District Committee on Assessment

Linda McLaughlin, Co-Chair

Christina Mulhollan Miller, Co-Chair

Karen Peters

Dawn Pipkin

Members of Committee

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Elementary Middle High

Arin Bonner*- Title 1 Karen Peters*- Testing Ian Buter*- Instruction

Lora Bennett- Technology Nona Colbert- Parent Laura Buzzell- Instruction

Melissa Carpenter- Wade Henry Collins- Community Member Latrina Carr- Parent

Kim Hudler- Instruction Doug Cunningham- Mattawoman Kim Hairston- Instruction

Brian King- Barnhart Beverly Gunn- Somers Autumn Hoffman- Instruction

Doris Leftwich- Parent Ethel Hosendorf- Hanson Brooke Kohlhorst- Instruction

Dawn Pipkin-EACC Kenneth Myers- Stoddert Linda McLaughlin- EACC

Melynn Readmond- Diggs Royshel Richardson- Somers Melissa Miesowitz- Instruction

Tangie Scales- Gale Bailey John Tompkins- Instruction Tavon Myers- Westlake

Arden Sotomayor- Special Ed Melanie Upright- Special Ed Kevin Reisinger- CTE

Andrea Young- North Point

April Westgaard- Special Ed

Maryland State Senate Bill 452✗ Governor Hogan approved bill May 25, 2017

✗ All federal, state, or district mandated testing “that is intended to measure a student’s academic readiness, learning progress, and skill acquisition” counts in the limit

✗ Amount of time devoted to mandated assessments cannot count for more than 2.2% of instructional time in all grades but 8th

✗ Amount of time devoted to mandated assessments cannot count for more than 2.3% of instructional time in grade 8

✗ Teacher-designed tests or school-specific tests do not count in the calculation, and neither do tests that are not taken by of majority students

✗ Calculation of hours is student-facing, not teacher-facing

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Maryland State Senate Bill 452✗ By August 1, 2019, the county board and exclusive employee representative for teachers

shall meet and confer regarding a proposed rubric for evaluating local assessments, timing for each assessment, and purpose of each assessment

✗ By December 1, 2019, a mutual agreement must be made on the amount of time that shall be devoted to assessments

✗ After January 1, 2020, a District Committee on Assessment must be formed

✗ By June 2021, the DCA is required to submit its recommendation to the county board

✗ Process must be completed every 2 years

✗ Advised to continue process as if we are not impacted by a pandemic

✗ Working to be in compliance with the law, though there may be shifts in response to needs created by the pandemic.

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Meeting Topics

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Meeting Date Topic

October 22, 2020 Senate Bill 452, Balanced Assessment System, Impact of

testing due to COVID-19 pandemic

November 19, 2020 History of testing in MD, MD College and Career Ready

Standards, CCPS Testing Program

December 17, 2020 Scaled scoring, Data (where teachers get it, what it looks like,

etc.), Review of Stiggins’ rubrics to evaluate assessments

January 21, 2021 and

February 25, 2021

Working groups by level (ES, MS, HS) to evaluate the tests

using the rubrics

March 25, 2021 Review proposed recommendations to be shared with our

Board of Education

Rubrics Used ✗ Rubrics were used to evaluate

CCPS assessments not mandated by MSDE or the USDE

✗ Created by Rick Stiggins, assessment expert and used and promoted by Educational Testing Service (ETS)

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Timing by Grade

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Non-Pandemic Year Post-Pandemic Year (2021-2022)

Grade Minutes Testing Percent Testing Minutes Testing Percent Testing

K 430 0.64% 400 0.63%

1 665 1.05% 305 0.48%

2 645 1.01% 335 0.53%

3 1085 1.71% 775 1.22%

4 1260 1.98% 965 1.52%

5 1180 1.86% 1060 1.67%

Timing by Grade

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Non-Pandemic Year Post-Pandemic Year (2021-2022)

Grade Minutes Testing Percent Testing Minutes Testing Percent Testing

6 880 1.38% 740* 1.16%

7 880 1.38% 660 1.04%

8 1305 2.05% 1030 1.62%

Timing by Grade

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Non-Pandemic Year Post-Pandemic Year (2021-2022)

Grade Minutes Testing Percent Testing Minutes Testing Percent Testing

9 1,183 1.78% 920* 1.45%

10 1,000 1.57% 695 1.09%

11 970 1.53% 840* 1.32%

12 280 0.44% 0 0%

Recommendations from DCA✗ Targeted professional learning for teachers and administrators focused on student

involvement in assessment process, when applicable

✗ Goal setting for students

✗ Self-assessment and reflection for students✗ Tracking progress

✗ Data meetings- using current, classroom data to discuss needs and mastery

✗ Bias in assessment✗ SLO writing

✗ Standards-based assessment writing

✗ Continue assessment literacy class offered in summer for CPD credit for teachers

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Recommendations from DCA✗ Build capacity of school test coordinators to train staff to use data

✗ Informational meetings for each level (elementary, middle, and high school) for parents

✗ Target parent audiences at PTO meetings and back to school nights✗ Create recorded videos for parents to watch

✗ Historical records for student data- Synergy (one-stop shop of data)

✗ Include Spelling inventory, running records (training needed)

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Recommendations from DCA✗ More targeted website for Office of Accountability that is released ASAP

✗ Addresses the needs of various stakeholders including students, staff, parents, and community members

✗ Assessment calendar that coordinates district requirements

✗ County events should be avoided during testing windows

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Recommendations from DCA✗ Review current district assessment program

✗ Spelling inventory- review for bias and seek updated version

✗ Items on pre/post assessments■ Review items for bias

■ Review cost of purchasing secure passages and items

■ Discuss possibility of extending some pre/post exams so more content can be covered, especially in shorter tests like high school

✗ Discuss the creation of final exams to capture second semester content

✗ Create quarterly benchmark exams for teachers to use in FastTest

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