with significant investments in curriculum and instruction, state reading and math achievement trend lines from 1992 through 2010 remain essentially flat and achievement gaps for special education students, poor, minority, and English Language Learners are not closing. • To punctuate this reality, data from the 2009 administration of NAEP indicate that not only has Iowa’s student achievement across grades stagnated, in some cases achievement has regressed - even while other states have improved.

6. Essential Components of RtIfrom Iowa DE RtI Guidance • Robust universal instruction in the Iowa Core • Universal screening • Evidence-based instructional interventions at the Targeted and Intensive levels • Progress monitoring • Data-based decision-making

7. How will students be served as a result of RtI? • For most students, instruction in an effective Universal curriculum and instructional program should be sufficient to keep them on-track. • A few of these students who are particularly advanced will require more intensive support to ensure that they are achieving the growth of which they are capable. • In a healthy system the remaining 5 – 20% of students may not achieve proficiency based on universal instruction alone. These students need additional, targeted support to be successful in meeting the standards outlined in the Iowa Core, which is provided through the Universal curriculum and instructional program. Additional support is given in the form of evidence-based instructional or behavioral interventions that match the needs of the students. • Iowa Department of Education

8. What is the purpose of Universal Screening? From Iowa DE RtI Guidance Identify struggling students at the earliest grade levels and provide students with additional instructional time and intensity during the school day.

9. What makes an acceptable universal screening tool? • Universal screening data are used to determine students’ likelihood of future success on a relevant outcome measure, or likelihood of meeting or exceeding future benchmarks. A valid, reliable, and technically adequate universal screening assessment will predict a high likelihood of future success for 80-90% of students in a healthy system

10. What is progress monitoring and how often does DE anticipate it will occur? • Checking as to whether the intervention is working and students are progressing adequately • Students in Universal level will not require progress monitoring beyond universal screening three times a year. • Students in Targeted level will receive progress monitoring at least once every two weeks to determine if they are responding positively to the instruction or if a change is warranted. • Students in Intensive level will require progress monitoring at least weekly to determine if they are responding positively or if a change in instruction is needed

11. State RFPs for tools supporting RtI (December-February) • One universal screening assessment in reading PK-6 that is formatted so that it can be incorporated into the statewide RtI data system • One progress monitoring assessment in reading for PK-6 that is formatted so that it can be incorporated into the statewide RtI data system • Training sessions for select department, AEA, and LEA staff on administration, scoring, and use of data within an RtI framework to ensure high implementation fidelity • Technical support for DE, AEA, and LEA staff as needed during the first three years of implementation

12. The state’s comment… • All of these assessments will be provided at no charge to Iowa schools and school districts beginning this fall. Schools and PK programs will not be required to use the state-purchased assessments, but these will be available for use in all Iowa schools. • The DE and AEA system will continue to work with these vendors and will share details about training, system use, and specific timelines as they become available through the School Leader Update and through the DE website at www.educateiowa.gov.

13. Announced at 3.6.13 DE Webinar:RtI Electronic Data System • The contract for the statewide electronic data system to support Response to Intervention (RtI) implementation, the Individualized Education Program (IEP), and the Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) has been awarded to Technology and Information Educational Services (TIES) of St. Paul, Minnesota.

14. Announced at 3.6.13 DE Webinar:Progress Monitoring Tool to Support RTI, K-6 Reading • The contract for valid and reliable universal screening tools and progress monitoring tools in K-6 has been awarded to FAST Labs at the University of Minnesota. The vendor is providing a suite of assessments known as the Formative Assessment System for Teachers (FAST).

15. Announced at 3.6.13 DE Webinar:Universal Screening and Progress Monitoring for 4 year olds The contract for universal screening and progress monitoring in 4-year-old PK programs has been awarded to the Center for Early Education and Development at the University of Minnesota in cooperation with Early Learning Labs, Inc. The vendor is providing a suite of assessments known as the Individual Growth and Development Indicators (IGDIS).

