Looking forward to CCSSO NCSA

For over 50 years the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO)?has convened researchers, policymakers, state department of education staff, and assessment organizations at the National Conference on Student Assessment. It is one of my favorite meetings of the year and I am looking forward to seeing many of you in Atlanta for the conference and the state collaborative meetings that follow. I am particularly interested in sharing ideas about how to develop culturally inclusive assessments that allow for greater flexibility, empowerment, and engagement while prioritizing assets and rigor. Below, please find information on sessions in which ETS is participating.

Monday, June 27

12:00 -1:00? | Three Ways to Support Formative Assessment in Classrooms | Marquis Ballroom

The National Conference on Student Assessment (NCSA) will feature a series of engaging conversation starters from a variety of assessment leaders. During this lunch session, you will hear from national assessment leaders each speaking briefly on timely topics for the assessment community, such as formative assessment, culturally responsive assessments, assessments for the future, and more. This plenary session is sure to be informative and thought provoking.?Presenter(s):?Carissa?Moffat Miller, Patrick Kelly, Charity?Flores, Daniel?Lewis, Charity?Smith, Caroline Wylie

2:00 - 3:30?| Innovations in Student Growth Model Research | International 7|

Understanding student performance over time at the student and aggregate level, such as educator, school, or district, is a critical aspect of most state testing programs. Student growth measures complement student achievement status measures in decisions at every level. However, there are often fundamental issues with estimating the growth measure of interest and ensuring it adequately supports the inference of interest so that any decision for students to districts is technically grounded. This session explores four such issues and proposes and evaluates statistical models or approaches to address them with empirical data. These studies include improving cross-year stability of aggregated growth measures, models for aggregate growth and progress, approaches to control for OTL for student and school inferences, and using performance history to improve predictions of students’ future progress. The highlighted studies showcase cutting edge innovations in student growth model research with a strong focus on practical costs and benefits. Presenter(s):?Katherine?Castellano, Kimberly?Mundhenk, Yeow Meng?Thum, Daniel?McCaffrey, Megan?Kuhfeld, Benjamin?Shear

4:00 - 5:00? | ?Surveys and New Data Sources to Measure Opportunity to Learn, Self-Efficacy, and Belonging | International 2

This session will provide an overview of other measures that provide insights into school climate, student engagement, and opportunity to learn.?The audience will hear about how click data, survey data, and missing data can be used to evaluate additional constructs that will enhance the interpretation of test scores now and in the future.?These data sources can provide additional measures of equity to evaluate the impact of changes in education policy, curriculum, and teaching practices. Presenter(s):?Cara Laitusis, Leslie?Keng, Tracy?Gooley, Noelle?Gorbett, Leslie Nabors Olah

4:00 - 5:00 | ?Comparison of Remote and In-Person Testing on the 2020–21 Summative Assessments in California | International 9

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, students in California were provided with the flexibility to test remotely or in person for several 2020-21 end-of-year assessments. As we reimagine what typical assessments might look like in the future, it is critical to evaluate if such flexibility in testing creates?comparable scores for students testing in different modes (i.e., remote vs in-person). In this presentation, we present results from studies comparing in-person and remote testing for the Smarter Balanced (SB) assessments in English language arts and mathematics and the Summative English Language Proficiency Assessments for California (ELPAC). Our analyses include summaries of student participation and comparisons of item performance and test scores. The study results indicate that for both the SB assessments and the ELPAC in the 2020-21 school year, test scores between the two test locations are highly comparable.?Presenter(s):?Kelly?Bacher, Yong?Luo, Duy?Pham?????

Tuesday, June 28

8:45 - 10:15 | Beyond Test Scores and Graduation Rates: Measuring the Full Picture of Educational Equity | International 6

In 2019 the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) authored a call to action for a new national system to measure equity in education. This report identified 16 Indicators of Educational Equity that states and districts should measure and report on.?An accompanying report also provided guidance to states and districts on implementation.?In this session, we will provide the audience with an overview of the 16 equity indicators and hear from presenters on approaches to collecting data on equity indicators that extend beyond traditional measures (summative content tests in ELA, Math, and Science).?Four states (Oregon, Ohio, Massachusetts, and California) will share their approach to measuring more than academic achievement, the lessons learned, challenges they faced, and future plans. The session will conclude with a discussion of how equity indicators can inform decision-making at the local level, followed by an opportunity for audience questions.? Presenter(s): Natalie?Nielsen, Chris?Woolard, Mao Vang, Dan Farley, and Laura Hamilton

8:45 - 10:15 ????The Future of Fairness and Equity: Perspectives from K–12 Alternate ELP Assessments | International 7?

The demand for more inclusive and equitable practices in education has intensified, given increasing levels of diversity and disparity in society, including in K–12 educational contexts (UNESCO, 2021). Likewise, the Every Student Succeeds Act and the U.S. Department of Education (ESSA, 2015; USDE, 2018) require the provision of fair, valid, and reliable assessments, including English language proficiency (ELP) assessments for all English learners (ELs). Recent societal changes call for a re-examination and reconceptualization of what is a fair ELP assessment for diverse students, including ELs with the most significant cognitive disabilities. This session will examine three alternate ELP assessments through the lens of current research on fairness, accessibility, and equity. Goals of the session are to: (1) present approaches for increasing fairness, accessibility, and equity on alternate ELP assessments; (2) define key terms theoretically and operationally; and (3) reflect on future directions for fairness and equity in these assessments.? Presenter(s):?Lorraine Sova, Linda Howley,?Traci?Albee, Jennifer?Paul, Caitlin?Gonzales, Martha?Thurlow, Kyunghee Suh?

