Presented to the Board of Higher Education by Susan Lane, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner for P16 Access & Alignment Policy, and Jeff Wulfson, Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

1. Higher Education & MA’s
Next-Generation Assessment
Board of Higher Education Meeting | December 8,2015
Susan Lane, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner
for P16 Access & Alignment Policy, DHE
Jeff Wulfson, Deputy Commissioner, DESE

2. 2
 Review BESE Decision on Next-Generation
Assessment for Massachusetts
 Task
 Timeline
 Higher Education Collaboration
 Review Higher Education’s Continuing Role
 Faculty Participation
 College Readiness,Assessment and
Placement Research
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
Presentation Goals

3. 3
 Endorsed Common Core Standards in support of college and
career readiness
 Partnered on development and adoption of MA Definition of College
and Career Readiness—a clear set of knowledge and skills anchored in
Common Core Standards
 Worked with K-12 teachers to develop PARCC as a college and
career readiness measure
 Adopted a 4-year high school math requirement effective for students
entering college in fall 2016, and a 3-year science requirement effective
fall 2017
 Undertaken comprehensive integration of new standards in
all educator preparation programs to ensure a strong foundation for
all aspiring educators
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
Higher Education Leadership in MA

4. 4
Collaborating on the development of a
next-generation assessment:
 To effectively measure
readiness for college and
career, and
 To use to place students into
entry-level, credit-bearing
college courses without the
need for remediation.
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
College Readiness Goal in MA
Massachusetts
Partners
 Higher education
faculty
 Elementary &
secondary teachers
 Campus, district,
community &
business leaders
 Department staff

5. 5
 On November 17, 2015, BESE voted to begin work on a
next-generation, computer-based assessment program that:
 Will build on the best elements of both PARCC and MCAS
 Will allow MA to retain final control over the test content, testing
policies, and test administration procedures
 Will be administered in all schools beginning in spring 2017
 Will be developed with technical advisory committees
representing Massachusetts K-12 teachers, higher education
faculty, and assessment experts to advise on content and
test administration policies
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
November 2015 BESE Decision
Key Higher Education Role

6. 6
 Convene review panels of K-12 teachers and higher
education faculty to:
 Review current ELA & mathematics curriculum frameworks
 Identify needed modifications or additions to ensure that the
Commonwealth’s standards match those of the most aspirational
education systems in the world, thus representing a course of study
that best prepares students for the 21st century
 Offer MCAS grade 10 tests until spring 2019
 Consult with technical advisory committees to propose a
broader range of high school testing options beginning in
spring 2017
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
DESE Next Steps

7. Higher Education Involvement in
Development of PARCC and Foundation
for Next-Generation Assessment

8. 8
MA Campus and Faculty Involvement
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment

9. 9
 MA New K-12 Standards—2008–2010
 21 MA faculty participated in Educator Expert Panels
 Faculty Judgment Study—Spring 2015
 35 MA faculty representing all campuses were among
190 faculty from all PARCC States
 Standard Setting—Summer 2015
 26 MA Faculty and K-12Teachers participated on
Standard Setting Panels during Summer 2015
 Faculty Liaisons for Assessment—Fall 2015
 52 MA faculty in English and Math met with campus
faculty colleagues to review college readiness research and
PARCC assessment
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
Massachusetts Faculty Participation

10. 10
 Jen Berg, Fitchburg State University
 Professor, Mathematics Department,
Fitchburg State University
 Loretta Holloway, Framingham State University
 Professor, English Department
 InterimVice President, Division of Enrollment and
Student Development
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
Faculty Comments

11. 11
Executive Office of Education
 Commissioned study to analyze the extent to which MCAS and PARCC
test scores can accurately assess whether students will succeed in college
 866 college freshmen attending 11 MA public institutions were
administered 10th-grade MCAS or PARCC assessment in English or Math
Key Findings:
 PARCC and MCAS scores have a similar ability to predict college grades
and need for developmental/remedial education, comparable to the
predictive ability of SAT scores
 Assessments differed in the degree that their respective performance
standards predicted college grades and the need for remedial math,
with PARCC outperforming MCAS
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
Assessment Studies/Reports

12. 12
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
Assessment Studies/Reports (cont’d)
Campus Assessment Faculty Liaisons
 Campus conversations with English and Math faculty, placement staff
Campus Summaries:
 Described wide range in faculty support for standardized assessment
 Described range of P–16 alignment work, from general to extensive
 Identified home-grown assessment as very aligned with campuses
courses but not with high school curriculum
CommonThemes:
 Rigorous assessment, focus on college readiness standards and
application of knowledge
 Equity concerns due to lack of technology to support online assessment
 Many questions and great interest in more information and ability to
pilot use in placement practice

13. 13
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
Assessment Studies/Reports (cont’d)
Campus Assessment Faculty Liaisons (cont’d)
Questions:
 Would students scoring 4/5 be “ready” for more advanced courses?
 Could GPA be used in combination with scores less than 4/5 for
placement into entry-level credit courses?Would a score of 3 indicate
“college ready”?
 How long would score be valid?
 How can this readiness assessment support dual enrollment and other
early college work?
 How will higher education participate in reliability and validity studies
as student scores begin to be used in placement in MA and across
the country?

14. 14
 Continue work with DESE on MA’s Next-Generation
Assessment as outlined in Commissioner Chester’s
November recommendation
 Continue DHE participation in national college readiness
assessment work with PARCC coalition, SHEEO and
state & institutional research groups
 Continue to work with campuses to examine pilot
assessments and student score data to inform further
assessment development and use in campus placement
policy and practice
Higher Education & MA’s Next-Generation Assessment
DHE Next Steps

15. Discussion