2015 MCAS Alternate Assessment Introduction to MCAS-Alt Massachusetts Department of

1. 2015 MCAS Alternate Assessment Introduction to MCAS-Alt Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education with Measured Progress

2. Welcome • Introductions • Department staff • Teacher Consultants • Measured Progress • Training Specialists • Goals for the session • To provide you with tools and strategies for constructing the alternate assessment portfolio • To help you to understand the alternate assessment process • How to link instruction to assessment Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

3. Let’s Agree to: • Eliminate distractions • Cell phones, email, and internet • Participate • Minimize side chats, review all handouts • Take care of your needs • Coffee, breaks • Parking Lot • “I have a student who…” Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

4. “When you know better, you do better.” Maya Angelou Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

5. Educator’s Manual, pp. 7–8 MCAS-Alt Security Requirements • Your role is to ensure that evidence is: • authentic and portrays student performance accurately. • not replicated, altered, or fabricated. • Evidence must reflect each student’s unique abilities and performance, regardless of participation in similar classroom activities. • ESE may request fact-finding investigation if irregularities are found or reported. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

6. Educator’s Manual pp. 9–10 “Who Should Take MCAS-Alt?” IEP team and 504 developers must decide annually in each subject whether the student… • Is generally unable to demonstrate knowledge and skills on a paper-and-pencil test, even with accommodations, AND • Is addressing learning standards that have been substantially modified due to the severity and complexity of their disability, AND • Receives intensive, individualized instruction in order to acquire and generalize knowledge and skills. • If so, then he or she should take the MCAS-Alt in that subject. Yes, a student can take the standard test in one subject, and an alternate assessment in another. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

7. Educator’s Manual, p. 11, 21—30 Other students who may benefit from the MCAS-Alt • If a student with a disability is… • Addressing standards at or near grade-level, • Sometimes able to take a paper-pencil test with accommodations, • Presented with unique and significant challenges in demonstrating knowledge and skills on a test like the MCAS, and • Those challenges cannot be overcome using accommodations on the standard test, • Then… • Teams may consider the MCAS-Alt “Grade-level” (grades 3-8)or “Competency” (high school) portfolio. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

8. Educator’s Manual, p. 2 Alternate Assessments in districts that will administer PARCC in 2015 Students designated for alternate assessments in the 2014-2015 school year will continue to submit the MCAS-Alt portfolio, regardless of their districts’ choice to administer either MCAS or PARCC.  MCAS-ALT Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

9. MCAS-Alt Terminology Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

10. What’s the “Buzz:” MCAS-Alt Terminology Content Area:The subject in which an MCAS-Alt portfolio is submitted; e.g., English Language Arts/Literacy (ELA), Mathematics, Science & Technology/Engineering (STE)Strand:A group of standards in ELA/Literacy and STE organized around a central idea, concept, or theme. (e.g., Writing, Life Science)Domain: A group of related standards in Mathematics organized around a central idea, concept, or theme. (e.g., Functions) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

11. MCAS-Alt Terminology-cont’d Cluster:Smaller group of related standards (e.g., “Define, evaluate, and compare functions") Standard:Statement of what all students should know and be able to do. (e.g., 8.F.A.1 – Understand that a function is a rule that assigns to each input exactly one output.) Entry Points:Outcomes described in the Resource Guide that are based on a learning standard at lower levels of complexity or difficulty. Entry points will be the base for the measurable outcome. Access Skills: Developmental (communication or motor) skills that are addressed during standards-based academic activities in the content area being assessed. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

12. MCAS-Alt Terminology-cont’d Measurable Outcome:A specific goal based on an entry point in the strand/domain required for assessment of a student in that grade. A measurable outcome identifies an acceptable skill to be assessed. Portfolio evidence in each portfolio strand documents the student’s performance of the measurable outcome. (e.g., “Student will sort 3-dimensional shapes by attribute with 80% accuracy and 80% independence”) Resource Guide:Curriculum guide used to determine instruction for students with disabilities based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

13. Access to Your Digital Resources Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

14. Flash Drive • Tablets • www.mcas-alt.org/materials open PDF version of document • “Open in” iBooks to save • Laptops/computers • Windows- My Computer> find drive with flashdrive • MAC- Desktop >flashdrive “MCAS-ALT” Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

15. 2015 MCAS-Alt Flash Drive • www.mcas-alt.org/materials Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

16. Flash Drive You Received Today Includes: • 2014 Resource Guides (Updated) • ELA and Literacy • Math including High School • Science and Tech/Eng (Grades 5,8, 9 or 10) • 2015 Educators’ Manual • PowerPoint Presentations • Math Glossary • ELA Glossary • Literature and Informational texts author list Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

17. Quick Tips • Search Text • Highlight • Comment Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

18. Resource Guide to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Students with Disabilities • Used as the basis for identifying skills to be assessed in the MCAS-Alt portfolio • Intended for use by educators to align and develop instruction for students who have not yet mastered the performance expectations of their peers • Outlines a progression of skills from grade-level to less complex (high-, medium-, and low-complexity) for each grade-level learning standard based on the Curriculum Frameworks Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

19. Sometimes, It Seems Like This…. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

20. …It Could Be More Like This… Entry Points Access Skills Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

21. “Essence” of standard:Solve mathematical problems involving 3-D shapes H.G.-GMD.4 Identify the shapes of two-dimensional cross-sections of three-dimensional objects, and identify three-dimensional objects generated by rotations of two-dimensional objects. Calculate the surface area of a cube Sort two-dimensional shapes by attribute (e.g., number of sides) Educator’s Manual p.34 Match same shapes with different orientations Visually track geometric shapes Standard as written Access Skills Entry Points • Less Complex More Complex Based on 2011 Curriculum Framework: Standards, Entry Points, Access Skills Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