10:45 - 11:45 | Universally Designed and Multi-dimensional Science Assessments | International 2

As new science standards have introduced complex, multidimensional performance expectations, there is a risk that new assessments could introduce barriers for low-achieving students and students with disabilities. Through an Enhanced Assessment Grant, five states and two organizations collaborated to design and evaluate multidimensional science assessments that applied Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles to task design. This session summarizes findings from two studies. The first examined how students performing below grade level in science interacted with a highly interactive and flexible UDL-based task scenario. The second study, a large-scale pilot test, examined how item features designed for students with the most significant cognitive disabilities impacted student performance and student and teacher perceptions of the assessment. A state partner and an expert on accessible assessments discuss study implications, particularly in light of the need for accessible and inclusive assessments that can inform instruction designed to accelerate learning. Presenter(s):?Meagan?Karvonen, Robert?Dolan. Shaun?Bates, Cara Laitusis

Wednesday, June 29

8:30 - 10:00? | Reimagining Assessments: The Responsibility is Ours! | International 5

The pandemic and social justice issues exposed pre-existing, now exacerbated inequities about the effectiveness of our current assessments and assessment systems. Our diverse panelists will reflect on the pandemic’s social, emotional, and academic impact, for especially those historically marginalized. We will engage in a candid conversation about reimagining assessment and propose to redefine the purpose for assessment with a common vision. We will call for a comprehensive assessment system based on input from all major stakeholders. Moving beyond administering assessments and compliance, panelists will drive the discussion towards increasing the value of assessments. Panelists are dedicated to understanding and addressing our greatest assessment challenges. Short- and long-term collaborations will focus on partnerships, capacity building, and supporting good local practices of comprehensive and holistic assessment systems that advance learning for all students. With a commitment and plan we can genuinely reimagine our assessments and the systems in which they reside. Presenter(s):?Andy?Middlestead, Stephen?Sireci, Jennifer?Randall, | Mary Anne Arcilla, Elda?Garcia

11:00 - 12:30 | Unpacking and Updating Universal Design Guidelines on Assessment | International 5

Universal design as been widely applied in education and included in numerous federal and state laws that governing the design of educational products and solutions. The Joint Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing references universal design over 17 times with specific guidance on test development and delivery.?However, many in the assessment community are questioning if universal design should be replaced with or extended by additional guidance on socioculturally responsive assessments and/or other accessibility guidelines (e.g., IMS and W3C). Join this interactive session to hear from a panel of experts on assessment and universal design.?Audience members will be asked to weigh in on the highest priorities for new and reimagined assessment guidelines leveraging universal design principles.??Presenter(s):?Cara Laitusis, Bob?Dolan. Molly?Faulkner-Bond. Sheryl?Lazarus, Meagan?Karvonen

11:00 AM - 12:30 | ??Broadening the Measures of Student Growth Used for School Accountability | ?International 9

Student growth measures are widely used to measure schools’ effects on student achievement based on assessments in grades 3–8. But few if any states measure the impact elementary schools have on growth before grade 3, or the impact schools have on non-test outcomes such as social-emotional learning, graduation, or postsecondary success. This panel will discuss methods to extend growth (and growth-like) measures to achievement in grades K–3, to graduation and postsecondary outcomes, and to social-emotional learning. These can provide states and districts with new information about school performance that is reflective of true school effectiveness while incorporating a broader range of outcomes, and should therefore be of interest to educators and policymakers who seek to ensure that their school performance measures are rich, diagnostic, valid, and actionable. The panel discussant is the accountability director from one of the state education agencies involved in the work. Presenter(s):? Brian?Gill, Dallas?Dotter, Kathleen?Feeney, Max?Gross, and Laura Hamilton (discussant)

1:00 - 2:00 | Bringing AI into Student Sense Making of Science | International 9

Machine learning based AI innovations has potentials to support student sense-making of science phenomena. With high quality assessment data, it is possible to train the machine to learn about how students reason about science and identify what is still missing in their reasoning regarding the three dimensions of science. This symposium responds to the national need to document student reasoning patterns in three-dimensional (3D) science assessments and support students’ 3D learning through immediate automated diagnostics and individualized feedback specific to gaps in student reasoning and sense-making of ecosystem phenomena. This symposium includes four components: high quality assessment data, learning theory based supervised AI model building, a discussion on what AI are good at and what unique roles teachers may play to address gaps that may existing in AI support, and potential uses and scale up of AI-supported tools in science classrooms to support learning and teaching. Presenter(s):? Lei Liu, Vigdis?Asmundson, Dante Cisterna-Alburquerque, Yi Qi???

Post-Session: Assistive Technology Interoperability with Online Assessment Platforms and Other Technology Products and Services: Making it All Work!

Educators and students continue to face challenges when students use their personal assistive technology supports to participate in online assessments. The CCSSO Assessment, Standards, and Education of Students with Disabilities (ASES) Collaborative and the National Center on Educational Outcomes (NCEO) will hold a joint post-session on issues surrounding the use of personal student assistive technology and online assessment participation.? Participants will come together to better understand how the technologies and platforms interact, the challenges for students and educators, and how everyone can work together to make improvements and find solutions. Following speaker presentations, breakout groups will discuss how to improve the use of assistive technology for different groups of students (e.g., students with sensory disabilities, students with significant cognitive disabilities, English Learners, and students with high incidence disabilities) so that students benefit from positive online assessment participation experiences. A report will be produced that summarizes the session and discussion.? Presenter(s):?Kathleen?Airhart, Sheryl?Lazarus, Dean?Folkers, Patrick?Purcell, Charles?Elliott, Mark?Hakkinen, Toni?Wheeler, Tracy?Gooley, Jan?McSorley

Participants attending either the NCSA conference and/or the ASES SCASS may attend the Post-Session. Register here.