Transcript Document
Selecting appropriate
Evidence
Sept 2009
• GAA training will be provided on-line
via Blackboard. Alison Stafford will be
sending out [today or tomorrow] a
Blackboard tutorial. Teachers should
review the tutorial. In about a week Alison
will let them know when they can log into
Blackboard and, using the tutorial as a
guide, begin the GAA training.
• The examiner’s manual also contains
everything you need to know to conduct
GAA.
• The following slides were taken from 3 different
presentation by the DOE testing department
explaining GAA.
• The first slides in pink were taken from a
training powerpoint after the first year of GAA.
• The yellow slides are from the New Teacher
powerpoint for GAA and
• The Green slides are from the DOE training
powerpoint for testing coordinators and teachers
in 2009
All 3 powerpoint presentations can be found in
their entirety at:
http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/ci_testing.aspx?folderI
D=3470&m=links&ft=GAA%20Presentations
Alternate Achievement
Standards
• For the GAA, each teacher determines the
alternate achievement standard
(expectation) for each student, based on
the learning characteristics and needs of
the student.
• The GAA portfolio is reviewed for
alignment to the grade level content
standard, albeit an alternate achievement
standard.
Taken from GAA_Review_Final 2006-2007
GAA
• The purpose of the GAA is to ensure all
students, including students with significant
cognitive disabilities, are provided the
opportunity to access a challenging curriculum
and demonstrate the progress they have made
towards achieving the curriculum standards
– Works best when IEP goals are embedded
• Focus should be on academic progress, however
– Academic instruction can be functional
Taken from GAA_Review_Final 2006-2007
Types of Evidence
• Primary (shows what the student knows)
• Student work sample
• Permanent product
• Videotape; audiotape (with script)
• Series of Captioned Photos
• Secondary (reports what the student knows)
• Data sheet (Charts/Graphs)
• Interview
• Observation (Anecdotal record)
• An additional piece of primary evidence
Taken from GAA_Review_Final 2006-2007
Remember…
• The focus is on student progress across
the two collection periods
• There are multiple ways to demonstrate
progress
– increase in accuracy of performance
– increase in complexity of task
– decrease in type and/or frequency of
prompting
Taken from GAA_Review_Final 2006-2007
Overview of the GAA
• The GAA is a portfolio of student work
provided as evidence that a student is
making progress toward grade-level
academic standards, often at a prerequisite or entry level.
• Evidence provided must show student
work that is aligned to specific grade-level
standards, adapted to meet the student’s
cognitive, communication, physical and/or
sensory impairments.
Taken from: GAA_Training_for_New_Teachers_2008-2009_ GA DOE
Primary Evidence
Collection Period 1
Initial/Baseline
Secondary Evidence
Entry
(e.g., Reading
Comprehension
Standard)
Primary Evidence
Collection Period 2
Progress
Secondary Evidence
There must be at least 3 weeks (21 days) between the Primary Evidence
in Collection Period 1 and the Primary Evidence in Collection Period 2.
Taken from: GAA_Training_for_New_Teachers_2008-2009_ GA DOE
Types of Evidence
• Primary Evidence
– Demonstrates knowledge/skills by
showing the student’s engagement in
instructional tasks
• Secondary Evidence
– Reports knowledge/skills by documenting,
charting, or interpreting the student’s
performance
Secondary Evidence refers to a type of
evidence, not to the date or order in which
evidence was collected.
Taken from: GAA_Training_for_New_Teachers_2008-2009_ GA DOE
Types of Evidence
• Primary Evidence (shows what the student knows)
-
Series of captioned photographs (2 or more)
Permanent product
Videotape; audiotape (with script)
Work sample
“Primary” refers to the type of evidence; it does not
mean that it has to be dated earlier than the
Secondary Evidence in that collection period.
Taken from: GAA_Training_for_New_Teachers_2008-2009_ GA DOE
Types of Evidence
• Secondary Evidence (reports what the
student knows)
-
Data sheet (Charts/Graphs)
Interview
Observation (Anecdotal record)
An additional piece of Primary Evidence
Taken from: GAA_Training_for_New_Teachers_2008-2009_ GA DOE
Scoring Dimensions
Entries will be scored for 4 dimensions
• Fidelity to Standard assesses the degree
to which the student’s work addresses the
grade-level standard to which it is aligned.
• Context assesses the degree to which the
student work exhibits the use of gradeappropriate materials in a purposeful and
natural/real-world application.
Taken from: GAA_Training_for_New_Teachers_2008-2009_ GA DOE
Scoring Dimensions
• Achievement/Progress assesses the
increase in the student’s proficiency of
skill across the two collection periods.
- Ways to show progress across the
collection periods include documenting:
» an increase in accuracy,
» a decrease in prompting/supports,
and/or
» an increase in the complexity of the
student’s tasks and skills.
Taken from: GAA_Training_for_New_Teachers_2008-2009_ GA DOE
Scoring Dimensions
• Generalization assesses the student’s
opportunity to apply the learned skill in other
settings and with various individuals other
than the teacher or paraprofessional.
