Announcements from Assessment & Accountability – Week of May 12, 2014

Announcements from Assessment & Accountability -- located within the Division of Accountability Services (DAS) – Week of May 12, 2014

There are SIX IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS below regarding:

1)     Window Closing soon for Spring 2014 Michigan Interim Assessment Pilot and Smarter Balanced Field Test

2)     Verification of Answer Documents and Not Tested for Spring 2014 WIDA now available on secure site

3)     WIDA W-APT Pre-K Cycle Open

4)     Smarter Balanced Paper-Pencil Research Study Recruitment

5)     Kindergarten Entry Assessment Fall 2014 Field Test – Need Participants

6)     Opportunity to Try Out the New Model High School Arts Assessments

1)     Window Closing on May 23^rd for Spring 2014 Michigan Interim Assessment Pilot

For schools participating in the Spring 2014 Michigan Interim Assessment pilot, the pilot window closes on May 23, 2014.  If you need assistance in preparing and administering the pilot, please contact DRC customer support team by phone at 1.866.593.9196 or by email at MISupport@datarecognitioncorp.com.  We are grateful to all schools who are helping us in this important assessment development process.

Window Closing on June 6^th for Smarter Balanced Field Test Participation

The field test window for the Smarter Balanced Field Test will conclude on June 6, 2014.  If you need assistance in preparing and administration, please contact the Smarter Balanced Help Desk at 1.855.833.1969 or email smarterbalancedhelpdesk@ets.org.  A big “Thank you” to all who are helping in this assessment development work.

2)     The Verification of Answer Documents (formerly Tested Roster) and Verification of Not Tested (formerly Not Tested) for Spring 2014 WIDA are now available on the Secure Site. These two verification processes are new for the English learner assessment. All answer documents issues must be submitted from the Verification of Answer Documents section by 5:00 p.m., May 21, 2014. All Not Tested reasons must be submitted from the Verification of Not Tested section by 5:00 p.m., May 28, 2014.

The “cheat sheet” for the Accountable Students & Test Verification process has been updated specifically for WIDA to help walk schools through the data and how to resolve issues.  The “cheat sheet” can be found on the Announcement page of the Secure Site and can also be found at http://michigan.gov/documents/mde/Accountable_Students_Directions_440818_7.pdf.

If you need assistance or have additional questions, please email us at baa@michigan.gov, or call us at 877-560-8378, and press option 2.

3)     WIDA W-APT Pre-K Cycle Open

The Pre-K Cycle for the W-APT is now open in the BAA Secure Site. This cycle is reserved for students who are enrolling in Kindergarten for the 2014-15 school year. Pre-K students need only be administered the Speaking and listening domains.

Scores for any student who has been administered the W-APT must be entered into the BAA Secure Site regardless of how well they score. Please note that entering W-APT scores into the BAA Secure Site does not automatically identify a student as an English Learner (EL). Designations for student demographics such as this are managed through the Michigan Student Data System (MSDS).

4)     Smarter Balanced Paper-Pencil Research Study Recruitment

Smarter Balanced is recruiting schools to participate in a study designed to help determine comparability between the online test items and items on a traditional paper-pencil test form. Students in grades 3 and 6 are needed to participate in one assigned content area only. The approximate testing time is 90 minutes and students may test between May 5 and June 13, 2014. All testing materials will be shipped to schools. Please contact Jennifer Paul, paulj@michigan.gov, if your district would like to participate or if you have questions.

5)     Kindergarten Entry Assessment Fall 2014 Field Test – Participants NEEDED

Michigan Department of Education’s Division of Accountability Services (DAS) is looking for teachers to participate in the Fall 2014 Field Test of the Kindergarten Entry Assessment (KEA). Michigan is using the Teaching Strategies GOLD online assessment for its KEA. For more information about Teaching Strategies GOLD online, visit their website at http://www.teachingstrategies.com/page/GOLD-assessment-online.cfm.

Participating teachers will receive two days of web-based, online professional development prior to the assessment window. Teachers can earn 12 SCECHs for participating in the professional development. The test window is September 2 to October 31, 2014. Teachers must be registered and trained prior to the test window.

Please visit the KEA webpage, http://www.michigan.gov/kea, for more information about the KEA, to learn more about its many benefits, and to sign up for the fall field test.

6)     Opportunity to Try Out the New Model High School Arts Assessments!

High school arts educators can field test NEW performance assessments during the 2014-15 school year. These assessments in dance, music, theatre, and visual arts were designed to gauge student achievement of state and national standards while instruction is occurring. 

The assessments were commissioned by the Michigan Department of Education. They were developed by Michigan arts educators, the Michigan Assessment Consortium and Data Recognition Corporation. Four types of achievement measures were created: 

• Performance tasks (multi-day/multi-session performance assessments)
• Performance events (one class period, on-demand performance assessments) 
• Constructed response items related to the performance tasks and events
•  Selected response items related to the performance tasks and events

How the Field Test Works

The field test window is October, 2014 to April, 2015. Teachers who participate in the field test will select a limited number of tasks and events that are best related to their instructional plans and use them when their instruction occurs. Teachers will also be assigned one or two assessments.  The full suite of draft assessments will be available to participating teachers during the 2014-15 academic year. For more information about the assessments, please contact Dr. Ed Roeber, Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment (MAEIA) Assessment Director, at 517- 614-4877. 

Please visit http://mi-arts.wikispaces.com/ for more information on the field test and to register.  Registration is open until June 30, 2014.

Have Other Questions?

For assessment questions, please email BAA@michigan.gov.

For accountability questions, please email MDE-Accountability@michigan.gov.

For phone assistance with assessment or accountability issues, call 877-560-8378 and select the appropriate menu option.