Transcript CCSSO High School Graduation _Loving

New Visions for High School Exit
Requirements in the Context of Next
Generation Assessments:
The Virginia Experience
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
History of Graduation Testing in Virginia
• Graduation Test since early 1980’s—early tests
were “minimum competency”
• Beginning with the class of 2004 students had to
earn a series of “verified credits” to graduate.
• To earn a verified credit student must pass the
class and the associated end-of-course
Standards of Learning (SOL) test
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
End-of-Course Tests
• End-of-course tests are based on the content
that Virginia educators agree students should
know and be able to do at the end of a course
• Students must score “proficient” on these tests
to earn a verified credit.
• Each test also includes an achievement level of
“advanced”
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Verified Credit Requirements for Standard
Diploma
Six Verified Credits Required
– 1 in reading
– 1 in writing
– 1 in mathematics (Algebra I, Geometry, or Algebra II)
– 1 in science (Earth Science, Biology, or Chemistry)
– 1 in history (World History to 1500, World
History:1500 to the present, World Geography, or VA
and US History
– 1 in subject area selected by student
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Verified Credit Requirements for Advanced
Studies Diploma
Nine Verified Credits Required
– 1 in reading
– 1 in writing
– 2 in mathematics (Algebra I, Geometry, or Algebra II)
– 2 in science (Earth Science, Biology, or Chemistry)
– 2 in history (World History to 1500, World
History:1500 to the present, World Geography, or V
and US History
– 1 in subject area selected by student
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Revision Cycle for Tests
• Content Standards are revised every seven years.
Tests based on new standards are implemented
approximately three years later.
• New mathematics standards were adopted in
2009 with new tests implemented in 2011-2012.
• New English standards were adopted in 2010
with new reading and writing tests implemented
in 2012-2013
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Impact of New Standards on Tests Required
for Graduation
• Virginia did not adopt the Common Core State
Standards (CCSS) but did align Virginia’s content
standards to the CCSS
• Because Virginia continued with its own
standards, the end-of-course tests associated
with the verified credits required for graduation
were updated according to the established
revision timeline for all tests
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Correlation between Advanced Scores on EOC
Tests and Persistence in College
• Research on version of EOC tests administered prior to
2009 suggested that students who scored “advanced”
on end-of-course tests in Reading, Writing and Algebra
II tended to enter 4-year colleges and to persist into
the second year.
• More information on this research may be found at
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/instruction/college_caree
r_readiness/research/determinants_of_enrollment_an
d_completion_of_english_and_mathemathcs.pdf
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Development of “Advanced/College Path”
Achievement Level
• Based on this research Virginia decided to
develop the new end-of-course reading, writing
and Algebra II tests with a “college path”
achievement level.
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Development of “Advanced/College Path”
Achievement Levels
• Replaced the existing “pass/advanced”
achievement level for these three EOC tests.
• The “proficient” achievement level continues to
allow students to meet graduation
requirements.
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Identification of Content for Tests:
Survey of College Faculty
• Conducted survey with higher education faculty
to determine to what extent the content
standards are associated with success in
introductory credit-bearing college classes
– Algebra II content standards – introductory college
mathematics classes
– Reading and Writing content standards—
introductory college classes with substantial reading
and writing loads
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Identification of Content for Tests:
Survey of College Faculty
• Asked to rate content standards in Algebra II,
reading and writing as to whether the content
was “essential,” “important,” “relevant,” or “not
required” as prerequisites for success in
introductory credit-bearing college courses
• Success defined as a “C” or better in the college
course
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Standard Setting for New SOL Tests
• Committees of educators convened to review
the new Algebra II, EOC Reading and EOC
Writing tests and recommend “cut scores” for
“proficient” and “advanced/college path.”
• Committees included high school educators and
representatives from two-year and four-year
institutions of higher education.
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Definition of “Advanced/College Path” for
EOC Reading
• A student obtaining an “advanced/college path”
score should have the necessary knowledge and
skills for enrollment, without remediation, in an
introductory credit-bearing college course with a
substantial reading load, assuming that the
student continues to demonstrate a comparable
level of achievement in subsequent high school
English courses prior to high school graduation.
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Next Steps for “Advanced/College Path”
Achievement Level
• In the future, evaluate success of college
students who took the new Algebra II, EOC
reading and EOC writing tests to validate
“advanced/college path” achievement level.
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
2014 Legislation Regarding Testing
• Concern about too much testing
• Legislation eliminated 5 tests at the lower grades. Endof-course tests retained because of ties to graduation
• Legislation also established an “Innovation Committee”
that will recommend changes to the state testing
program. Recommendations may include elimination
of some end-of-course tests with concurrent change to
graduation requirements.
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014
Contact Information:
Shelley Loving-Ryder
Student_assessment @doe.virginia.gov
(804) 225-2102
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National Conference on Student Assessment
June 2014