- This dimension is scored based on the
evidence across all entries.
Taken from: GAA_Training_for_New_Teachers_2008-2009_ GA DOE
Back to Basics:
Choosing the correct standard and
element
• As teaching academic curriculum through
the content standards and elements
becomes more a part of daily instruction,
lesson plans are being designed that provide
access to the curriculum while still
embedding a student’s IEP goals.
− Creating units and instructional activities that can
be used for multiple students is encouraged.
− However, the activities must be tailored to the
needs and the abilities of the individual student.
− As such, be certain that the element chosen for
assessment is still the best choice for the
individual student and that the evidence
submitted aligns to that element.
Choosing the correct standard and
element
• It is acceptable and recommended that
teachers try to develop lesson plans and
instructional activities that can be used for
multiple students and, sometimes, across
grade-bands.
• It is imperative, however, that they make
certain that the activities clearly align to the
grade-level standard and element chosen for
assessment and that they are meaningful
and fit the needs and abilities of the
individual student.
• As such, choosing the standard and element
is a critical step in designing the assessment
Back to Basics:
What is a prerequisite skill?
A prerequisite skill is an entry point at which
students may access an academic standard.
• This can include preliminary skills or knowledge
that must be demonstrated before a more
advanced concept can be understood.
• Prerequisite skills are the building blocks to the
essential components of the academic content
standards and elements.
Back to Basics:
What is a prerequisite skill?
The prerequisite skill must align to the specific
element on which the student is being
assessed.
• The skill should be true to the strand and standard,
but must address the distinct characteristics of the
element.
• Only when there is no element associated with the
standard will the skill/task be aligned solely back to
the standard.
• To bring an element down to its most basic
prerequisites, look at the essence of what it is meant
to assess.
• It is an oversimplification to say, for instance, that
any exposure to numbers constitutes math or that
any exposure to letters constitutes reading.
• The prerequisite skill must have meaning for the
Back to Basics:
What is a prerequisite skill?
M8A1:Students will use algebra to represent,
analyze and solve problems.
Element c: Solve algebraic equations in one
variable, including equations involving absolute
value.
Is the ability to identify mathematics
symbols (+, –, x, =) a prerequisite skill for
this element?
No.
Consider the following example:
What is a prerequisite skill?
• The instructional tasks for this entry were for
the student to match or identify the
mathematical symbols for addition (+),
subtraction (–), multiplication (x), and equals
(=).
• The tasks did not change in complexity from
one collection period to the next, and the
student was able to match or identify the
symbols at 100% accuracy throughout each
of the 4 tasks.
• Had the instructional tasks gone from
identifying the symbols to somehow using
them in an algebraic equation involving
What is a prerequisite skill
In order for an instructional task to align as a
prerequisite skill, it must address the specific
aspects of the element.
In the case of this standard/element, the prerequisite
skill would have to somehow address the concept of
variables or missing values.
Although mathematical symbols are often associated
with algebra, it is not necessary to be able to use or
identify them in order to be able to solve for a
variable.
For most students with significant cognitive
disabilities, it may never be meaningful,
purposeful, or attainable to solve higher grade-
Prerequisite Skills
• M8A1:Students will use algebra to represent,
analyze and solve problems.
– Element a: Represent a given situation using
algebraic equations or equations with one
variable.
• Is the ability to understand the concept of
variables and missing values a prerequisite
to this element?
• Yes.
Consider the following example:
Prerequisite Skills
• In this example, the instructional tasks required the
student to determine a missing value to solve a problem.
• In each case, she was asked to solve for a missing
variable.
– how many more napkins were needed (4 + x = 10)?
– how many more chairs were needed (10 + x = 17)?
– how much more flour was needed to double the recipe?
– how much more money was needed to buy a soda?
• These tasks aligned to the standard and element at a
prerequisite level, and were purposeful for the student.
• Consider the next example:
Prerequisite Skills
• For this Reading Comprehension entry, the portion of
the element that is being focused on addresses
character development.
– It is acceptable to focus on only one (or more) aspect
of the element in order to make the instructional task
attainable and meaningful for the student.
• The instructional tasks require the student to identify
and discriminate between characters from books being
read in class.
• As the teacher states on the Entry Sheet, the student
must first be able to identify a character before he can
analyze the development of the character in the story.
• This is a prerequisite skill.
What makes good evidence:
• Active participation – Limit amount of worksheets or make them interactive
not paper/pencil
•
•
•
•
Grade/age appropriate materials/content
Functional application
GENERALIZATION!!!!!!!
It showcases what the student can do related to
the standard
• INDIVIDUALIZATION
• DOCUMENTATION!!DOCUMENTATION!!!
DOCUMENTATION!!!
Test on GAA
• Does student have to show progress on
the content of the standard?
• Name 3 ways student can show progress
• What is primary evidence?
• What is secondary evidence?
• How many standards for each student?
• How many pieces of evidence for each
standard?