22. Features of the 2014 ELA Resource Guide • Standards and Entry Points provide examples to illustrate and model the standard (“e.g., …”) • Entry points are numbered to correspond with standard number • If too complex, spiral to entry points in lower grades. • Access skills are listed at the lowest grade in each strand • For collecting evidence, use the student’s primary mode of expression (production), communication, and preferred method and format for presenting materials. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

23. 2014 Resource Guide: ELA Cluster Heading Standards Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

24. 2014 Resource Guide for ELA: Entry Points and Access Skills Standard Number Cluster Heading Access Skills Entry Points Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

25. 2014 Resource Guide for ELA: “Vocabulary Acquisition and Use” Standard Cluster Heading Grade Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

26. Features of the 2014 Mathematics Resource Guide • Standards and Entry Points provide examples to illustrate and model the standard. • If entry point is too complex, spiral to entry points in lower grades in the same domain, clusters may not match. • For all grades, entry points must be used as is, to develop measurable outcomes. • Access skills are listed at the lowest grade in a domain or a high school conceptual category Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

27. 2014 Mathematics Resource Guide Cluster Heading Standard Number Standards Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

28. 2014 Mathematics Resource Guide Example Cluster Heading Access Skills Entry Points Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

29. Features of the 2014 Mathematics HS Resource Guide • High School Conceptual Categories • Number and Quantity • Algebra • Functions • Geometry • Statistics and Probability • If entry point is too complex, spiral to entry points in lower grades in the same conceptual categories. • Access skills are listed at the lowest grade in a domain or a high school conceptual category Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

30. 2014 Mathematics HS Resource Guide Cluster Heading Standard Number Standards Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

31. 2014 HS Mathematics Resource Guide Cluster Heading Entry Points Access Skills Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

32. Features of the Science and Tech/Eng Resource Guide • All entry points are acceptable skills for creating the measurable outcome. • Standards are based 2001/2006 Curriculum Frameworks • If entry point is too complex, spiral to entry points in lower grades in the same topic. • Access skills are listed at the lowest grade at each topic. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

33. Topic Grid for Science Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

34. 2014 Science and Tech/Eng Resource Guide Topic Standards Essence Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

35. Science and Technology/Engineering Entry Points Topic Entry Points Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

36. Required Assessments in Each Grade Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

37. Educator’s Manual, pp. 13–19 ELA Resource Guide, p. 7 Assess choice of one entry point in: • Reading • Writing (Grades 4, 7, 10) • Language (“Vocabulary Acquisition and Use”) KEY  = Assessed by MCAS-Alt Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

38. Mathematics Domains and the Grades in Which They Are Taught and Assessed  Choose 3 of the 5 Conceptual Categories for High School Must be assessed in Grades 3-8 Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

39. Educator’s Manual, pp.13-15 Grade 3–5 MCAS-Alt Requirements Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

40. Educator’s Manual pp.16-18 Grade 6 –8 MCAS-Alt Requirements Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

41. Educator’s Manual p. 19 High School Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

42. Educator’s Manual p. 19 High School: Science and Technology/Engineering Grade 9 or 10 • Evidence may be compiled over two consecutive school years in this subject. • (7/1/13–4/2/15) • Example of a discipline in high school STE: Biology 1 – Learning Standard 2.7 (Meiosis) Biology 2 – Learning Standard 6.4 (Ecology) Biology 3 – Learning Standard 5.1 (Evolution) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

43. Educator’s Manual p. 33 “How will my student address the learning standards for the MCAS-Alt portfolio?” Students can address a standard in the required strand in several ways: • At the same level of difficulty as non-disabled students in that grade (“at grade-level”) If not,then… • At a lower level of complexity (i.e., below grade-level expectations) (“entry point”) If not, then… • Address an (“entry point” ata lower grade) If not,then… • Address a motor or communication “access skill” during a standards-based activity in the required strand Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

44. Educator’s Manual pp. 33,34,49 Access Skills • For students with the mostsignificant cognitive disabilities addressing a developmental skill. • Students must practice the skill in the context of a standards–based activity in the required strand/domain assessed in the student’s grade. • Possible approaches for students who do not produce written samples: • Design instruction that does not require written product • Scribe the student’s responses on a work sample (“teacher-scribed work sample”) • Photograph or video the student performing the task (Consent needed) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

45. Required Portfolio Elements Portfolio Cover Sheet Consent Forms for photo or video (Keep on file at school) Educator’s Manual p.61 ArtisticCover Student’s Weekly Schedule (Optional) Verification Form (signed by parent; or log of attempts) Student’s Introduction to the Portfolio School Calendar (holidays, summer school, snow days; previous year for • Science, if applicable) Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

46. Educators Manual p. 33 Data Chart showing performanceof the measurable outcomeon at least 8 different dates withbrief descriptions First piece of additional primary evidence* showing performance of the measurable outcome listed on data chart Second piece of additional primary evidence*showing performance of the measurable outcome listedon data chart + + + Strand Cover Sheet “Core Set of Evidence” A complete Portfolio Strand must include at least the following evidence: * May be a work sample, video segment, or photograph (or series of photos) clearly showing an end product. Evidence must be labeled with name, date, percent accuracy, and percent independence. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

47. Student Student Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

48. Sample Student Data Chart Student Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

49. Label: Name, Date, Accuracy, Independence, and Brief Description (required for each piece of evidence) Student Student Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

50. Primary Evidence Student Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education