Implications of the Smarter Balanced Assessment for College Readiness and

Math Placement

William S. Moore, Ph.D., Policy Associate, SBCTCDirector, Core to College Alignment & Transition Mathematics Project

bmoore@sbctc.edu

Common Core State Standards• Clear, consistent,

rigorous standards in English language arts/literacy and mathematics

• Knowledge and skills needed for college and career success

• Developed voluntarily and cooperatively by states with input from teachers and college faculty Source:

www.corestandards.org

What You Probably Didn’t Know…

“Obama Core is a comprehensive plan to dumb down schoolchildren so they will be obedient servants of the government and probably to indoctrinate them to accept

the leftwing view of America and its history.”

Phyllis Schafly, October 2012, cited by Benjamin Riley, New Schools Venture Fund,

“Common Core-spiracy”

4

1. Focus: Focus strongly where the standards focus.

2. Coherence: Think across grades and link to major topics.

3. Rigor: In major topics, pursue conceptual understanding, procedural skill and fluency, and application.

Major Shifts in the CCSS:“Fewer, Higher, Clearer, Deeper”

5

K 12

Number and Operations

Measurement and Geometry

Algebra and Functions

Statistics and Probability

Traditional U.S. Approach

6

Focusing Attention Within Number and Operations

Operations and Algebraic Thinking

Expressions and Equations

Algebra

→ →

Number and Operations—Base Ten →

The Number System

→

Number and Operations—Fractions

→

K 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 High School

Number and Operations

Standards for Mathematical Practices

Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium

A Balanced Assessment System

Common Core State Standards

specify K-12

expectations for college and career readiness

All students leave

high school college

and career ready

Teachers and schools have

information and tools they need

to improve teaching and

learningInterim assessments

Flexible, open, used for actionable

feedback

Summative assessments

Benchmarked to college and career

readiness

Teacher resources for formative

assessment practices

to improve instruction

OSPI Proposal…Summative Assessments in 2014–15 and

beyondEnglish/LA Mathematics Science

(no change)

Grade 3 SBAC SBAC

Grade 4 SBAC SBAC

Grade 5 SBAC SBAC MSP

Grade 6 SBAC SBAC

Grade 7 SBAC SBAC

Grade 8 SBAC SBAC MSP

Grades10 Comprehensive exit exam

EOC Year 1 exit exam

EOC Biologyexit exam

Grade 11 SBAC SBAC

SBAC=SMARTER Balanced Assessment ConsortiumMSP= Measurements of Student ProgressEOC= End of Course exams

Questions Being Addressed by the Core to College Project

1. Do the Common Core State Standards and Smarter Balanced assessment represent a definition of college- and career-readiness that works for higher education?

2. Specifically, how will the 11th grade assessment results be used?

1. Definition of College Readiness

Faculty Review Group consensus (both math and English):

– Standards generally reflect a clear and solid notion of college readiness for entry-level courses in their disciplines

– Preliminary review of Smarter Balanced details and sample items encouraging, but need to see full assessment

2. Use of the 11th Grade Assessment

Strengthen 12th Grade “Launch Year”Encourage Dual Credit courses for students who

are college-readyProvide targeted curriculum for students who are

not yet college-ready

Serve as College Readiness IndicatorFull or conditional exemption from developmental

course work when entering collegeConsidered as another possible “data point” in

admissions review

Policy Framework for Grade 11 Assessment Results

• Not Yet Content-Ready - Substantial Support Needed

• K-12 & higher education may offer interventionsLevel 1

• Not Yet Content-Ready – Support Needed• Transition courses or other supports for Grade 12,

retesting optionLevel 2

• Conditionally Content-Ready/Exempt from Developmental

• In each state, K-12 and higher ed jointly develop Grade 12 requirements to earn exemption

Level 3

• Content-Ready/Exempt from Developmental• In each state, K-12 and higher education may jointly

set Grade 12 requirements to retain exemptionLevel 4

Note: Applies only to students who matriculate directly from high school to college.

Responding to the Policy Framework

What evidence would you need to see about the assessment to give you confidence about its value as a college readiness indicator?

Assuming the assessment is valuable, what would be a reasonable expectation of evidence of continued learning in grade 12 for level 3 students to earn an exemption from precollege math?

Key Clarifications of Proposed Framework

Support for Emerging Approaches to Developmental Ed: Colleges are free to permit students who score below the college content-readiness standard to enroll in credit-bearing courses

Multiple Measures of Content-Readiness: Fully supports the use of multiple measures to determine student course placement

Recommended “Cut Scores”: To be set summer 2014 after pilot and field testing

Participation agreement: No later than January 2015 Score Expiration: Scores only valid for students who

matriculate directly from high school to college

Higher Education After Smarter Balanced:What Won’t Change?

High school graduation requirements

Admission standards

Most course placement (especially STEM students)

Developmental education reform

Core to College Timetable

College and system group engagement (Fall 2013-Winter 2014)

Cross-sector summit gathering (Spring 2014)

Confirm SB participation commitment (January 2015)

Develop specific

proposal for SB use in

higher education

Review and endorse proposal

Refine parameters

based on pilot test

System and institutional review (Fall 2014)

Resources

www.achievethecore.orgwww.illustrativemathematics.orgcommoncoretools.mewww.corestandards.orghttp://parcconline.org/parcc-content-f

rameworkshttp://www.smarterbalanced.org/k-12

-education/common-core-state-standards-tools-resources/

Questions?

For more details about Core to College in Washington, see https://sites.google.com/site/wacoretocollege/

Slides and handouts available at http://tinyurl.com/mathconf13moore