16. District-Wide Assessment System See ISFIS School Improvement Booster, April 2012: http://www.myotherdrive.com/dyn/file/116.344614.02042012.00863.6a6afi/April+2012+School+Improvement+Booster.pdf

17. Info Provided in April 2012 SIB • Definitions for formative and summative assessment • Discussion of Instructionally Sensitive Assessments • Assessments related to ed reform proposed last session • Future Statewide Assessment (Smarter Balanced?) • End of Course assessments • College and Career Readiness Assessments

18. Jim Popham and Instructionally Sensitive Assessment • The number of curricular aims must be focused and doable • Assessment targets must be written in language everyone understands - clarity • The number of items assessed per curricular aim must be adequate • The instructional sensitivity of items must be high response to the items is affected by the quality of the instruction and therefore instruction can be modified to increase student learning

19. Some things to consider when building district-wide assessment plan … • Covers preK-12 • All subjects • Alerts you to problems and successes from the student level to the program level • Includes multiple measures • Results must be understood and communicated to appropriate audiences • Assessments need to provide enough information to formulate a plan

20. What’s Included with Skills Iowa? • Math and reading comprehension assessments for grades 3-12 aligned to Common Core • Standards-based assessments and reports aligned to the Iowa Core • Adequate information to drive instruction • Skills Tutor to support response to assessment results • Benchmarks monthly in reading and 3 x annually in math • Ability for teachers to make their own assessments related to important concepts • Intensive training and support for all users in how to use the program and how to use data to drive instruction

21. Good data for the data base….

22. But also data to drive instruction…

23. How does student performance on Skills Iowa correlate with performance on Iowa assessments in reading? Waterloo Study Summary data from 2011-12 school year

24. First, let’s look at students in grades 3-10 6,034 students participated in Skills Iowa reading tests last year in Waterloo

25. First, let’s look at students in grades 3-10 6,034 students participated in Skills Iowa reading tests last year in Waterloo

26. First, let’s look at students in grades 3-10 We have Iowa Assessment data on 4,883 of 6,034 of the students who participated in Skills Iowa reading tests.

27. So…let’s take a closer look at the 4,883 studentsfor whom we have reading data for Skills Iowa and Iowa assessment. Correlation n. the degree to which two or more attributes on the same group of elements show a tendency to vary together.

28. Looking at 4,883 students…

29. First, let’s look at students in grades 3-10 We have Iowa Assessment data on 4883 of 6,034 of the students who participated in Skills Iowa in reading.

30. Of the students who took all 9 Skills Iowa tests, what % were proficient on the Iowa Assessments? N = 3,060 students % proficient on Iowa Assessments 328 330 241 317 366 221 2831 332 336 306 Number of Skills Iowa Tests passed out of 9 tests

31. Of the students who took all 9 Skills Iowa tests, what % were proficient on the Iowa Assessments? N = 3,060 students % proficient on Iowa Assessments 328 330 241 317 366 221 283 332 336 306 Number of Skills Iowa Tests passed out of 9 tests

32. Of the students who took 8 Skills Iowa tests, what % were proficient on the Iowa Assessments? N = 893 students % proficient on Iowa Assessments 90 125 84 84 117 89 123 Number of Skills Iowa Tests passed out of 8 tests

33. Of the students who took 8 Skills Iowa tests, what % were proficient on the Iowa Assessments? N = 893 students 123 students passed 0 out of 8 SI tests. 4 of them (3%) were proficient on the IA. % proficient on Iowa Assessments 90 125 84 84 117 89 123 Number of Skills Iowa Tests passed out of 8 tests

34. Of the students who took 7 Skills Iowa tests, what % were proficient on the Iowa Assessments? N = 392 students % proficient on Iowa Assessments 38 44 48 58 45 31 77 51 Number of Skills Iowa Tests passed out of 7 tests

35. Of the students who took 6 Skills Iowa tests, what % were proficient on the Iowa Assessments? N = 201 students % proficient on Iowa Assessments 25 33 21 25 33 33 33 Number of Skills Iowa Tests passed out of 6 tests

36. Of the students who took 5 Skills Iowa tests, what % were proficient on the Iowa Assessments? N = 117 students % proficient on Iowa Assessments 15 30 18 15 16 23 Number of Skills Iowa Tests passed out of 5 tests

37. So…what does this mean?Conclusions? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Next Steps? Humm? Skills Iowa + Iowa Assessments = Student Achievement

38. General Conclusions from Waterloo. . . • Participation on Skills Iowa is decent in that 73% of students take at least 8 of the 9 reading tests. (82% take at least 7 of 9 reading tests.) • There is a significant correlation between Skills Iowa benchmark tests and Iowa Assessments. When students pass the majority of Skills Iowa tests, they are quite likely (80-90% likely) to be proficient on Iowa Assessments.

39. Questions or Comments? Susie Olesen Cell: 641-745-5284 Susie.Olesen@isfis.net Iowa School Finance Information Services 4685 Merle Hay Road, Suite 209 Des Moines, IA 50322 Office: 515-251-5970 www.isfis.net Margaret Buckton Cell: 515-201-3755 margaret.buckton@isfis.net